Men's hoops razes Taiwanese

by Colin Whited on September 2, 2009

During the U.S. Men’s Basketball Team’s daily meeting Tuesday, head coach Keith Westhoelter prepared his team for a scrimmage against local Taiwanese by challenging them to rise to the occasion. “How will you respond [in the scrimmage]? The first five minutes will set the tone,” he said. Tuesday evening, the team faced National Cheng Chung University’s basketball squad during a scrimmage on the NCCU campus in Chia-Yi, Taiwan. The Americans opened the game with a 9-0 lead en route a 127-22 victory. The U.S. team was able to implement stingy defense to force turnovers and convert them into transition opportunities. In their first dose of competition on Taiwanese soil, the American players were able to overwhelm NCCU’s squad in every aspect. “Today’s scrimmage was an excellent opportunity for our players to get to know each other,” assistant coach Kevin Smith said. “The competition wasn’t necessarily the best, but it’s a great start towards what we hope to be a successful Deaflympics.” One of the highlights of the scrimmage occurred at the start of the third period, when the Americans implemented a full-court press, a strategy that worked, considering the Americans forced six straight turnovers and scored 12 consecutive points in the first 1:34 of the quarter to extend their lead to 77-13. “We played hard on defense, and we saw some things we need to improve on,” said Brian Cronin, who scored 11 points and dished out four assists. “I think it was good for us as a team to see where we are now so that we can see where we need to be for Taipei.” Overall, the Americans accumulated 28 steals and 31 assists against only five turnovers. They also pulled down 44 rebounds, 21 of them offensive, and seven players scored in double figures. The Americans combined excellent defense and a strong offensive output — 61.3 percent on 57 of 93 shooting from the field — to put the game well out of reach. “It was great to see eight players in double figures, because if one or two of our starters is shooting poorly, we have options to fill the void,” Smith said. Sekoe White, who led all scorers with 25 points, added that, “It was good to get a better insight of what it’s like to play with one another. The more we do this, the better our chemistry will become. The more we play together, the better our performance.” Edlin Dorn posted a double-double, scoring 22 points and pulling down 10 rebounds, and Bradley Miller had 16 points as well as eight boards. Robert Haney had a good all-around game, scoring 12 points as well as tallying seven steals, six rebounds and six assists. Although the scrimmage was never competitive, Anton Jackson, who scored 14 points, said he thought the scrimmage was worthwhile. “I’m glad we had this scrimmage because it gave us a better insight of what we need to do. It brought out our competitive nature, and it was nice to see that accomplished.” Haney, one of three Deaflympic veterans on the squad, said despite routing NCCU, the team hasn’t lost sight of their ultimate goal. “We haven’t forgotten about what happened in 2007 [loss to Lithuania in World Championship semi-finals]. This is what drives us to practice and play as hard as we can.” Earlier this evening, the U.S. resumed practice at NCCU before another scrimmage Thursday evening. The team will play China on Sept. 7, when they will begin their quest to win a 14th consecutive gold medal.

Sekoe White passes the ball during a recent scrimmage at National Chung Cheng University last Tuesday. (Photo by Hugh Carey)

Anton Jackson goes for a layup in a recent men's basketball scrimmage. (Photo by Hugh Carey)

Men's hoops razes Taiwanese

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