It was back to the Netherlands this week for the Irish NT side, this time to Pleundra stadium, as they took on Slovakia who were impressive in defeating Turkey last week. Game shape was a problem for Ireland heading into this one, with Ireland having only 7 players out of 17 at proficient level (1 of them a developmental player), compared to Slovakia’s 11 out of 15 at the same level. Indeed Damain O’Hagans transfer threw a spanner in the works on the morning of the game, reducing his game shape 3 full levels.
With most of Irelands form players being bigs, Ireland choose to go inside quickly and often to try to score, while defending the post stoutly on the defensive end. Slovakia on their part turned up expecting a track meet, looking to shoot often and from long range, while curbing any outside threats on the defensive end. Carl Parnell (7 points, 1 rebound) Malcom Bradley (6 points, 4 rebounds), Stuart Tone (4 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds) and Trevor Haverty (4 points, 4 rebounds) tried to keep Ireland within touch of Slovakia, who started to pull away in the final minutes of the half. Indeed Bradleys efforts on the boards stood out in that quarter, with 4 offensive rebounds,with 3 converted put-backs as Ireland looked to make the most of second chance points.
Stuart Tone (5 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steal) continued to feed the ball inside in the 2nd quarter, with Haverty (3 points, 5 rebounds) and Bradley (4 points) showing the best return. However, Slovakia managed to turn the screw and pull away outscoring Ireland 41-19 in the quarter. A particular point of difference was bench scoring as Ireland only managed 4 points of the bench in the first half.
Ireland showed more fight in the 3rd, with Haverty (11 points, 6 rebounds) leading the charge supported achieving a double-double midway through the period by Stuart Tone (2 points, 5 assists), Carl Parnell (5 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist) and Damian O’Hagan (4 points, 3 rebounds), but Slovakia still managed to increase their lead by 3 points to 32 points.
In the 4th quarter Malcom Bradley upped his game hitting 17 points, and snagging another 4 rebounds to nab a double-double (27 points, 10 rebounds). Haverty added another 4 points and 9 rebounds to his total, and Damian O’Hagan (3 points, 3 rebounds) also finished the day with a double-double.
Some notable stats from the game showed that Ireland had success on the boards, with 17 more rebounds than their opponents, and managed 24 offensive rebounds, with a high number of put-backs scored in the game. Bench scoring was a major problem for Ireland with Slovakia leading 31 – 10 in that category. Slovakia also hit 3’s at a rate of 63.6% which provided them with a solid advantage in the end.
Trevor Haverty’s 26 points and 24 rebounds along with double doubles from Malcom Bradley and Damian O’Hagan, and Carl Parnell chipping in with 18 points, were of particular highlight for the Irish side.
Ireland drop to 1-1 in the qualifiers and will look to bounce back against Luxembourg next week.