LFB 1/2008 - Union Hainaut 63, Calais 57

Basketball also opened in the LFB, or the French League today. It was Union Hainaut's time to debut. When they were Valenciennes last year, they finished 19-7, good for second place. Calais finished 6-20 last year, good for 13th out of 14th. Unforunately, Valenciennes was eliminated by third place Montpellier in the semi-finals.

The writeup of the game is here. The boxscore is the form of a PDF file which is found here.

Of course, the symbols need some translation, so I'll provide them.

Nom - Name
T/Ter - Minutes
Pts - Points
Tot - FG/FGA
% - FG%
T3 - 3PG/3PA
% - 3P%
T2 - 2FG/2FA (2 points shots made vs. attempted)
% - 2P% (2 point shot percentage)
T2i - probably "interior" 2 point field goals
% - percentage of same
T2e - probably "exterior" 2 point field goals
% - percentage of same
LF - FT/FTA
% - FT%
F - Fouls
Fpr - Fouls received
Ro - Offensive rebound
Rd - Defensive rebound
Rt - Total rebounds
In - Steals
Blk - Block
Bp - Turnover
Du - ???
Ass - Assist
Eval - Evaluation

As it turns out, Bernadette Ngoyisa still hasn't shown up for Union Hainaut. I wonder what's happening there.

Looking at the stats, it appears that Calais owned the first half and Union Hainaut made a comeback. Calais outshot Union Hainaut an amazing 46 to 36 percent. However, they turned the ball over more (20-15), were whipped on the offensive boards (15-8) and sent Union Hainaut to the line more (20 times vs. 15). Everything that Calais did well was negated by the "little things" that decide a ball game. This game was Calais's to win, and somehow they lost it. According to another writeup, the game was tied 55-55 going into the final two minutes.

Chioma Nnamaka's stats were dismal. Only nine minutes played. Only 2 points made in two shooting attempts. A couple of rebounds, a steal. It reminded me of Chioma's underperformance for the Dream this year. If Nnamaka continues to be a non-factor, her basketball career is going to be very, very short.