Blacks '08: Batch Profile

(Written by Tay Wee Kuang - 19 Sep 2006)

Appointment holders
Captain: Yeo Siyuan
Vice-Captain: Sng Yi
Quartermaster: Teo Hong

Team members:
Allon Poh
Brendon Chua
Elias Tiong
Glenn Wong
Joseph Chan
Sampson Lim
Tay Wee Kuang
Yan Yan

Yeo Siyuan
The captain of our batch. He gives his best effort in trying to bring the team together and makes sure that no ones gets left out. He has a very good attitude towards basketball and this brings on even to his schoolwork. Off the court, he likes to bond together with his batch mates. Very focused even when comes down to training, his level of discipline keeps us motivated and focused on our goals. A good friend off the court and a good leader on the court. A very good defensive player.

Sng Yi
Sng Yi is the powerhouse center of our batch. Makes a very good vice captain that shoulders responsibilities very well. Is a straightforward guy that gives very insightful advices. His acts like an elder brother in our batch that we can depend greatly on. He is also a very street-smart guy. “What can I say, another guy who does not say much in public, much like Johnny. But when I get closer to him, he actually can talk!!!”

Teo Hong
Probably the best player around for our age. Great shooter, fast, he is the best person to rely on on the court. Hardworking as well, he motivates himself greatly to reach further heights. Off the court, he is actually a very fun guy to be with. Easy to communicate with, he is probably the best choice for quartermaster. Similarly with Sng Yi, he shows this quiet leadership that holds certain responsibilities. He steps up to challenges with a very strong fighting spirit.

Allon
Joining the team later than most of us, Allon never failed to try his best during trainings and matches. He has a fiery passion for basketball. “I will always remember Allon as the short guy who wasn’t afraid to trying out for basketball. He joined the team late after an appeal and told me that he loves basketball.” Off the court, he is an intelligent guy that has a positive outlook. He is very helpful and always helps us whenever we needed his help in studies. He bonds well with the team and is never left out.

Brendon Chua
A very enthusiastic guy when it comes to basketball. He has a very strong passion for basketball. “Well, because he is young, he is enthusiatic, he has lots of potential, and WHEN he matures and disciplines himself, HE WILL BE A FORCE.” Off the court, he has developed great discipline and has matured during this period of time with basketball. He also mixes very well with his usual antics and tricks.

Elias Tiong
The latest to join the team, Elias started training with us only at the end of the year. He is a nice person to be with off the court. He never fails to bring joy into our batch with his lightheartedness. Losing out in training time due to his late joining to the team, he has improved tremendously given just slightly more than half a year with us. He is an approachable person, and always tries to brighten up our days when we feel down. By the way, he’s an actor too!

Glenn Wong
Also another actor in our batch, Glenn has done very well juggling between basketball and acting. He entertains us with his sense of humour even though he sometimes overdoes it. Hardworking in whatever he does, he always give is 100% in whatever he does. Although he sometimes fails himself, he always gets back on track. Has a fiery personality and always puts on a fight whenever there is a need.

Joseph Chan
The fun-nest person in our batch. Entertainer, joker, clown and whatever you can think of. He somehow finds a way to entertain us. Equipped with his AND1 skills, he also fascinates us with his unique dribbling skills. On the court however, he can be a very serious player that focuses very well. Gets along with teammates very well. His lighthearted personality integrates an important role of uniqueness into our batch.

Sampson Lim
Another enthusiast for basketball. He never allowed his physical ability to stop him from improving. Totally new to this game, he has improved tremendously since day 1. “I could remember the image of him sprinting back on defense during the match in Muar last year. Determination and fight was all over his face.” Off the court, he is a very helpful person that never rejects others when others is in need of help. He is very open-minded and this brings about fun within the community.

Yan Yan
The cool cat of our batch. Always appearing cool and calm, even when it comes on court, it brings about this steadiness and readiness in him. He’s never too excited or nervous about something, but look at him into his eyes, and he’ll give you the silent fire burning in him. He often wears this cool cat shirt, similar to his personality, which brought about the nickname for him, coolcat.

Wee Kuang
The most self-motivated person of the batch. Never stop trying to improve himself ever since the day he joined basketball. People of the batch always see him as a model example when it comes to self-motivation. Also, he never fails to ask for opinions to keep himself going. His excellent basic fundamental skills and deadly shooting was the result to his efforts.Off court Wee Kuang is also a nice friend to get along with with his great personalities. Unless trainings and matches, he would never stop smiling.

Reds '07: Batch Profile

(By Danny Chua - 31 Aug 2006)

We are an extremely exciting and excited bunch of kids. Well, everyone of us loves, if not likes, basketball. To say that basketball is our passion is an understatement - we live and breathe basketball and almost at times consider it to be of greater value than our GPAs and PhDs.

To us, basketball is more than just a CCA. Simply put, it’s a brilliant experience since we started off as a troop of excited year 1s not knowing who that tall guy was, not knowing where that fellow baller learnt his moves. With ups and downs, difficulties, new members joining in here and there mid-way through our 4-year Raffles career, we laughed and joked around, toiled in the rain and sun together and formed a team that each of us “would rather lose with than to win with another”.

“Dream.Team.Fight.Win” - it wasn’t just a motto or a mission/vision so cliche it’d make us look like fools. Honestly, we put great emphasis on each of the four words, eveything on and off the court, we take into consideration these four words.

What we want to achieve goes past our tangible dream of claiming 3 National Titles in a row, what we want to leave behind after our 4 years is a legacy. In the end, we aim to bring out an exemplary RAFFLES SPIRIT, not just in terms of fighting spirit on the court that we want our juniors to inherit; we intend to be a model for other sports CCA in RI; we want the basketball world to see that RAFFLES BASKETBALL is more than a name you love or hate, RAFFLES BASKETBALL is what we fight for, a special team. What will you think of us then?

