Sri Lanka played Saudi Arabia in the third game of the FIBA Asia 2021, Pre-Qualifiers (Western Region). Even though the islanders were in a winning mentality after beating Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia were above par of an opposition for Sri Lanka. Final scores read, 44-107.
Previous Games
Game in a Nutshell
It was not the usual game of basketball that Sri Lanka plays, it was a completely different style. Playing Saudi Arabia for the maiden time, the local lads did not digest it well. It was not just about scoring or rebounding, it was about doing it with more strength and more pace in it.
Sri Lanka got onto a bad start and displayed discomfort in shooting as they have previously in the two matches that were concluded. It took 06 mins for Sri Lanka to get into the party which had started by then Saudi Arabia was comfortably leading the game with 11 points.
Read: Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in a 03 point thriller
Sri Lanka`s shot connection and selection was both very poor. Not passing the ball around the perimeter but opting for unorthodox shots meant many possessions which could have been successfully converted.
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The opposition offence was quick. Settling down into positions quickly, they moved around the Sri Lankan defence with quick and short passes. It opened the gaps quite easily which were converted into points at ease. Sri Lanka was no-where near that pace.
Saudi Arabia kept on building the lead and exerting pressure on the Lankans. It was a bit too much to handle while not being in the best of forms, thus finishing behind the opposition with a double figure deficit.
Read: Host Bahrain defeat Sri Lanka convincingly
- Key Stats
Yellow – Sri Lanka Green – Saudi Arabia
Shooting Percentage
The nightmare in shooting continued being almost half way behind the opposition`s percentage. Sri Lanka did not connect shots, even when lay-ups were opted for, the lads failed to finish strong near the rim. Even though in general shooting was in disarray, SL`s perimeter shooting was satisfactory during the previous games, but against Saudi Arabia it seemed very poor.
Rebounds
Saudi Arabia topped the cards at ease. Having the advantage with more height and power, the boards were an easy grab. Apart from the height and power, Saudi centers always made sure the local lads were boxed out. On their part it made the collection of fall clean and neat. Since Sri Lanka failed to connect shots, there were no chances of many offensive rebounds at hand. Defense was hard since the ball moved around the hands quickly.
Read: South Asian Basketball Champions to Conquer FIBA Asia
Saudi Arabia being topping the rebound cards had their fair share of second chance points. Apart from that the middle eastern bench scored 76 points of the game which shows how quality the line-up was.
The stat for the number of assists in the game shows how much the ball was passed around Saudi players. 32 assists to just 07. Sri Lanka struggled against a high-quality hustle conceding 25 steals and being only able record 14 steals themselves. All in all it was a bad day in office.
Top Performers
Kisal Cooray (Sri Lanka) – Kisal has been an eminent power source for Sri Lanka since the SABA championship. When the seniors were struggling, young Cooray managed 10 rebounds contesting men almost double his size. He also managed to help with 03 points. In an inform side, Kisal was the live-wire, still very young in age, this experience will certainly mold him to a better player in the future.
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