Wolves come together against Rockets

The Worcester Wolves took to the court Saturday night to face a Reading Rockets side that had already featured in a competitive game in the EBL this season. For the Wolves it was the first game of five on five together as a unit.

As the players warmed up and went through their drills, it was the presence and power of Richie Gordon that caught the eye.

The Wolves’ starting five was Sherrad Prezzie-Blue, Tommy Freeman, Carlos Fernandez, Richie Gordon and Alex Zimnickas.

New Small Forward Carlos Fernandez was lively from the off seeing a lot of the ball, but it was the Rockets who got in to their stride the quickest and Wolves looked like a team that hadn’t played together. It didn’t take Tommy Freeman long to find his range from distance however, as he netted a 3-pointer early in in the game.

Gordon was not commanding to begin with, but he was doing enough to make his presence felt. The highlight of the period for the home fans was a nice bounce past assist from Kaslauskas to let in Courtney Van Beest for the lay-up. The period ended with a second chance three from David Watts as the ball came back to him after his initial failed attempt, but the Wolves were down by one as the ten minutes ran out. Kaslauskas ended the first with two fouls against his name as he looked to settle in to the side and his role.

Callum Jones was seeing a lot of the ball early in the second as the home side looked to dictate the game more, but the Rockets were still finding it too easy to find space early on. But Worcester soon tightened up defensively and began to make it harder for Reading, and a three from Kaslauskas brought them level with the Rockets on 13 points.

It was as if at this point in the game that the Wolves had blown off the cobwebs and Sherrad Prezzie-Blue and Carlos Fernandez began to exert their influence on the contest. Zimnickas and Watts both added to the score as Worcester were now in the ascendancy opening up a seven point lead. A period of dominance during which the Rockets came up with nothing.

With Wolves working the ball around well, Freeman was able to bring others in to play, and he put two marks in the assist column with Zimnickas the beneficiary at the basket on both occassions. As Worcester took control a steal and resulting lay-up from Point Guard Prezzie-Blue saw Worcester pull away further opening up an 11 point lead. Freeman added another three and the Wolves finished the half at the free-throw line with Carlos Fernandez continuing a poor run of form after several unsuccessful visits in the first twenty.

The half ended wth the home side 30-18 up.

In a display that would have been pleasing to Coach James, Worcester took it up another gear again in the third and Zimnickas added to his tally including deceiving the Rockets defence to take the ball down the lane and to the basket.

Wolves were well in charge with their new Point-Guard finding his teammates with ease and Gordon’s presence on the court grew stronger. A sarcastic cheer greeted Carlos Fernandez as he eventually managed to get his eye in from the free-throw line which he then followed-up with a basket from open play. Worcester dominated the period opening up a 27 point lead to end the third 45-18 up.

And if you’ve been keeping up, you’ll notice what a tremendous effort the third ten had been from the Worcester defence as they shut out the Rockets during the period.

The visitors finally got back on the board early in the fourth but not before the Wolves had put 30 points between the teams, and that 30 point gap was restored quickly through a Freeman 3-pointer.

Gordon was becoming more and more influential under both baskets with a great block in defence and a score at the other end. He drew the foul in the opponent’s paint on a couple of occasions, as he began to get well and truly in to his stride with Reading unable to handle him. And the Rocket’s 6′ 11″ number 12 (Sam Simon) got no change out of the former Western Carolina Catamount as he commanded the low post area in defence.

All in all this was a textbook pre-season performance from the Wolves. They started as a side who understandably didn’t know very much about each other in a game play situation, but began to quickly find their fluidity as that understanding grew. Players gained confidence in each other and were all able to step up to the mark at different times throughout the game to get the job done.

Wolves ran out 65-23 winners restricting their opponents to just five points in the whole of the second half.