Appointment Holders
Captain: Chng Anzhen
Vice-Captain: Danny Chua
Quartermaster: Simon Ong Jun Wei
Secretary: Dillon

Team Members
Kevin Boo
Wang Fang Tong
Chey Zheng Feng
Jonathan Lim Kim Fei
Stanley Seow
Charles Oei
Feng Yi Fei
Tan Kee Yao

An Zhen
An Zhen is the best man for the job of a captain. To be straight forward, he is responsible and pushes the team to go far and go hard when we are down and out or lazy. A good leader is one that relates to his comrades, and one that recognizes his shortcomings especially toward his mates right? He communicates well with our coach and through our honest team-talk sessions among ourselves, he never fails to take the initiative to open up on senstitive issues, and though can be harsh with his words at times, acknowledges and seeks our understanding (Quote anonymous: Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind). You can ignore whatever is written about him before this sentence because to put it simply, he is a good captain (trust us) and leader, a steady and experienced player on the court. As coach says it best,
“If I have to choose the captain all over again a thousand times, I would still have chosen you. You hold the team together with a combination of discipline and friendship. Its really something that I find very rare boys your age - even adults can’t do it.“

Charles
Charles is one of our other jokers off the court. He brings life to the team and his cheery self is a motivation to us; his presence brings about a really relaxed and happy atmosphere that you almost feel life has more hope, really. Charles is an important person to the team just like everyone is, just because he is who he is. A person that rarely gets angry, he always puts on his widest smile to motivate us and make everything seem easy. When games are tough, he is the first to encourage and fight, be it on or off the court. When we are down, he’s always there to be a listening ear, and offer his help - a listening aid. Charles never looked like basketball material when he first joined the team, but he worked hard and his shooting is something you have to defend!

Danny
Danny is the livewire of the team. He is an excited kid off the court and usually makes something out of nothing - noise. He is rather optimistic about things e.g. games/seasons and always gets fired up. As our vice-captain, he tries to make up for whatever the captain fails to do and bring the team together sometimes. Trying to motivate his teammates at times, he recognizes his role as the point guard - a leader on court. As coach says it best again,
“When he came he was talking non-stop, crazy jokes. But I like the lightness of heart that brought to the team. It did not take away from his training seriousness. So I think Danny does a lot for team-dynamics just by being who he is.“

Dillon
This is our real big man, standing tall at over 1.8m, he was always a bright prospect to dominate the paint area when he joined us. Dillon on the surface may seem quite quiet and a thinker at many times, however, when he brings out his funny side, he brings joy to the team. When he laughs, something we do not see very, very often, he brightens our atmosphere. Dillon works VERY hard off the court, at times, he goes to the gym by himself without telling us.
“You are also one of those i can trust most to train on your own. Once I gave a menu, I was quite certain that you would do it on your own, whithout me checking on you. In terms of work ethic, you are as good as any other guy I’ve ever coached.”
On the court, though not a fearless warrior, Dillon puts in his effort. Even though he lets himself down at times because of his inexperience, he never fails to bounce back - its just like the rebounds that he fight for, if he’s missed a shot he’ll go for it and get a second chance at sinking it. Dillon is a very intelligent boy off the court, having a passion for knowing lots of information about everything you can talk about: Basketball the NBA, Soccer, History etc.. We make fun of him for his talent, but his interesting facts at times can be a light in our darkness!

Fang Tong
This is one kind of a fighter. Fang Tong lives for basketball, he watches the NBA, he loves Michael, he adopted the name “Michael”, best of all he does what he does best on the court and fights for loose balls, rebounds and plays hard, like the person that he is off the court. Particularly concerned for his studies all the time, Fang Tong always makes an effort to complete his work in the most spectacular way, also, working hard without fail, for tests. To be frank, he really is one of the more serious players on the court. However, when he is off the court, he is actually a cheery and joyful person who does not mind making a fool of himself for everyone to have a good laugh.

Johnny
” Johnny shocked me when I first saw him in Sec 1. He did a between the legs dribble and drove past the guy on the baseline and finished with a bank shot.”
Yes, Johnny is an exceptional player, a rare player to come by nowadays with unusual physical strength and amazing natural abilities. Johnny is a quiet person though we wouldn’t say an introvert. Johnny wants the best for the team ALWAYS, we know deep inside, there’s this hidden fire in him, burning brighter than ours, and sometimes he tries so hard he tries too hard. Johnny though being quiet by nature, put in effort and tried his best to communicate with us, he’s always discovering more about himself. Johnny brings to the team, a solid foundation and a base of confidence. With him at the games, we have faith and worry not about our boards. With him around, we look forward to spectacular steals and his uncanny ability to be able to kill huge stumbling centres with his three point shot. Johnny sacrifices for the team, even though he’s a doormat for us to step on, the bridge for us to attain our dreams, he’ll be glad to know that the team is attached to him exceptionally.

Kee Yao
Kee Yao dumped us for Sailing in Secondary 1! That was the past, now this fellow teammate of ours have joined us in our trainings and team gatherings. There’s gotta be nothing about him that we do not like. Kee Yao though not the most confident person on the court, shows his willingness and fighting spirit when he exceeds expectations and defends his defensive boards well. Kee Yao is good kid with a big heart, shown by his desire to help the needy when he joined RI’s interact club to do community service on a consistent basis. Here I am, in the middle of day and night writing about Kee Yao and it brings a smile to my face because Kee Yao is dearest to our hearts in the way he makes us laugh and joke about many things.

