A "wake up call"
Garry Peel admitted his team were given a "wake-up call" as they lost opening game of BT Paralympic World Cup.
Last Updated: 24/05/12 11:03am
Garry Peel, the Great Britain women's wheelchair basketball coach, admitted that his team had been given a "wake-up call" as they lost the opening game of the BT Paralympic World Cup 49-36 to the United States in Manchester.
The Americans, who are the number one ranked team in the world, used stifling defence to shut down defending champions Britain for long periods, leaning heavily on the hot-shooting Becca Murray to secure the win.
In the first half, Murray scored 15 of her 20 points, as the Americans went to the locker room with a 27-20 advantage, and they continued to pull away in the second half.
Lessons
Peel said: "I think the girls will have taken a lot out of that because the plan was to stop the shooters but we didn't do that today.
"The Americans have given us a lesson on pick and roll even though we were set up expecting them to do that. I don't think we switched on. We looked nervous.
"The Americans are the best in the world, but I'm still confident we can compete if we stick to our game plan."
Effort
The play of Amy Conroy was a highlight, scoring 23 of Britain's points, despite finding herself triple-teamed at times.
Conroy added: "They're a phenomenally strong team so we knew it was going to be tough and they just brought it today.
"But we're pretty good at picking ourselves and we'll do that tomorrow."
Peel praised the efforts of Conroy yet admitted there was plenty of work ahead.
"She had a fantastic game but it's a problem to just rely on her. I couldn't ask any more from her but the rest of the team didn't bring their shooting game.
"But this week is about learning for London. We're not going to win a medal here but we are going to learn a lot."
