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Sharks grab first win of year
By Alex Linder and Andrew Crawford |
December 1, 2011, Thursday
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Back home for the first time this season, and with team owner Yao Ming watching from the stands, the Shanghai Sharks got their first win yesterday - a 91-75 drubbing of the Zhejiang Guangsha Lions.
The Sharks lost each of their first three games late, seeing leads slip away on the road in the last minutes. Luckily, there was no need for late game heroics this time.
The Sharks took control of the game with a strong defensive second quarter holding the Lions to just 16 points and securing a 53-40 halftime lead.
Shanghai head coach Daniel Panaggio thought his team's suffocating defense was the key to victory.
"I think that people tend focus on our offense," he said. "It was our defense that won the game tonight, and it's our defense that we really stress."
That focus paid off as Zhejiang shot just 35 percent from the floor, as contested jumper after contested jumper clanged harmlessly off the rim.
The Sharks stretched their lead in the third quarter behind 19 points from journeyman forward Ryan Forehan-Kelly, who slashed through the defense for a finger roll layup one possession and hit from long range the next.
Forehan-Kelly had struggled in his first three games, but scored 30 points on 9 of 11 shooting against Zhejiang, including hitting all four of his threes.
When asked about the loss, Zhejiang head coach Jim Clemons pointed to the rebounding disparity with his team giving up 22 offensive rebounds and being outrebounded 63 to 33.
"The rebounding advantage they had is why the margin was so high," he said. "Give them credit. They outhustled us. They just wanted it more."
Brilliant start
Shanghai forward Mike Harris wanted this win very much. He had 16 rebounds, including 8 offensive, and added 18 points while playing tough defense against Zhejiang star forward Wilson Chandler.
The former Denver Nugget continued his brilliant start to the season with 25 points, but that was still 8 points under his season average. Peng Fei and Chinese Taipei forward Tseng Wen-ting also stood out with a hard working, muscular performance.
The players were obviously happy to be home after long road trip, drawing energy from the crowd.
Hometown favorite, Zhang "Max" Zhaoxu had a warm welcome to Yuanshen Stadium with the crowd cheering him on each time he caught the ball in the post, but he struggled scoring only 5 points and adding just 2 rebounds.
The Sharks continue their homestand tomorrow against the Jilin Northeast Tigers.
Elsewhere in the CBA, Patrick Mills made 20 points and Kenyon Martin scored 19 of his own as Xinjiang beat Jiangsu 96-84. In other standout games, Beijing remains the team to beat as it outplayed Fujian 111-79, thanks to 23 points from Randolph Morris, while defending champion Guangdong lost 94-104 away to Qingdao.
The Sharks lost each of their first three games late, seeing leads slip away on the road in the last minutes. Luckily, there was no need for late game heroics this time.
The Sharks took control of the game with a strong defensive second quarter holding the Lions to just 16 points and securing a 53-40 halftime lead.
Shanghai head coach Daniel Panaggio thought his team's suffocating defense was the key to victory.
"I think that people tend focus on our offense," he said. "It was our defense that won the game tonight, and it's our defense that we really stress."
That focus paid off as Zhejiang shot just 35 percent from the floor, as contested jumper after contested jumper clanged harmlessly off the rim.
The Sharks stretched their lead in the third quarter behind 19 points from journeyman forward Ryan Forehan-Kelly, who slashed through the defense for a finger roll layup one possession and hit from long range the next.
Forehan-Kelly had struggled in his first three games, but scored 30 points on 9 of 11 shooting against Zhejiang, including hitting all four of his threes.
When asked about the loss, Zhejiang head coach Jim Clemons pointed to the rebounding disparity with his team giving up 22 offensive rebounds and being outrebounded 63 to 33.
"The rebounding advantage they had is why the margin was so high," he said. "Give them credit. They outhustled us. They just wanted it more."
Brilliant start
Shanghai forward Mike Harris wanted this win very much. He had 16 rebounds, including 8 offensive, and added 18 points while playing tough defense against Zhejiang star forward Wilson Chandler.
The former Denver Nugget continued his brilliant start to the season with 25 points, but that was still 8 points under his season average. Peng Fei and Chinese Taipei forward Tseng Wen-ting also stood out with a hard working, muscular performance.
The players were obviously happy to be home after long road trip, drawing energy from the crowd.
Hometown favorite, Zhang "Max" Zhaoxu had a warm welcome to Yuanshen Stadium with the crowd cheering him on each time he caught the ball in the post, but he struggled scoring only 5 points and adding just 2 rebounds.
The Sharks continue their homestand tomorrow against the Jilin Northeast Tigers.
Elsewhere in the CBA, Patrick Mills made 20 points and Kenyon Martin scored 19 of his own as Xinjiang beat Jiangsu 96-84. In other standout games, Beijing remains the team to beat as it outplayed Fujian 111-79, thanks to 23 points from Randolph Morris, while defending champion Guangdong lost 94-104 away to Qingdao.
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