Kevin
Kevin is a team player, evident also in the way he plays on the court where he always looks to create opportunities for others. Sometimes he overdoes it but we know his intentions and we recognize and respect them.
Coach says, “Look at it this way, for a guy who is shorter than the starters by more than 10cm, and who has never played basketball in primary school, you’ve over-achieved. It’s not easy to get into the RI team, even if it is the C Division. On this count alone, I am so proud of you.”
Sure, Kevin is a special one to all of us, especially when he fought hard and perservered to make the junior team in ‘05. It’s just different for us when Kevin is not there, be it at a game, at a team outing etc. In our Sophomore year, he proved his value and his importance to us when on the bench most of the time, he cheered us on continually. We know he always wants us to win, as much as we want to, or maybe even more. He never voices out alot in terms of basketball but we know he is trying, and although trying your best is not enough, there’s something about Kevin that wins our hearts - he never gives up!

Simon
Simon is our post-player. Awesome dribbling skills, smooth moves, good outside shot, killer baseline crossover.
“I think Simon contributes most with his steadfastness and hardwork. I don’t see him missing training or slacking ever, except the one time when he woke up late after staying over at granny’s place. Indeed, he is a model of consistency and diligence.“
Simon is very patient with the team and always makes an effort to correct us when we are wrong. He only scolds us or urges us on whenever we play badly, showing his desire for us to really do well! Simon is a funny charecter off the court and always participates in our jokes. Simon is very hardworking and akways tries to help us, the weaker ones in our studies.

Stanley
Stanley is a hardworking kid on and off the court. He is the interact club chairman is really kind at heart. Off the court, Stanley is busy most of the time due to his committments. However, we always believe thats his passion remains with basketball. He is a rather ‘just do it’ kind of player and has no second thoughts about taking his shots or driving the lane. Stanley is also one of the more serious players on court together with Fang Tong, like the way that he is, he always puts in utmost effort and desire to do something that he really wants to do. This is a very devoted guy, we always encourage him for his willingness to try and his desire to improve. We love Stanley actually.

Yi Fei
Yi Fei joined us at the beginning of our third year in RI. He snubbed us in Secondary 1 (just like Kee Yao!) for rugby! But he’s a part of us now! Yi Fei is a very quiet person off the court, at least when he is with us. He’s still in his initial months of basketball training, and even though he may not be able to totally match up to the playing style of the rest of the team, he is trying and training hard to be up there with us. He isn’t the most confident of players as his finishing lets himself down at times, but we are all trying to be patient with him.

Zheng Feng
A very very special player.
“I think the only way to put into perspective how you’ve progressed is to think back to the days when I saw you in P6. I saw a superstar walking around during a match when he was not playing (2Q), looked quite detached from the team (and obviously team spirit was not a high priority on that team). Incredible individual player, but I was really not sure whether I could even rein him in and harness his incredible potential to fit into a team.“
Zheng Feng has proved himself to be an importanat asset to us. He’s the heart of our team, like what Zinedine Zidane is to France. He’s the fire for our victories, he’s the desire for our comebacks. Zheng Feng is an amazing player, I don’t think I will come across another one like him in my life. Off the court, Zheng Feng is into gaming!

Reflection

"What to do with a mistake - recognise it, admit it, learn from it, and forget it."

Dean Smith

Reflection Questions for C Div 2007

1) What would be the ONE thing that we did well for the season? what did we achieve that was most worthwhile?

2) If we had a chance to do this all over again, what we would be ONE thing that you will do differently?

C Div 2007: RI vs Jurong

Final Score
RI 47-50 Jurong

This was the last match of the group stage, and we had to win in order to qualify for the second round of the nationals.

We started off pretty tense, missing lots of free throws and executing our offense poorly, ending the quarter at 15-6. The second quarter was where we gained back our confidence, making timely interceptions and converting offensive rebounds and fastbreaks, going on a huge streak to lead 23-17. In the third quarter, Jurong managed to fight back, and led us by 6 points going into the last quarter. We fought hard, and down by 1 with 6 seconds to go, we misjudged their out of bounds play and allowed them to score an open basket, With 1 second left on the clock, Ravins tried a long range attempt which went in and out, marking the end of a really close game.

So, we're out of the nationals.

But we'll learn from our mistakes and do much better next time.

It Happened Before.

Hi C boys, I just want to have my say before you all go into your game. (please read coach's post, below mine)

2004: When I was Secondary 1, Raffles Basketball C division was nothing, no one expected us to make the nationals, or even the Top 4.

Nationals 1st Round: We had to beat either Rivervalley (Zone 2nd) or Woodlands Ring (Zone 1st) to qualify. We beat WRS by 8 points and lost to Rivervalley by 7. But we still qualified on a +1 point difference, we beat WRS and erased the 21 points pre-season thrashing by them.

Nationals 2nd Round: We had to beat either Maris Stella (Zone 3rd but expected to beat us) or Unity to qualify. We lost to Unity by 21 points. We entered the Maris game as underdogs. We were down by 10 at one point but we blitzed past them and won by 16. We qualified.

Nationals 3rd/4th placing: We lost to CCHSM in the semis by 7. So we played Woodgrove (Zone 2nd, and we were expected to lose). We stopped their superstar and we won by about 10+ points. So 2004 concluded RI C'div 2004: Zone 3rd, Nationals 3rd.

That year, our circumstance was even more impossible that what you'll are at now. So, its definitely possible.

2006:

Zone 2nd Round: We lost to Queensway by 1 unexpectedly, unplanned, unnecessarily. We dug ourselves into a hole and we had to find a way out by beating Newtown and Queenstown, both whom were seemingly good enough to beat us well. We beat Newtown by 17 we beat the Queenstown team (that we lost to by 20, 10, 5 points during a friendly, zone 1st round match, and semi final match respectively in 2004 during C Division) 21 points. We qualified.

So its your turn guys. Its never impossible. We did it, we weren't supposed to, but we intended to. We don't need you to emulate any success. Write your own story and beat Jurong on Monday. If its anything we have that the others don't have, its Dream Team FIGHT Win.

Winning Starts with a Compelling Vision

Every moment, even when the splitting headaches come, I think of winning. On the bed, before the computer, before and after I discovered I had chicken pox.

