MANILA, Philippines – It looks like the memory of the Philippine Cup is already distant. The Meralco Bolts are atop the league with a 4-0 slate (they finished 1-10 in the first conference) after they defeated Phoenix 90-87. But that doesn’t mean much for them as they too went 5-0 in the same conference last season but they came up empty by its end.
However, as Norman Black said, that was a different season and following their poor first conference, they’ll take any win; even one where they kept leaving change for Phoenix to steal the match.
Let’s break down the shot clock management for both teams and try to analyze their game.Regular shot clock
24-19 seconds: 14 attempts, 12 made baskets, 3 turnovers
18-13 seconds: 22 attempts, 11 made baskets, 4 turnovers
12-7 seconds: 27 attempts, 6 made baskets, 4 turnovers
6-0 seconds: 12 attempts, 4 made baskets, 3 turnovers
Reset shot clock
22 resets
14-7 seconds: 18 attempts, 8 made baskets, 1 turnover
6-1 seconds: 3 attempts, 1 made basket, no turnover
Phoenix likes to run and play an uptempo offense. The scored 23 fastbreak points.
If you look at the data, they score heavily in the first 12 seconds.
As the shot clock winds down, they don’t shoot particularly well.
Turnover-wise, they have the same number 7 from the first 12 seconds to the last 12 seconds.
While taking a lot of shots early in the shot clock means the defense supposedly isn’t set, that doesn’t mean you are always taking good shots.
Meralco Bolts
Regular shot clock
24-19 seconds: 10 attempts, 6 made baskets, 2 turnovers
18-13 seconds: 21 attempts, 12 made baskets, 5 turnovers
12-7 seconds: 20 attempts, 9 made baskets, 4 turnovers
6-1 seconds: 16 attempts, 5 made baskets, 2 turnovers
Reset shot clock
22 resets
14-7 seconds: 12 attempts, 9 made baskets, 1 turnover
6-1 seconds: 6 attempts, 1 made basket, 2 turnovers
This is a team that likes to walk it up (well, they do have to accommodate Arinze Onuaku). As we have seen in our previous studies about the team, they do better when they work their half court sets with the bulk of their attempts coming from the 18th second up to the 7th second.
They had a lot of problems earlier in the match when they tried to work their low post game. Onuaku was double and triple teamed and upon the kick out, Cliff Hodge and Chris Newsome were missing their jumpers making it difficult for Meralco to score.
Unlike Phoenix that mostly ran their offense through their locals, they scored early. When Meralco flipped the switch and gave the ball to the locals more, it opened up the game for them and Onuaku later on.
The Bolts also did better at resets.