Germany 94-116 England
We went into this game knowing anything other than a win meant it would be near on impossible to qualify due to the point differential advantage of Germany, Italy and Turkey. Due to the strength and depth of the German team I didn't really give us much hope of defeating them unless we used CT, knowing they were more than likely going to TIE so that's what I opted for. The game went well and according to plan, we defended the German's pretty well but did give up several second opportunities because of using Hargreaves at the PF position. We shot 48% from the field, including 56% frown downtown and in the end, ran out comfortable winners.
In hindsight the victory felt very bitter sweet. I under-estimated how good our outside trio of Kemp, Sanders and Banuelos was and was delighted with the way they scored, but I also felt we'd missed a golden opportunity to qualify from an extremely tough group. By using CT, I knew our chances of beating Italy were extremely slim, but as previously stated, I didn't give us much chance of beating Germany so felt like I'd rather try win both games by using CT, than saving enthusiasm to earn a token win against Italy but not qualify. Ultimately, my aim was to always qualify and in the end, that was my downfall and I take responsibility. There's a good chance we would have still beaten Germany if we used normal, which would then allow for us to try and beat Italy with CT and qualify, but it wasn't to be.
Player of the game was voted Jonathan Kemp after his 31 points.
Italy 102-86 England
When the game shape update was complete on Friday, I felt our very slim chances of beating Italy were increased slightly due to the excellent game shape of our players and average game shape of the Italians. I expected the Italian manager to call up a few players, in particular guards with high OD to try and prevent Kemp, Sanders and Banuelos from scoring freely and that's what he did. I didn't think the Italian manager would GDP us because they were favourites to win the game, so didn't require it, but I did know he would set up to defend strongly outside. To try and counter this, I used Inside Isolation to try and create good locks for the outside trio and Hargreaves. The game went as expected with Italy being comfortable throughout, without us ever really laying a glove on them.
Overall, I'd say the campaign has been good - we beat a decent Macedonian side with CT v TIE, we beat one of the European giants in Germany and ultimately finished behind three nations who have much better strength and depth than us. I was a bit apprehensive about this squad at the start of the squad but I'm excited for future seasons after seeing some of the talent we have coming through and with most of the squad having a few seasons left under their belt.