RI 34-55 T-Net Club@Bt Merah (red)

Another horrible loss. We played with only 10 players, with sim and bryan out injured, greg, yuxuan and alex overseas.

But then again there should be no excuses. we played with horribly low energy level, we didn't run our plays, we didn't play good defense. the way we played, we deserved this loss. We let the opponents run all over us, and we never managed to respond. nothing spectacular to note about this match.

But this is the wake-up call. its time to start now, we have to get better, really really fast.

RI 32-53 HCI

We were outran, outplayed, outshot by the opponents. We missed lay-ups, we missed underbaskets, we threw the ball away, we had stupid turnovers, we didn't play good team defense, we didn't run our plays.

we got thrashed. the next game will be better.

RI 48-54 Tagawa (White)

This was a match that was ours for the win, but in the end we threw the match away. we started this match strong, running hard, getting shots, although we missed a couple of lay-ups we still ended the quarter 11-10.

In the second quarter, tagawa's star point guard, number 7 came in and dominated the match. he shot fade away jump shots after jump shots, drove hard to the basket, and finished with 2 3-pointers in that quarter. in the 2nd quarter alone, he scored 12 points. at that point, we only started in the game because of alex, who somehow managed to match no.7 play for play, finishing with 12 points in that quarter as well. In this half we had the lead several times, even pulling away as far as 7 points, but each time allowing tagawa to claw their way back into the game.

In the third quarter, we were unable to stop no.7, who was everywhere. he pressured our point guards, forcing several turnovers, and getting easy fast break lay-ups. We didn't move the ball well enough, and missed underbasket after underbasket. We were down 2 at the end of this quarter, kept in the game by joel's shooting, and also because no.7 was pulled out mid-way through the quarter.

In the last quarter, our inability to stop no.7 and our misses came back to haunt us, as no.7 once again dominated the game. We sank another tough three-pointer, as well as driving to the basket. we failed to help each other on defense, allowing the opponents to drive all the way without contest. and even then we failed to box out and secure the defensive rebound. In this tense quarter, we also missed a couple of underbaskets, made crucial turnovers, missed free-throws which would have otherwise turned the match around.

U14 AND1 Tournament RI 63-32 Springfield

Coach said, if we won today's game by 20 points, it will be considered a loss for us. We won by 31, and all of us agreed that today's game was horrible.

And no, i'm not being sarcastic.

We started the game horribly, with our starting 5 barely managing any scoring. Our wings were rushing a few shots which were bad, some even bouncing of the backboard without touching the rim at all. We ran our play only twice throughout the entire quarter properly, and those times were missed shots. Fortunately, we managed to pull ahead with some fast break points from Ming Jun and mark.

The second quarter was phenomenal. We played extremely well, with Seah Nguan knocking down a tough baseline shot, and Wee Xuan pushed the momentum with a few fast break points. The second unit had made the extra effort into going in after every shot and getting the offensive rebounds over and over again that quarter. We were so good, we pulled our lead from 4 points to almost 20 points! However, the game was momentarily stopped when our point guard was called for a charge and no. 4 had to substituted out due to injuries.

The third quarter was heartbreaking and terrible. Perhaps it was because of a new play coach set, or because of inexperience and faitgue, we just had continuous turnovers. The player who was supposed to take a shot was always not on timing, and the point guard and other wing were ineffective in handling the ball, leading to many turnovers which almost could have killed us all. A timeout was called after a 12-0 run, and the starters went back in. Fortunately, we managed to pull off the play and knock down a few shots to stop the run. On the other hand, one of our wings failed in all his three shots at the charity stripe after a three point foul.

The final quarter was much better, with many fast breaks that led to easy lay ups, though not all were converted, and the play ran very smoothly. We were able defensively, and that led to many turnovers which explained for the large deficit.

Today's game, there is much room for improvement. One thing to note is that we were all too eager to steal the spotlight, trying to fire three pointers at will. That's not the way to play basketball. With that kind of mentality, the team would just fall apart from this constant internal desire to outshine everyone else. At the end of the day, it is not the scores or statistics that matter, they are just numbers that which doesn't last forever. What lasts forever is the experience, the bonding between your batch, the will to keep improving yourselves together, working towards a common goal. That's the most important thing of all. Good job by Mingjun today for his good defense and his improving offensive skills, and Seah nguan for his good defense and rebounding too. Good job everyone, eat more to carbo load for the two matches in a row next week, and lets keep improving there.

MVPs:

RI: Ming Jun, Seah Nguan

Springfield: no. 12

U14 ACSIS Tournament Schedule

8th Dec 2009 (Tue): RI vs OFS 4pm @ OFS (Overseas Family School)
19th Jan 2010 (Tue): RI vs SAS 5:15pm @ SAS (Singapore American School)

21st Jan 2010 (Thu): RI vs UWC 4:45pm @ UWC (United World College)

New Schedule for U14 AND1 Tournament

Here is the new schedule for the postponed matches.

Wed 2/12 1630hrs - Springfield vs RI

Wed 9/12 1630hrs - Jurong Sec vs RI

Sat 12/12 1600hrs - Eastview vs RI

Note: Unity Sec has withdrawn from the tournament hence the match is cancelled.

We will be wearing dark for all the matches.

U14 AND1 Tournament RI 71-33 Ahmad Ibrahim

When we started warming up, we heard the organiser saying that number 12 of ahmad ibrahim is big, strong and fast and a capable scorer.

But it doesn't matter.

We started off nervously, with many rushed shots from our wings. Our defense broke down at first as number 12 drained the first bucket of the game by doing a simple backdoor cut. From then, coach told us to do more help side and leave the perimeter players. Slowly, we managed to get our momentum and despite the miss shots, Chun Cheong and mark came out of nowhere to grab the rebounds and put it back in. Those second chance points slowly allowed us to catch up and we ended 9-13.

Second quarter we started brilliantly, with Wee Xuan knocking down both his free throws after a hard foul. With more help side on their star player number 12, ahmad ibrahim started taking many outside shots which were off, and that led to easy fast breaks at the other end. We were stepping up on defense, and we eventually grew the lead to 13-31, with only one 3 pointer and free throw from AI.

The second half, coach drew up a simple play for us which allowed the wings to get more three point shots. Slowing down our tempo, we executed the play, though due to inattentiveness during the break, one of our wings ran the wrong play, and we were saved by a couple of baskets and offensive rebounds. Fourth quarter, we tried to maintain the same tempo and yet we still fell short, and even worse, one of our post players fouled out but at the same time, no. 12 came down with an injury. Coach substituted in a whole different platoon of players and we managed to get the play running, but the frustrating fact was we weren't hitting our shots. Thankfully, our second and third quarter lead pulled us away to a 33 point deficit victory, 71-33.

Never be intimidated by your opponents. It doesn't matter whether they have big players, it matters most that we do not look at them before the match. Looking at them would only result in uncertainty, fear and anxiety, which is definitely not what we need. Kudos to Bao Kun for his good passes and Chun Cheong for his excellent defensive efforts. Good job on our defensive effort, and let's keep improving in that direction.

MVPs:

(RI)

Bao Kun

Chun Cheong

(AI)

No. 12