• I think of RI beating Jurong and going crazy when the whistle goes.
• I dream of the frozen faces of the Jurong players and fierce determination of the RI boys.
• I dream of the opponents missing layups and giving up offensive rebounds.
• I dream of them committing defensive fouls as we let loose and attack.

(heck I even think of beating them by 54 and knocking them out)

Doesn't matter whether I can be there or not, I can see that reality in my eyes.

Jonathan will do well, in training and even in matches. There are many blind spots that he has helped me correct. Every training session is a result of discussion between us. To coach the team all the way and hand it over to JW for last 2 sessions will help more than it impedes.

Take for example the jump stop instruction - I would never have thought about that.

So pick yourselvs up and go - stop emo-ing and prove yourselves worthy of wearing that jersey. For all your skills and ability, you have proven nothing yet.

Every batch has gone through severe setbacks and prevailed. You have gone through setbacks. But I've not seen you prevail. Wake up and prove yourselves!

Everybody thinks you will lose - are you guys in such a pathetic state that you think the same?

Gryphons Cup 2007: Review

Champions: RI 05

Runners Up: RI 95

MVP: Yao Zhen

Court Run Champion: Jaron Lee

3 on 3 Champions: David, Ricky, Shawn

Seen through my eyes...

Gryphons Cup 2007 surely must be the most memorable for RI 05 (Ray Wen, Kenneth, Aaron, Yao Zhen, Wei Quan, Jing Wei, Qing Yuan, Sun Ning, Yi Qing). This is the batch that have never played in any National competition before (with exception of Ray Wen in his sec 1 year). Even their highly anticipated final year in Raffles colours was also disappointing as they crashed out in the 1st round to eventual champion and runners up Hwa Chong & Innova JC.

This championship is indeed a first (in more ways than one) for the boys. Facing the dominating RI 95 with Low Jia Ren anchoring the post, I went in to coach them with no pressure and no expectations, just looking to push them as much as possible.

As anticipated, RI 95 started the game firing on all cylinders. Long range bombs, turnaround scoop shots, conversions off offensive rebounds, the juniors soon found themselves trailing by 10 and this extended to about 16 points by the 3rd quarter.

That was when Jia Ren came off for a breather and to avoid foul trouble. Sensing a chance to strike back, the Juniors turned on the 221 zone press and the full court man to man. With an amazing sequence of forced turnovers and breakaway layups, they quickly made up for the lead that RI 95 enjoyed. By the time Jiaren came back into the game, the momentum was way too strong and even the key players on RI 95 could not stop the J2s.

RI 05 ran out winners by 2 points (I think).

A Salute to RI 95...

I found you guys very gracious in defeat - it reminds me of the classics and the pioneers, for whom victory is important, but secondary to sportsmanship + celebration of the younger Rafflesians' success.

Perhaps it is age, perhaps it is maturity - In any case I just thank you for making this such a memorable experience for the J2s.

A Word for the Organisers
Thanks to Jaron, Daniel, Shawn & gang for organising - I do not think we take this for granted, that every batch will step up to play their part. I am just proud and excited that another batch has value-added to the legacy of Raffles Basketball.

C Div Boys 2007: Nationals 1st Round

Pardon late update, RI had 2 very bad games in the past 3 days.


RI 50 vs EastSpring 51

The team were mentally unprepared for the game and were handed a shock defeat by East Zone 3rd place team EastSpring.
It was a game where everything wrong occured together:

1. Poor play
2. Disunity
3. Dubious calls
4. All other problems you can think of, including a late bus.

We deserved to lose and dug ourselves this hole - now we have to climb out of it.


RI 48 vs Maris Stella 46
With 1 serious injury, 1 sick boy, and the possibility of elimination, RI turned in an extremely nervous & subpar performance. We led for 3 quarters but never managed to pull away. Then in the 4th quarter, Maris turned the tables and led RI by as much as 6 points.
With our backs against the wall, RI dug in a fought back and staged a miraculous turnaround to win by 2. Indeed the only way to describe it is: 死里逃生

With these 2 games, RI has to beat Jurong to ensure qualification for 2nd round. Any loss and our fate will depend on other results.

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, we press on toward the goal to win the prize

C Div Boys 2007: Nationals

Group A: Catholic High, Dunman Sec, Deyi, NanHua
Group B: Jurong, Raffles, East Spring, Maris Stella
Group C: Presbyterian High, Unity, Pierce, Chung Cheng High
Group D: Anglican High, North Vista, Kranji, Queensway

Schedule for Nationals
(All matches at Singapore Basketball Centre)

1 Aug 1400hrs: RI vs East Spring
3 Aug 1630hrs: RI vs Maris Stella
13 Aug 1515hrs: RI vs Jurong

South Zone Finals: RI vs Catholic High

RI play Catholic High in the South Zone Finals, C Div 2007

Date: 24th July 2007
Time: 1500hrs
Venue: Delta Sports Complex

RI lost 57-64 in the South Zone Finals. We led in the 1st quarter after falling behind at the start. Halfway through the game we led again but lost it going into end game. With 50 sec left, we were 2 points down. However with 3 starters down with cramps and one fouled out, we had to go deep deep into our bench.

However we lost concentration on 2 full-court presses and allowed Cat High 2 easy baskets and a free throw. That accounted for the eventual 7 point gap.

This does not need to be a bad loss if we can learn from it. Of all things, it exposed clearly a few of our stubborn habits. Now that it has cost us dearly, we should be highly motivated to change them. I'm also thankful that we were tested for the first time this season, we need these games to improve - and I believe we have much more short-term upside compared to the other teams.

We'll be back.


Preview
RI enter the game as underdogs, having lost to Cat High by 20 points in a pre-season match. However a lot has changed for the RI team since then, and we have reason to believe that it will be competitive this time round.

