Ojo goes loco as Mersey go 0-15

Mersey Tigers were once again put to the sword, this time by UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders, 65-103, and now stand 0-15 in the BBL Championship.

Raiders now draw level on points in the table in joint third with Surrey Heat, but are placed below them as Heat have games in hand.

Despite Plymouth not having Jeremy Bell to hand, Michael Ojo was present, with a huge tally of 34 points, to do more than enough damage to a Tigers team still altering their roster this far into the season, with the inclusion of new centre, Phil Wait, who disappointed throughout his time on court.

Starting fives:

Mersey Tigers: McGinn, Wait, Hulsen, Calvo, Lockett
Plymouth Raiders: Schneck, Ojo, O’Reilly, Barnett, Lasker

It all began positive, trading baskets, looking strong on the boards, speed of passing offensively, but it seemed Mersey were staking all they had on black and midway through the first Plymouth began on their first run of points for the night, 11-0. Mersey showed some life through Gael Hulsen and Martin Calvo, but Ojo hit two on the buzzer to take it out to double digits after ten minutes, 16-27.

An initial slow start from both sides coming out for the second period, trading baskets once more, before ever-present Ojo was on hand to start reigning more from outside the arc, scoring nine successive points in Raiders’ 14-0 run.

Chris Bigley tried in vain to rejuvenate his side, but the persistent Raiders were never in doubt to squeeze their grip on the game tighter, drawing the quarter to a close, 29-58, thanks to Javarris Barnett and Ojo again from outside.

As the Tigers players came off court, it was visible that some players felt this margin of defeat they were staring at was too much, considering the number of times this season they have found themselves in this position.

The third quarter, and it seemed the talking to that coach Tony Walsh had given his side helped wake them up in the game, a quick six points to start looked promising, however another run of 9-1 from Raiders cancelled that effort out. The scores remained somewhat level trading baskets, but Plymouth had the edge with a string of late points to finish the quarter 47-81.

A run of 12 points was drawn out over the break, and with the introduction by Gavin Love of up and coming star of Raiders’ academy, Tristan Hall, who himself claimed five points in his time on court, helping Raiders to a game-high lead of 43, the game drew to its natural conclusion, but the Tigers still lost the quarter, despite their best efforts late on, with the final score at 65-103.

With the inclusion of Phil Wait, the dynamic of Tigers seemed to have completely changed, beyond the task they already had to face from Plymouth, and his overall speed up and down court was not impressive at all considering he has had time to integrate himself into the Tigers’ set-up, but coach Tony Walsh feels it has been somewhat of a back to the drawing board approach with his side getting to grips with each other’s style of play: “It’s people getting to know each other again, it works for the first few minutes, work hard, but then lose focus. It’s going to be a long process where we keep chipping away, until they get to know each other and their strengths, where they know where each other wants the ball. It was almost like a brand new start for them out there. It gives me a more positive rotation where I can now start pushing forward, playing stronger defence. We’ve lost but Plymouth are a really good team.”

Team captain, Josh McGinn, felt the game was done by halftime despite his side’s changes going into the game: “We made a couple of changes, but Ojo started to hit a lot of shots and it took us a while for us to get our heads back in it. Come to half time and we were down 29, and it took a talking to from coach for us to turn it around and we came out fighting in the third quarter, but by then the damage was done if you ask me. The damage was done because they got hot, we weren’t and it was done by half time but we did come out fighting in the third it just wasn’t good enough.”

The fact remains though that it is now 0-15, and the question also remains of do they think they actually stand a chance of winning games, but for McGinn, he believed the task was hard enough to come out with a W, but going toe-to-toe with a side like Plymouth was achievable: “Personally I thought we could compete – winning’s a different story. I still don’t think we have found what we need to win just yet in the team so winning? Unsure about that, but I definitely thought we could compete.”

It is difficult to see where Mersey go from here. A defeat to Manchester and the pressure is one to beat Worthing Thunder in the Trophy. For many, it feels if they cannot win that game, will they ever win a game at all?

Play of the game

The quick break (there were many may I add) for Raiders in the second quarter, started by Drew Lasker’s ability to somehow get the ball out of his hands to Barnett down court, before a delicate pass to Ojo, who made a three point play from the line. The sheer outrageousness of how Lasker made the pass, I do not know, but it was brilliant.

Game MVP: Michael Ojo

Next up:

Mersey Tigers home to Manchester Giants, Friday 28th December, 7:30pm
Plymouth Raiders away to Worcester Wolves (Trophy), Friday 28th December, 7:30pm