Post by spacejammer on Oct 20, 2023 21:52:42 GMT
To be fair it would be very funny if the Eagles had secretly signed Geno Crandell and he showed up tonight against Leicester in WWE style entrance.
Wow Geno may have not showed up but the end of that first half it might as well have been WWE!
That was probably the most heated and intense game I have watched between Eagles and Riders.
The rivalry certainly went to a whole new level tonight!
To begin with in that 1st Quarter we were absolutely awful and I was worried after the brave performance on Monday we were going to somehow be diabolical to begin with.
However once we sorted it out we managed to do what we should have done last time and defeat the Riders this time.
Some added beef due to the ejection incident certainly fired us up even more as you could tell we were not wanting to lose after that.
The incident itself at the time I felt the officials lost control of the game to the point where both the teams and the fans needed to get to half time just to calm down.
Neighbour certainly did not flop in that first call and I think the officials has a terrible game overall.
The way Leicester were playing in my opinion they were literally just playing for fouls yet nothing got call despite the constant winching and chunting to the officials.
Kimbel Mackenzie you might aswell have awarded him a dummy and crowned him baby of the match given how every play he was in the refs ear.
Don't get me wrong he plays well for his team and has the qualities of a leader but seeing him moaning to the officials 24/7 was embarrassing.
At one point I noticed a fan yell at him when he came off and he shouted back.
And to me when it came to the Riders tonight if the incident showed anything it was lack of experience and lack of discipline particularly from Astbury.
As the game went on it was like they were trying to be BBL version of "The Detriot Pistons Bad Boys" except all they did was try to play for fouls.
Whilst we might have antagonised him I do think Astbury was lucky not to be ejected as well and even the commentators agreed they had seen players punished for less.
That being said whilst it looks like things might start to be coming together for the Eagles.
I can't say we were completely innocent in the discipline department and after watching the replay back on YouTube I'm afraid to agree Taj Greens ejection was warranted and Austin got lucky as well for winding up Astberry.
I did say after the Cheshire match with those 2 I was worried their fiery side was going to lead to something like this.
And given how Austin was with a Lions player on Monday as well.
Whilst it didn't hurt us tonight think they both need to start being more careful as in crucial game we don't want to lose either of them to disciplinary issues.
Overall I'm glad we got a win and hope we do improve.
Unlike the tight game against Lions tonight I felt confident towards the end we had it simply due to the fact Riders seemed to be playing the trying to get a foul game rather then playing to score baskets like Morgan did on Monday.
It will be interesting to see how both teams feel come the next match up as im sure Rob will be wanting revenge especially on their floor.
And given how I belive we haven't won at the Morningside the past 2 seasons I'm sure he will be determined to try and keep it that way.
