FIBA U17W – Australia take lessons from loss to Spain

AMSTERDAM (2012 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women) – Australia scored just three points in the third quarter against Spain in losing 65-49 in their opening of Group B at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women.

Australia coach Marissa Fillipou talked to FIBA.com after the game about the team’s struggles out of the break and what the Aussies must to do get on track in Amsterdam. She also discussed Australia’s next opponent Brazil.

FIBA: The first game is always kind of tough. And that third quarter with just three points was not something you want to see. Talk about this game and how you want to move forward from it.
Fillipou: In the end, that’s where the game was lost. We know that and we know that Spain are a hell of a team. We came in here knowing that was a tough match-up for us in the first game. But we also knew that if we did enough things right that we could win the game. We showed that if you don’t bring it for one quarter that all of a sudden they can go on a big run and it’s a whole different ball game.

All the teams are young and my group is young. And we’ll learn from that. I just said to them after the game it’s not a disaster to lose game one. It’s just a disaster if we don’t take the learnings from it and didn’t apply them to tomorrow.

FIBA: What’s the biggest thing you and the team take from the loss?
Fillipou: Just the importance of when we apply the game plan how good things are for us. And when we go away from that how badly it can go for us really quickly. The start of the third quarter was different than what we had done in the first half. And all of a sudden we go from eight points up to a tied game and they are rolling.

So the main thing we take out of it is sticking to what we’ve asked them to do for longer periods of time. And they certainly want to. They’re bloody great kids. And they’re doing everything they can to do what we ask. It’s just a matter of being able to do that consistently under pressure.

FIBA: Your next game is against Brazil, who today had a tough time against Japan so they will be extra motivated to get their first victory. What are your thoughts on that game?
Fillipou: They play a similar style to Spain. And it’s not a style we are accustomed to playing against in Australia, so it’s different for us. We played them a week ago in Italy and I got a taste of what they are about. We’re certainly going into the game with our eyes wide open and know what we’re up against. But we also know we have to take the learnings from today and make sure we get done the things we want to get done.

I’m confident that if we respond, we’ll come and play well. But they are quick, aggressive and like to steal the ball. And they like to penetrate on everything. So we have to be ready to play against that style. And I think we can.

FIBA