2 teams of contrasting strengths:

Cat High

• 2x 1.85-1.9m post players
• 1x Malaysian
• 3 superstars (1 at point guard, 1 at forward, one at the post)
• Experienced and mostly sec 2s

Raffles

• Average height all round
• Deep team with no superstars
• Relatively inexperienced with a mix of sec 1s and sec 2s

Come support the younger generation fo Rafflesian Basketballers as we attempt to break the stranglehold Cat High has enjoyed on the local scene the past 2 years.
(Cat High will likely bring a big group of supporters, we need every bit of support we can muster.

It will be RI's 3rd C Div SZ finals in 3 years - it's about time we win it.

South ZoneSemi Finals: RI vs Peirce

Final Score:
RI 58-39 Peirce Sec

This was the semi-final of the South Zone tournament, and was a closely contested affair.

In the first quarter, RI let in some outside shots, but led 16-11 at the break. The second quarter wasn't played very well, tying 12-12, and leading by only 5 points at the hald. We got back our stride in the game, and outscored them 16-12 in the 3rd quarter, and finally punished a tiring Perice 14-4 in the final quarter, to win 58-39.

We committed many stupid fouls, with 3 players nearly fouling out.

Bad Points:
1) Guarding High Post
2) Stupid Fouls
3) Rebounding

South Zone 2nd Round (C Div)

Group X: ACS (International), Guang Yang, Catholic High, Henderson, Pierce
Group Y: Yu Ying, Queensway, Raffles, Kent Ridge, Outram

All 2nd round matches at CCAB

• 9 Jul (Mon) 1415hrs - RI vs Kent Ridge (won 84-16)
• 11 Jul (Wed) 1300hrs - Outram vs RI (won 61 - 36)
• 13 Jul (Fri) 1415hrs - RI vs Queensway (won 67-28)
• 16 Jul (Wed) 1300hrs - RI vs Yu Ying (won 65-30)

Semi Finals: 20 Jul 07 (Friday) @ CCAB

• 1415hrs: Cat High vs Queensway
• 1530hrs: RI vs Pierce
  

Finals: 24 Jul 07 (Tuesday) @ Delta

Gryphons Cup: Flashback 2004 (RI '95 vs RI'03)

Game 1: RI95 vs J1 (Gabriel, Hongyi), 2004/08/01, Sunday

When all was said and done, RI95 delivered yet again when it mattered the most. Down by 4 points with 90 seconds left in the game, most individuals, let alone teams, would have given up the fight. But not this bunch. You don't 3-peat without resolve and fire in your bellies.

Already hampered by an injury to key starter Jeff, not to mention missing some key players (need I say more? Come back guys!), RI95 got off to their traditional slow start. Only this time, even slower than usual, as they lost the opening tip-off, or as J-Low would later say, "tip-off was stolen", and lost two points. Signs that it was gonna be a long day simply got worse with some dubious 3-second calls (when players were nowhere near the paint at times) and a 24-second shot-clock violation that wiped-out a scored basket, little things that seemed to knock RI95 out of their stride. (Moral of the story: when the ref asks for the ball, politely give ONE, not two, balls to him and "politely" ask him to change his jersey if it clashes with our own colours, especially if he is almost a generation older than us :P) First quarter score: 6-6.

Second quarter, saw the J1s imposing themselves, and showing their match/tournament fitness, knocking in a couple of threes to build up a small lead. But Sneaky kept Black close with his trademark running jumpers, as we clawed our way back. Ended the half down 3 or 4 (or was it 5 or 6) when it could easily have been worse.

A half-time "pep talk" by J-Lo that focused on man-on-man defense that went something like, "let's make it a point to stop your man from scoring/getting rebounds, etc. if your man scores, that means your defence SUCK (when correct English says it should be "sucks" with the ending 's') ", seemed to give the DEFENDING AND FIVE-TIME CHAMPIONS a new resolve, and they played stifling defence, while getting the job done on the offensive end. Closed the gap to about 2 points after third quarter, thanks too to some reversal of fortune on the refereeing end (a couple of charging calls in our favour, we had four in total, which is a tad too many I think, and might have been a result of K-Poh =P upsetting the same ref while being "coach" of the J1s).

Yet, deep into the final quarter, Black could get no closer, till J1s star big-man Hongyi fouled out with about 3-4 minutes to go. Still, 90 seconds left, down 22-26, even other teams/players watching on the sidelines did not seem to give us a chance (even though I think quite a number, especially those likely to finish top of their groups, wanted us to win). Two comeback plays that ended in open looks under the basket from Chubby and ShiHong tied the game.

Comeback Play #1 Seeing the lane open, Leon pulls a cross-over and drives in...
Tim's defender steps up to help... Leon spots Tim open, who closes the gap to 2 points.







Comeback Play #2 Dunno what the J1s were doing, but they left Tim and Shihong free in the low-post with only 1 defender. Easy ball in from Leon, Shihong puts up a hook shot off the board to even the game.
As Tim put it afterward, "the ball seemed to be in the air for the longest time" before it fell in. Exciting!
p.s. OZONE equipment compliments of Low Jiaren.

The J1s had a chance to regain the lead when Gabriel missed a jumper but instead, RI95 went back the other way, got the ball low to J-Low, who was fouled, ala hack-a-shaq style, with 5 seconds left in the game. Jiaren calls a time-out to rest and regain focus before the free-throws. During the time-out, Leon pleaded to Jiaren, "At least one, please...". Jiaren proceeded to miss the first free throw, but Wylie calmly commented before the second was taken, "this one's going in¨.

RI95 took the lead for the first time in the game.

The J1s in-bounded the ball with 5 seconds left on the clock. In their hurry to bring the ball up-court for a last-ditch attempt, the J1s committed an "over-the-shoulder¨ violation and literally ditched any chance of defeating the DEFENDING CHAMPIONS. RI95 celebrated yet another victory to add to the treasure chest of our Gryphon's Cup memories.

