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Host nation Japan ensured Australia had a miserable return to women’s wheelchair basketball at the Paralympics with a comprehensive 73-47 victory in their Group A opener on Wednesday.
It was a tight first-half at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, where Japan led 34-28 at the main break, but the Gliders were comprehensively outplayed in the second half.
Star 4.5 player Amber Merritt had 16 points in the first, but scored only two after half-time as Japan forged ahead with an 18-11 third term and dominated 21-8 in the final period.
Australia shot at just 37 per cent from the field, compared with Japan’s 49 per cent, and the Gliders only made three of nine shots from the free-throw line.
While it was a tough start to the Gliders’ first Paralympic campaign since 2012, it was a glorious return for the hosts, who haven’t played at the Paralympics since finishing fourth in 2008.
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Australia coach Craig Friday was left to lament the Gliders lack of intensity in the second half.
“I think we changed our attitude at half-time, I think we lost a bit of belief … a bit of fatigue set in as well,” he said. “That’s the challenge that we have with the depth that we have in this group at the moment.
“Defensively we just gave up too many points in the paint. People were sitting and watching and we didn’t shift the pressure out defensively on anyone.”
There is little time for the Gliders to lick their wounds as they return to the court on Thursday morning to face the 2016 Rio silver medallists, Germany.
“Recovery is really important now. Getting back to bed as quickly as possible – get up and, you know, put that out of the system,” Friday said.
“We’re not going to talk about that now, we are going to bury it until after tomorrow’s game and hopefully we can focus on Germany and come out and have a better performance than we did tonight.
“Germany are probably not as mobile and as athletic as Japan but have a couple of ‘bigs’ that are quite dangerous,” he said.
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It will be Germany’s first appearance in the tournament after a bye on the opening match day.
In Monday’s other Group A game Canada defeated Great Britain 73-54.
In Group B, China thumped Argentina 74-25, and the Netherlands struck and early blow against fellow gold medal fancies USA, with a 68-58 win.
JAPAN 73 d AUSTRALIA 47 (Merritt 18 points, 19 rebounds; Munro-Cook 16 points, 9 rebounds).
NEXT GAME: Thursday August 26 v GERMANY (10am AEST 0900 local)
By: Quentin Hull, Paralympics Australia
