What Ireland Learned From Sold-Out Friendlies With Norway

Ireland’s national teams stepped onto the floor with Norway at the weekend and Emmet Ryan took it all in.

One win, one defeat. More importantly, lots of reps for the men and women despite missing quite a few bodies. Ireland’s national teams could do with more time together but, as short stints go, this was still useful.

A most pleasant surprise

The summer friendlies in Ireland are a tough sell. Well, at least they were. This doubleheader sold out a solid 48 hours before opening tip. Granted, the arena isn’t enormous by any stretch but it’s still an achievement not to be sniffed at.

It was an opponent that wasn’t going to be a natural draw, neither a big nation in the sport nor one with a strong diaspora in Ireland. There was no shortage of absentees due to the time of year. Not entirely unrelated, this isn’t really basketball’s time of year in Ireland.

It’s peak season for people taking holidays or youngsters being at summer camps. There was also the matter of the All Ireland football final taking place on Sunday, easily the biggest single draw in terms of eyeballs locally this weekend. Yet despite all the usual reasons to not succeed, getting the bodies out for a non-competitive pair of games was quite good going.

Some big absences

The 5 spot was always going to be the toughest to fill for 40 minutes in the opening game of the day. women’s side knew before this week that Claire Melia would be unavailable. Similarly, Gandy Malou-Mamel, a mainstay through the last two summers despite still being in high school, was never considered due to her upcoming start of NCAA basketball with UConn.

The real blow came in the days and hours before this fixture as Bridget Herlihy, the unquestioned starting centre, had to withdraw due to injury. Ella O’Donnell, who was called into the squad to replace Herlihy, impressed well in her place. O’Donnell was one of the few players active in NCAA ball available to James Weldon.

That’s the challenge for the Ireland coach right now. The talent available to him is good but not all of his talent is available to him. The surge in Irish ballers, particularly on the women’s side, making the jump across the Atlantic is going to benefit the programme immensely long-term. There are 9 Irish women entering their first year alone this coming season and that almost triples across all classes. Weldon has to wait but he at least had the Quinnipiac player for this outing.

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Solid intensity in the women’s game

These games being before the main friendly window, which is almost a month away, didn’t stop the women’s international from impressing. Sarah Hickey and Hazel Finn both stood out for an Ireland team that brought plenty of energy to this July outing.

Norway certainly tried to match the pace. There were clear windows in the first half where they either couldn’t hit the requisite level or Ireland simply wouldn’t let him. Still, for a pair of rosters at the opposite of the peak points of their seasons, this was fine fare.

The second half saw Ireland find another gear. That added dose of intensity ended the game as a contest by the end of the third. The fourth was processional. A win over a side 14 places above them in the rankings, even in a home friendly, should never be sniffed at. Job done for the women.

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A new look for the lads

Like the women’s game, there were some notable absentees for the Ireland men’s team. The absence of CJ Fulton after his NBA Summer League exploits was expected. Similarly, it wasn’t a huge shock to see Neal Quinn unavailable after just inking a deal with Le Portel in the LNB, France’s top flight.

Sam Alajiki being available was huge as was the chance to see Max Amadasun in action for the senior squad. Of course, the biggest changes were on the bench. While Michael Bree won’t take up his duties as head coach until his duties with Denmark conclude later this summer, this was a chance for his new staff to help shape the future.

Paul Kelleher was standing in for Bree for this occasion which saw his side facing some notable talents. Harald Eika Frey (Bilbao) and Ludvik Bergseng (Baxi Manresa) brought ACB level experience to the Norway roster.

Jordan Blount and the Ireland men’s team got in some important reps in their summer friendly with Norway.

A learning experience

That level of change of course requires time to adapt. That’s why this friendly, plus the closed-doors second game on Sunday, mattered. It was clear that the new sets still hadn’t been quite firmed up through a ropey but game first quarter for Ireland.

Things improved drastically in the second as Ireland leaned on its physicality. It has been roughly forever since Ireland had this kind of depth of heft in the front court. The offensive sets were still rather drawn out but that wasn’t too bad when you’ve got Jordan Blount or Amadasun pounding on lads a few seconds longer than usual.

The third maintained the physicality but it was clear that offensively there’s some refinement needed. Again, it’s July so this is normal.

Norway’s familiarity proved telling in the end, as did the sheer class of Harald Frey. Offensively, Ireland know they have to work on their spacing but this weekend gave them good insights into what needs to be done.

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