Bermuda National Basketball team coach Gavin MacKenzie has gone down in his first match in charge of the team as the Bermuda Basketball Association sent a team of young players to Dominican Republic to play.
Bermuda took on CDP - Domingo Paulino Santiago the Dominican Republic La Ligue 1 Champions going down 101 - 83.
The start of the game both teams came out strong, the Bermuda team were able to match CDP's offensive fire power with aggressive slashing to the basket and sharp outside shooting.
Bermuda were playing as a team and the offense was clicking and thus Bermuda took the early lead. CDP, led by a lighting fast combo guard willed his team back to take the lead, CDP held a 52 - 48 point lead at halftime.
Going into the 3rd quarter Bermuda felt confident but were playing a risky game of run and gun without anchoring down on defense. Historically Bermuda have always been a strong defensive team but they got away from their bread and butter, Hard Nose Defense.
Throughout the 3rd quarter Bermuda continued to play them close but the pace of the game caught up with Bermuda and CDP killed Bermuda in transition, and at the end of the 3rd quarter Bermuda was down by 10.
The 4th quarter was more of the same, CDP pulled away as Bermuda played weak defense, abandoning their defensive principles. Offensively Bermuda got away from what was working and began to play hero ball with limited passing and ball rotation. Bermuda lacked mental toughness and focus for 4 quarters and the score reflected it.
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