Friends of struggle close with victory double journey in the Azores

On the second day of a double day in the Azores, the women's CAB team traveled from Terceira Island, where they played and defeated the Good Journey in a match played last night, to the Island of São Miguel, where they faced the Sportive Union, a team where they played the influential American player Jhasmin Player. The great challenge to friends, in addition to opposing training, was the fatigue generated not only by the departure of the previous day, but also by the long journey of almost 12 hours made, also on Saturday, since Madeira. The CAB wins the first period by 20-21. However, despite the minimal advantage, the CAB was not playing its best. If, in defense, the Friends were approaching the match aggressively, already in the attack, the selection of launches was not being the best. The same was true in the chapter of the caveats, where the Friends were not as dominating as they might be. In the second period, the CAB, which played the white equipment game, was more like itself, with a pressing defense and an organized attack more fluid than it had been in the first period. The local team sought to explore its strongest points, essentially its foreign players, and was clearly betting on the outside launch. However, the CAB was displaying a great spirit of unity and was able to cover, most of the time, the paths to its basket. The interval arrived with the marker in 33-42, favorable to CAB. On the return of the break, the CAB continued to bet on the defense as its main weapon, both the full-field pressure and the half-field defense. The opponents continued to have in Player their main offensive reference, which in itself showed all their attacking options, penetrating and launching from abroad. However, the team spirit of the Madeirans continued to prevail, with the third time ending the marker in 52-61, favorable to the CAB. It should be noted that the advantage of the CAB had reached 15 points during the period, but, in the final phase, the locations shortened the point difference to only 9 points. In the last period, the CAB made defensive mistakes that it had not made in the other stages of the game. Both because of tiredness and lack of concentration, the friends seemed more permissive and making (too) accelerated attacks, facts Sportiva knew how to take advantage of with great merit, approaching the marker and reducing the difference between the two teams. In good time, the formation of the Cab reacted and took over the reins of the match, which never left, winning the game by 66-80. In the way of balance, it is fair to say that the victory of the Cab was due to the two factors that the base Maria João, in the forecast of the double journey, had referred to as fundamental: defense and rebound. In addition, the CAB has proved to be (increasingly!) a team, which is effectively assimilating the defensive and offensive concepts that have been taught by its coach. Maintaining their humility and their surrender to the game in the way they have done so, CAB players can continue to grow, not only individually, but – and much more importantly – as a cohesive and motivated unit.