After the game, Sneaky Chan sends sneaky sms to make sneaky plans for the evening, while Tim and Jiaren look on in relief after a tiring but satisfying game...

Wylie squeezes in his fat face... while holding the camera in his right hand.

Becky has officially attended more g-cup games than Suku.
With Jeffrey recovering from a nasty sprained ankle, and already confirmed to be out for G-Cup, the team is looking to bring back it's overseas talent for this coming weekend...

South Zone 2nd Round: RI vs YuYing

Final Score:
RI 65-30 Yuying Secondary

16/7/07 Monday

This was the last match of the second round, and was inconsequential to our qualification for the semi finals of the zonals.

The first quarter started off with a 6-0 run, as we cruised to a 17-2 lead. The second quarter wasn't as great, with a close score of 11-7, ending the half at 28-9. The third quarter was average, going 19-12 in our favour, and we started 2-2-1 trapping in the final quarter and won by a margin of 35 points.

Bad Points:
1) Passing (Outlet and cross-court) was horrible, and we gave away about 20 possessions
2) Echoing on court
3) Defensive Rebounding (Box-outs)

Gryphons Cup 2007 Groupings

GROUP A

1. RI 95
2. RI 02/03 (Zhaoming)
3. RI 00 (Junren) + Luokai

GROUP B

1. RI 97
2. Classics
3. RI 04 (Nicholas)

GROUP C

1. RI 06 (Daniel)
2. Pioneers
3. RI 05 (Raywen)
4. RI 07 (Anzhen)

GROUP D

1. RI 96 (Joel)
2. RI 01 (Darren)
3. RJ 96 (Huafeng)
4. RI 08 (Siyuan)

Top 2 from each group qualifies for quarter-finals (knock-out)

Check out news of previous Gryphons Cup matches!

Chck out pictures from G-Cup 2004

South Zone 2nd Round: RI vs Queensway

Final Score:
RI 67-28 Queensway

This match was a tough one, especially as they were also vying for the top spot in the group.

We led 13-8 after the first quarter, letting in some wild 3 point shots. We did our best in the second quarter, shutting them down to win 22-7, and lead 35-15 at the half.

The third quarter was where we started our man to man defense, and we managed a respectable 13-7 lead in that quarter, bringing the scoreline to 48-22 in our favour. The last quarter was where we started trapping, and we ended the game 67-28.

Our next match is on Monday against Yuying!

Raffles Basketball Leadership Teams

Raffles Basketball Annual Awards

Raffles Basketball Annual Awards 2007

Nominees for Most Improved Player:
1) Danny Chua
2) Dillon Tan
3) Feng Yi Fei
4) Wee Zijian
5) Pang Wei Han
6) Ding Jianhan

Post your comments on who you think is most deserving of the award!

Nominees for Best Young Player - post your nominations for BYP!

South Zone 2nd Round: RI vs Outram

Final Score:
RI 61-36 Outram

This was the second match of the second round, and was by far the most challenging. We played out a messy first quarter to lead 20-12, after giving away many fastbreak layups. The second quarter was where we started to focus, and extended the lead to a halftime score of 39-20. The third and fourth quarter were very tight, with us not being able to defend the high post man, and marred with some really vicious fouls from the opposing team. We ended the game on a high note, winning 61-36.

South Zone 2nd Round: RI vs Kent Ridge

Final Score: RI 84-16 Kent Ridge

This was the first match of the 2nd round of the south zone tournament. With some scares of diarrhoea and fever the previous week, we were back to full strength again (other than brandon's sprained ankle).

We started the first quarter playing good zone defense, storming to a 16-2 lead.
In the second quarter, we let our guard down, playing bad defense and executing poor offensive plays, barely beating them 12-10 and ending the quarter with a 28-12 lead. We regained our composure in the third quarter, limiting them to 2 points and leading 44-14. We did our 2-2-1 trap and full court man to man defense in the last quarter, killing off the game with a 40-2 swipe and winning the match 84-16.

C Div Boys 2007 1st Round

The C Div boys season is ON!

Click on the link for the complete SZ Fixtures!

Here're the RI fixtures (all matches @ CCAB):

• 27/6 Wednesday 1530hrs - ACS(I) vs RI 8 - 108
• 29/6 Friday 1415hrs - RI vs Peicai 112-15
• 3/7 Tuesday 1415hrs - Guangyang vs RI 27 - 51
• 5/7 Thursday 1300hrs - RI vs Fairfield Methodist 59-33

Look out for updates on our pre-season preparation!

Gryphons Cup 2007

Gryphons Cup 2007 is here!

(Every year, hundreds of Rafflesian basketballers across the decades gather to renew their ties and competitive fire in Gryphons Cup. This has become a permanent and important fixture in the calendar.)

Mark your calendar for 28 Jul, 29 Jul & 4 Aug.

The teams competing this year are:

1. RI Pioneers '79/80/81 (Swee Teck)
2. RI Classics (Red)
3. RI Black 95 (Low Jiaren)
4. RI 96 (Joel)
5. RJ 96 (Teh Hua Fung)
6. RI Blue 97 (Warren Mah)
7. RI Black (Junren)
8. RI Blue (Darren)
9. RI 02/03 (Zhaoming)
10. RI Black 04 (Nicholas Lim)
11. RI Blue 05 (Lim Ray Wen)
12. RI Yellow 06 (Daniel Wu Yang)
13. RI Red 07 (Chng Anzhen)
14. RI Black 08 (Yeo Siyuan)

SZ 1st Round: RI vs Fairfield Methodist

RI beat Fairfield 59-33 in the final match of the first round of the south zone tournament.

It was a very uplifting result, especially when we did not have all our players fully fit/ able to play.

The first quarter was played with little optimism, and somehow we ended it trailing 8-7.
We picked up the fight in the 2nd quarter and converted some fastbreak opportunites to lead 23-12 at the half.
We started tiring and in the third quarter, we played out a fairly even contest which ended 15-14 in our favour, making it 38-26.
The last quarter was a high scoring one, 21-7 to us, and we won the match 59-33.

