Game vs Lugano Round 2

This is a game that I would rather not report on but since I am trying to keep up with the blog I have to do it. Going into the game we knew it was going to be tough. I think that on paper Lugano has the strongest team in the league. They are tough at all 5 positions and they go 9 deep. This might not be surprising to some, but there are few teams this deep in Switzerland. This is because Switzerland is not a big money league but Lugano is a big money team so they have the money to pay 9 guys.

Lugano also has a new coach. Since they have so many Americans on their team, the Lugano management decided they needed an American coach to relate to their players. So, they went out and found a good American coach who has had success in Switzerland and also Europe. The new coach, Joe Whelton, was very successful and led Bellinzona (a town nearby) to Swiss championships. To sum it all up, our game against Lugano just got harder.

SAM vs. Lugano is also a derby (Euro word for rivalry game) so there is added motivation for the game. We didn't come out with the right mental approach for the game and found ourselves down quickly. Our offense wasn't clicking like it had been in our past 3 wins. It seemed like we would make one pass and then take a shot.

Even though Lugano jumped out to a quick lead, we managed to fight our way back. Every time we made a comeback though Lugano answered. We, including myself, missed a ton of easy shots that would have aided in our comeback. It just wasn't our day and we ended up losing the game 104-88.

Here are some low lites from the game. It is mostly Lugano stuff so watch at your own risk.

After the game I had the worst feeling. I hate losing and I took the loss hard. We played so bad and I know that we could have played better. The good thing though is we play tomorrow against Nyon and have a chance to win the game. We could really use the win to create some separation in the standings.