Coaches Make Calculated Choices at International Tournament of Champions

On the road to London and next year's Paralympic Games, the top international wheelchair basketball coaches must balance winning now versus results later when it truly counts.
By: ITOC Media Office
 
Aug. 12, 2011 - PRLog -- Charlotte, NC – Athletes competing on an international stage do so with one goal in mind, winning. One singular focus - winning the play, winning the point, winning the game, winning the tournament. For coaches though, there must be the long term focus, prioritizing short term victories against the real end game, in this case next year’s Paralympic Games in London.

That could mean trying different lineups or matchups. It might mean resting your best player in order to see how others step up or throwing a rookie into pressure to see if they break.

That philosophy brought some interesting results on Thursday's second round of the International Tournament of Champions being contested in the Lake Norman area just north of Charlotte, North Carolina.

The day began with Great Britain’s men topping defending Paralympic champions Canada by 20 points before the Canadians bounced back to trounce the 2010 world champions Australia by 17. The Brits then lost to one of the two American teams – coach Jim Glatch is using the tournament to help pare down his 18 man squad – while the other one easily dispatched the Aussies by 14.

On the women’s side, Japan upset Germany, second only to the USA, by nine. Japan is quickly becoming a team to be reckoned with, collectively and individually. At last month’s inaugural U-25 Women’s World Championship in Ontario, Canada, Mari Amimoto set an IWBF record with 51 points against Mexico. The Netherlands showed that Canada, winner of four straight world championships until the USA won last year, is still rebuilding as did Germany. The Americans then capped the night with a 17 point win over the Dutch.

Competition continues on Friday with placement and championship games on Saturday. The tournament is hosted by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) and sponsored by Visit Lake Norman and the Cornelius and Huntersville Parks & Recreation Departments.

Selected games are being webcast live and will be archived at http://www.livestream.com/nwba.  More information is available at http://www.nwba.org.

Thursday Scores

Men
Great Britain 70 Canada 50
Germany 59  Japan 52
Canada 67  Australia 52
USA White 62  Great Britain 55
USA Blue 74  Germany 52
Canada 74  Japan 39
USA Blue 66  Austalia 52

Women
Netherlands 70  Canada 66
Japan 67  Germany 58  
Germany 61  Canada 46
USA 61  Netherlands 44


Wednesday Scores

Men
USA White 78  Australia 59
USA Blue 61   Japan 34
Great Britain 64  Germany 55
Great Britain 66  Japan 62
Australia 71  Germany 61
Canada 67  USA White 64

Women
Germany 61  Netherlands 45
USA 59  Japan 42
End
Source:ITOC Media Office
Email:***@earthlink.net Email Verified
Tags:Wheelchair Basketball, Paralympic games, London 2012, Sports, Nwba, Competition, Disability
Industry:Sports, Government, Society
Location:Charlotte - North Carolina - United States
Account Email Address Verified     Account Phone Number Verified     Disclaimer     Report Abuse
SCS Media News
Trending
Most Viewed
Daily News



Like PRLog?
9K2K1K
Click to Share