Batch '07: A Walk to Remember! :)

South Zone 1st Round: RI vs Guangyang

The third match of the first round of the South Zone C div tournament was played today.
Final Score: RI 51-27 Guangyang

The first quarter produced a sluggish start from both sides which was full of missed under baskets and layups, ending 8-6 in our favour. After a scrappy second quarter, we managed to force out a slender lead of 9 points. 19-10 at the half.

The third quarter was where we extended most of our lead, with some fastbreak opportunities, ending 39-17. The last quarter played out a man-to-man defense for us, and the game ended 51-17.

All in all, it was a very very poor and dispirited performance by us, and we do need to buck up and concentrate more on the game. We were very confident after the first two 100-point games and our overconfidence showed.

We have to win on thursday

South Zone 1st Round: RI vs Peicai Secondary

Final Score:
RI 112-15 Peicai Secondary

RI swept aside Peicai by a margin of 97 points in the 2nd match of the South Zone tournament. Although we didnt reach our goal of keeping the opposition under 10 points for the whole game, we are still rather pleased with the result.

The first quarter ended with a scoreline of 28-7 in our favour, after their main post player made a few turnaround shots.

We upped the tempo in the second quarter, and limited them to just 4 points to lead 56-11.

The 3rd quarter showed many signs of tiredness as the scoreline came to 72-15.

The last quarter was by far the most memorable as we whitewashed them 40-0 with our half court and full court man to man defence.

As Coach puts it, he wants to see the fight and fire in us through our communication, defense intensity, and rebounding, and we must remain confident but not cocky after winning this match.

First Match of South Zone

Yesterday was the highly anticipated first match of the south zone tournament, against ACS I.

Final Score: RI 108-8 ACS I

RI played with great heart and blew away the opponents by a margin of 100 points.

Our next match is against Peicai on friday at 2pm at CCAB.

T Net Final

Sorry for the late post.

Final Score: RI 36-40 Jurong

RI lost the final to Jurong on the 16th of June in a closely contested match.
RI dominated the boards in the first half, to lead by a score of 20-18.
Evidently distracted by the half-time performances, we lost our concentration and played out a 3rd quarter in which they outscored us 14-7.
We weren't able to salvage the situation in time and we lost the match 40-36.
All in all, we could see their shooting and intensity of defense was better than ours.

We've gotta fight to make sure we get back on par with them!

RI-Unity

Final Score: RI 43-28 Unity

This game was played on 12/6/07 and was the final match of the 2nd round of the T-Net tournament, and was crucial in every sense of the word. If we had won, we would be through to the finals, having won all our 2nd round matches. If we had lost, we would have made it to the 3rd-4th placings. We WON and we're IN THE FINALS!

So the game was like this:

In the first quarter, we managed to stop their star tall player No. 3 and played great zone defense with communication rated 7/10 by coach (10/10 he says includes trash talking like "shoot" and "drive" and daring the opponent to do something) and the scoreline said it all-- 14-4 after the first quarter to us.

In the next few quarters, RI and Unity exchanged blows when they played man-to-man full court. Without their main star player who had apparently gone to genting, Unity appeared out of offensive threats other than their No. 3 who controlled the ball extremely well.

We won in the end by 15 points, a respectable margin by all sorts.

RI vs Unity

Raffles-Christchurch Secondary

Final Score: RI 59-31 Christchurch Secondary

This morning, we played the 2nd match of the 2nd round of the T-Net tournament.
We were up against Christchurch Secondary and their star Malaysian no. 12.

We started off with a 3-2 zone defense and clamped down on their star player's offense. We gave up some open looks, and the score settled at 12-10 to RI after a hard-fought first quarter.

In the second quarter, we played pressure defense and increased our lead to 25-16.

In the third quarter, their players seemed to have tired out and we put on the pressure with a 3 pt line man-to-man defense. Although the intensity wasn't as great as expected, we romped to a 40-22 lead by the end of the third quarter.

We played out the last quarter with average intensity and won the match 59-21.

Bad points:
1) Communication--coach gave us a 5/10 for this aspect of the game and there is much room for improvement
2) Rebounding--when to box out and when to rush in and get the ball (perimeter players must rush in and help too)
3) Game Intensity at the start--we dominated the first quarter with a great deal of the possesion yet the scoreline was only 12-10--we needed to finish our open baskets

Good points (from Coach):
1) First time we were able to maintain an average intensity throughout the game (consistent)
2) The WHOLE TEAM is back together

What Coach wants:
1) Talking to be 10/10 so that we frighten off the opponenents so much that they turn the ball over
2) Wants us to kill off all opponents such that RI would have a reputation which makes opponents tremble in their pants before they even get on court
3) More intensity

"Offense entertains, defense wins games, rebounding wins championships!"

RI (A)-Macpherson Secondary

This game marked the start of the 2nd round, and it ended with a final score of 57-26.

Coach had found out that their biggest threats were in their lanky and mobile posts, and ordered us to set up a 3-2 zone. This was a great tactic as we raced to a 26-5 lead in the first quarter. As we started our 3 point line man-to-man defense, it still looked bright as we romped to a 43-11 lead at the half. From there, we started to get cocky and felt that we had won the game already. Macpherson Sec outscored us 15-14 in a dispirited second half to end the game 57-26.

Lessons to remember:
1) Mindset--although we came ready to play (all the mental preparation and all) we didnt come ready to FIGHT and PUNISH the opposition for ALL 4 QUARTERS!
2) Adapting to defenses--this was no excuse as we had played the man to man since the beggining of the year
3) Fitness--we all were not very match fit and were panting after the first half

That's all so far we've got lots of training to do

RI (A)-Springfield Secondary

This was the last match of the 1st round of the T-Net tournament and was a "do-or-die" game as we had already lost to Cat High.

