When the Nelson Giants rip season 2019 apart they will no doubt discover a common theme as to why they only managed three wins from their first 11 games.
Amazingly, across the 44 quarters of basketball played by the Giants thus far they have won 19 of those quarters, drawn five and lost 20, which you would think delivers a far better record than 3-8 and a seemingly a lowly sixth place on the ladder, and well adrift of the five teams above them.
When you break down those quarterly efforts it immediately jumps out as to what has gone wrong for Coach Fitchett and his team - put simply, their second quarter performances have hurt them badly, while their third quarter efforts aren't that flash either.
In the first and fourth quarters the Giants are a combined +17pts, yet the middle two quarters deliver a return of -47pts.
So when the whiteboard comes out before their next game don't be surprised if Coach Fitchett emphasises (strongly) the need for his team to step it up in the second and third quarters. Do that and hopefully the Giants can bring their damaging seven-game losing streak to an end.
Here's the facts.
FIRST QUARTER
Giants - won 7, drawn 1, lost 3 / 244pts to 229pts / +15pts overall
SECOND QUARTER
Giants - won 3, drawn 1, lost 7 / 240pts to 274pts / -34pts overall
THIRD QUARTER
Giants - won 3, drawn 3, lost 5 / 248pts to 261pts / -13pts overall
FOURTH QUARTER
Giants - won 6, drawn 1, lost 4 / 253pts to 251pts / +2pts overall
(Photo Credit: photosportNZ)
