The Patagonia Files: 2016 Edition Part Two

 

The night after the first game against Club El Nacional (CEN) was spent mainly breaking down film, knowing that the host team would come out with an improved effort in game two, as they learned some of our tendencies.

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day, with a long film session for the team. We also had a couple of individual meetings for some players to see a few slight adjustments they could make to their game while here, to have some more success (one of these players was Nathan Campbell, who had struggled to score through the first three games).

Most of the guys grabbed dinner in the hotel restaurant, and then watched some of the Super Bowl (not the most exciting one if you were not a fan of defence, or the Broncos).

 

GAME FOUR

Nathan Campbell opened the scoring with a strong drive to the basket, while Hoffman and Chaves kept answering for the hosts. Both teams were neck and neck at 18 after the first quarter. In the next period, we continued trading baskets, with a very slight 39-38 lead for us at the half. Nathan Campbell came out of the break en fuego drilling three straight threes to help us build a small 61-55 lead at the end of the quarter.

The fourth quarter had another kiwi firing, with Nick Erwood drilling two consecutive threes at the start of the quarter – giving us our largest lead while on the South American continent (75-62). With 5:07 remaining though, a complex-wide power failure occurred, and we were left in the dark (Sharon did mention that “we must have shot the lights out”) until the power was restored.

The quick break proved to be just what El Nacional needed, as they launched a furious comeback that consisted of threes, offensive rebounds and free throws. Xavier Shaw was a monster for us, grabbing 17 very tough rebounds, and converting 5/6 free throws to ice the game. Final score 89-83

Standout Performers: Nate Campbell 21p; Marty Davison 16p,7a,3s; James Levings 11p,3s; Nick Erwood 10p,12r; Xavier Shaw 7p,17r,3bl

 

The next day was meant to involve a meal with our Argentinian benefactor, Gustavo Iriaola, but an unfortunate family circumstance meant this was unable to come to fruition. The guys were extremely disappointed not to be able to thank Gustavo personally, in his house, for the tremendous help he has been in order to get our team over here.

A Secondary plan was quickly concocted, which saw the team make the short walk to Estadia Osvalda Casanova as guests of the basketball team Manu Ginobili founded (and his brother Sebastian Ginobili coaches) for the 9pm Argentinian NBL game instead. The hosts, Bahia Basket, took on our hotel-mates, Estudiantes. The visitors built a reasonably comprehensive lead, only for the home team to come storming back (even with a five minute delay for a broken referee’s lanyard!) and steal the win.

 

GAME FIVE – OFFICIAL COPA PATAGONIA START

Argentino was our first opponent in the tournament proper, and we started out excellently, being up 19-5 after only five minutes, as our counterparts had no answer for the inside scoring ability of Brent Fisher (a perfect 6/6 from the field). Our lead evaporated in the 40 degree heat, capped with a costly inbound turnover just before the half, seeing us cede Argentino a 45-46 lead at the break.

It was more of a struggle in the third quarter, where we regained a small 71-66 lead, before blowing the doors off in the fourth when our small lineup (Aled Jones and Marty Davison) used their tremendous speed to wreak havoc on the defensive end. We jumped out to a 91-75 lead with five minutes to go, and held on to this for a 96-79 final.

Standout Performers: Marty Davison 17p,7a; Brent Fisher 16p; Nathan Campbell 14p; Xavier Shaw 13p; James Cawthorn 12p,6r,5a; Nick Erwood 10p,9r,6a

 

GAME SIX – ROUND TWO OF THE COPA PATAGONIA

Next up was Pacifico, who had given our hosts (Club El Nacional) a lot of trouble the previous night. The start of the game looked like this was going to be more of the same, as we were playing quite well, but so were our opponents, with the lead switching back and forth in the first five minutes. A well timed sub by Head Coach Terry Brunel saw James Levings enter the game, and as well as giving his usual tremendous effort on defence he also caught fuego – hitting three straight threes in only 68 seconds!!!

Despite Pacifico’s consistent effort, the Canterbury men had their mind on the job at hand (after the relative let down the previous night). Extending the lead out to 28 points at one stage, before closing the book with a n 89-62 win.

Standout Performers: James Cawthorn 16p,6r; Marty Davison 14p,6a,5r,3s; Brent Fisher 14p,7r; James Levings 12p,2bl; Nick Erwood 10p,10r

 

The guys made the most of their night off, heading to Club Universitario for the evening, where the team was of great interest to many of the regular patrons – a lot of autographs were signed, and photographs posed for (especially from the dos metres lads!)

 

To follow all the action from the Argentina Tour – make sure to like designated facebook page, as well as follow the CBA on twitter – Next up – the final game – for the Cup no less – at 6pm Saturday (10am Sunday 14 February in NZ).

Read Part I here

Photo courtesy of Romina Saldinas