UCC Demons Head Coach Colin O Reilly

We return home after two close and hard fought losses on the road. In the thunder game we were chasing for much of the second half and had it at a two possession game with a chance to cut the deficit. We got a good luck however the shot rimmed out and our chances of winning were lost. Against UCD we played a very solid mature game until the final 90 seconds. We became to tentative which put us in late shot clock situations forcing bad shots. UCD forced the issue and got the necessary scores to win the game. On the road the small details at every stage in the game count and it’s important we start treating every possession as the most important of the game for 40 minutes.

DCU visit us in the hall in a rich vein of form. They have the best inside duo in the league and also possess an athletic and quick back court which has caused teams trouble during their current win streak. For us it’s a case of continuously looking to improve on the foundations we have put in place. Our defence has hung tough at home and on the rod and now our offense needs to improve. We can do this by executing for the 40 minutes to drive up players shooting percentages. We have played 4 games which have been within 5 points going into the last 60 seconds. Our record in those games is 2 and 2 which shows we are very close to being an excellent team record wise but just as close to being a poor team. The main thing is to continue putting ourselves in a position to win and see where that takes us.