James Weldon laments Ireland's 'really frustrating' first quarter
ALL ACTION: Claire Melia in action for Ireland against the Czech Republic. Pic: Basketball Ireland
Not even the individual heroics of captain fantastic Edel Thornton and matching their all-pro opponents for three of four quarters was enough as Ireland’s senior women bowed out of their 2023 Eurobasket Qualifying campaign in Praque on Thursday.
“We dug a hole for ourselves,” said frustrated head coach James Weldon of the dismally sluggish first quarter which proved their downfall.
His young side were already out of qualifying contention and had lost by 16 points to the Czechs - 56 places above them (22nd) in FIBA rankings - in their earlier group meeting in 2021.
Yet while this losing margin was similar Ireland actually gave as good as they got for three quarters of this away leg.
Dayna Finn and Bridget Herlihy pulled out threes to help Ireland lead 12-10 in the early stages but then they allowed the home side a 16-point run which ran from the first quarter into the second.
The Czechs racked up 10 points from fast breaks – eight from turnovers – to lead by 12 (26-14) at the end of the first quarter, creating a gap Ireland just couldn’t close, despite never being more than two baskets short of them in the three subsequent quarter6s.
They were only outscored by only four (17-13) in the second but still went in 16 points down (27-43) at half-time.
There were only three points between the sides in the third which ended 58-39 and Ireland actually won the final quarter (18-16) which started with a pair of threes from Thornton and Michelle Clarke.
But by half-time the Czechs had noticeably shot 69% of two-point attempts to Ireland’s 29% and many of those came from lay-ups and costly turnovers (21 in total) and Ireland fared much better when they switched to a zone defence.
When the Czechs went on team fouls within three minutes of the third quarter a comeback window opened but a big three from Renata Brezinova pulled the home side 20 points clear and, despite the best efforts of Thornton, Herlihy, Orla O’Reilly and Finn, Ireland just weren’t fast or aggressive enough to maximise those dead-ball opportunities.
Jump shots from Finn and Claire Melia cut the lead back to 13 points with five minutes to go and Ireland’s three-point shooting (38% to the winners’ 24%) and free-throw averages (38% to 24%) were better.
They just didn’t get the ball down the court fast enough against an aggressive all-court defence, albeit not helped by some bizarre offensive foul calls.
“The first quarter was really frustrating, we gave up 12 points in transition, an area we really wanted to target,” Weldon said.
“Unfortunately we dug ourselves that bit of a hole, but these girls never give up and they dug deep and stuck together. It was a good performance to come here, to a nation that is probably going to qualify for their 15th (major) championship in-a-row this weekend.
“I do believe these girls have gained respect. Talking to a lot of friends around Europe, they’re hugely encouraged with the positive steps the team is making,” he added.
Brunell point guard Thornton was immense, equaling the best Czechs with her 16 pts (including three threes and 100 per cent from the line) and four assists and Boston-native Bridget Herlihy (15 points and 10 rebounds) also stood out.
Weldon ran his whole bench which also meant first senior caps for Glanmire’s Mia Furlong and Waterford Wildcats’ Sarah Hickey.
After a 12-year absence from this level, Ireland’s three-point loss to the Netherlands and three quarters of this game proved there’s plenty of healthy green shoots before their next challenge - the 2025 EuroBasket Qualifiers - which start in November.
E Thornton 16, B Herlihy 15,D Finn and C Melia 9 each. O O’Reilly 5.
N Stoupalova and V Vorackova 16 each, P Holesinka 10.
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