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| Coach Jensen talking to Del Harris before the game, |
Friday night at the Canton Memorial Civic Center in front of 3,300 excited fans the Canton Charge gave us reason to be excited. Although they were undersized match up wise against the Legends, who started 6'11" Matt Rogers, they started the game overpowering the Legends with heart and hustle. That's the encouraging part. The Charge jumped out to a 26-18 lead, led by Tyrell Biggs' 5-6 shooting effort for 11 points. Biggs showed great toughness being guarded by the bigger Rogers and Ronald Allen. He created his own shot in several different ways: baseline spins, spot up long range jumpers, offensive put backs and getting after a loose ball and scoring it. Tyrell had it all on display Friday night and showed exactly why the Charge made him their first round pick. The toughness and commitment to rebound better was on display in the first quarter when the Charge held a 16-11 rebounding advantage, led by Jonathan Blake's 6 boards. Another big contributor to the quick start was the newly acquired Kyle Gibson, who had just signed a free agent contract earlier in the day. "I didn't know if I was going to play" Kyle said, "I was just trying to come in and be a spark and energy for the team." He started quick and hot, hitting all 3 of his shots and tallying 7 points in the 1st quarter. The Charge got to the line ten times in the quarter but could only convert on three of them.
The second quarter was a different case for the Charge, with McLeod on the bench with foul trouble the Legends got up and down the floor more freely and outscored the home team 27-21 behind 10 second quarter points from Dominique Johnson and 11 from Booker Woodfox. The two guards had two three balls apiece in the quarter. The rebounding war was won by the Legends in the quarter 14-8. The Charge forced the Legends into 7 turnovers but could only convert those into 5 points, as opposed to 7 points off of 3 Charge turnovers. Despite the deficit shrinking the Charge looked to be in a good position leading 47-45 at the break.
To start the second half the Legends came out much more aggressive and passionate than the Charge. A 9-2 run to start the half was ended by Agudio's first points as a Charge, a three ball from the corner right in front of the visiting bench. Halfway through the quarter the Charge halftime lead was a double digit deficit. A Marcus Relphorde three got the Charge within 5 before the 3rd quarter buzzer, but that was as close as they would be the rest of the game. The Legends out rebounded the Charge 47-39, out shot them from the field 48.1% to 41.8%, and the foul line 73.1% to 57.7%.
The effort is there, the Charge aren't lacking competitiveness or heart, I see it in Coach Jensen and it is in his players as well. The one thing the team is lacking is height. GM Wes Wilcox said after the game that will be fixed. It's encouraging that one glaring problem, scoring away from the basket, was addressed by bringing in a few new additions and will continue to get better. The Charge gave up 21 points off of turnover. That is something that I can confidently say will be addressed and improved on with more playing time together.
The one benefit of playing a back to back with the same team is you can see how well a team and caching staff makes adjustments, that's exactly what we will see tomorrow at the Civic Center. Today the two newcomers played great! Gibson 15 points and 4 rebounds, and proved he could score fast and efficient netting 7 points in 5 minutes in the first quarter. Agudio tossed in 8 points and 5 helpers. The most impressive performance of the night was Tyrell Biggs without a doubt. He poured in 29 points scoring in all different fashions. He hit mid range jumpers, long range jumpers, a spinning baby hook, several baseline spins, a fade away. He scored off of offensive rebounds and loose balls, hit a jumper off a screen and seal. Tyrell's offensive weapons were out in full force and he gives the community and the organization something to be excited about!
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