This game was played with much greater intensity and communication compared to the previous game against a weaker opposition, and the final score was 57-10. Before the game, we did our mental preparation (all the free throws and rebounding stuff) and we set a goal to limit them to less than 3 points a quarter, which we eventually achieved. All went well except for a few leaks here and there and the lack of energy in the last quarter. We ought to have punished them by an even greater scoreline but this match was the one which brightened us up as it was our first spirited performance of the tournament.

RI (A)-Woodlands Ring Secondary

This was the 3rd match of the first round of the T-net tournament.
The game was played with terribly low intensity, with the final score being 39-15.
We had beaten the same team by a scoreline of 70 points way way back this year, and it seems that we had gone into the match too cockily.
Our posts were outrebounded by their big centre who scored about 10 of their 15 points.

Main Lessons:
1) COMMUNICATION--we still did not talk AT ALL
2) Boxing Out--don't let their centre get all the rebounds
3) Contest the shots
4) HELP--when helping ask someone to cover the man you left to help your other teamate

T-Net 2nd Match

On 30th May, RI C Div team played it's 2nd match of the T-Net tournament
Final Score:
RI (A) 24-55 Catholic High
RI (B) 22-36 Pierce Secondary

For team A, this match was extremely disappointing for us, as we felt that we were able to challenge last years champions and potentially beat them in our first meeting of the year.
The match started off brightly with RI leading 5-0 in the opening minutes, but by the end of the first quarter, we were down by 7 points.
With their 3 tallies, Cat High out-rebounded, out-scored and when on a 10-0 run in the middle of the second quarter.
We didn't play particularly well in the 2nd half and we lost the game by 30 points.

Most important lesson:
TALK--we needed to communicate (whether its on defense, offense, helping or whatsoever)

For team B, quoting from Ryan Chin on the C Div Blog:
"hi guys, just an update about team b's match against peirce sec on 29th may. lost by 14 points 36-22. points were mainly given up coz of steals and fastbreaks by our opponents. they used the full-court trap for most of the game, which we didnt know really well how to break it and so we gave up many points because of mis-passes under pressure, and interceptions. we also lost out in rebounds, we are not boxing-out properly, and not going for the rebounds, ending up with our opponents getting the offensive rebound and putting it back into the basket. Well, we have learnt our lesson. we'll do better for the next match. =)"

First match for both team A & B

Final Score:
RI (A) 52-15 Hougang
RI (B) 8-76 Jurong

Quoting from Ryan Tan on the C Div blog:

"For team A, like i said during debrief just now, lacking defensive intensity and yeah i missed 10 open baskets, weixuan missed 4. But we addressed the problems after the game just now and i think it's good that we can always reflect over the game and have a nice debrief as a team. At the end of the day, it's quite evident that the margin of winning matters to each and every one of us so we can never take opponents lightly. We won today, convincingly, but we were way too overconfident. A win is a win, but still, yeah.

For team B, i think all of you gave up from the very beginning, all of you resigned to fate that a loss was definite. But that isn't the right spirit. No matter who the opponents are, this mentality makes it all the better for the opposing team, half the battle is already lost. But yes the skill difference, physical superiority was just far too hard to handle. But still, great job not dropping your heads. Especially ERIC LIP WEI DE. MAN OF THE MATCH. BEAUUUTIFUL TURNAROUND JUMPER FOUL IN. But the free throw, ahh i dont have to spell it out. HA. Zijian did a great job on their centre as well, so yes. Weihan too, never gave up, always sprinted back on defense, so i really must say the fighting spirit as the game progressed was impressive. Don't be too disappointed=)"

T-Net Tournament

Coach divided us into two teams, with team A consisting of:
Ryan Tan
Ravins Cheung
Chua Weixuan
Daniel Chander
Brandon Yap
Justin Chua
Jordaan Goh
Lawrence Gregory
Ding Jian Han
Brendan Sim

and team B consisting of:
Ryan Chin
Yuet Cheong
Benjamin Ng
Zi Jian
Eric Lip
Greg
Wei Han
Mohammad
Marcus
Yi Xuan
Nicholas

RI-Jurong

sorry for the late post

RI's C division team played a friendly against Jurong Secondary on 17th May at Spans.
The first half was played with full-blown intensity, with the opposing team's centre grabbing many rebounds. It ended 20-24 in favour of Jurong. The second half was when both coaches decided to rotate the bench and allow more players to play, and the match ended with Jurong winning 48-47.

Gryphons Basketball Archives

Gryphons Basketball has a rich history. Click here to find out more.

1. Batch Profiles
2. Honours
3. Player Awards

A Div Girls: RJC 50 vs VJC 53

sorry for not reporting of late.
anyway, i shall report on the A division Girls' finals against VJC.

on our finals agaist vjc last friday, the girls fought hard but eventually lost to VJC by 3 points. the game started out pretty evenly with both sides scoring successively. the first quarter ended with RJC having a modest lead over VJC. in the second, the RJC girls played well, extending our lead to 7 points. however, in the third period, VJC bounced back and everything started going wrong for us. the third quarter saw VJC taking the lead with a 9 point advantage over us. the RJ girls fought hard in the final quarter and closed the lead, however, we were running short of time and when the final whistle was blown, we were still 3 points down.

it was a heartbreaking loss, but nevertheless, a good fight, and a great journey.

A Div Girls

The RJC girls have our new fixtures for our quarter finals. In this round we are grouped with HCJC and JJC. The other group consists of AJC, VJC and TJC.

The A Div girls play JJC tomorrow, Wed 9th May 1pm at SBC and HCJC on the coming Monday 14th May at 1pm.

Do come down and support us!

RJC versus HCI, 27th April

Our team lost to HCI today and is officially eliminated from the group stage. Nevertheless, it was clear that the team gave it their all and played well.

The game started off with both teams unsettled offensively. Trouble came quickly when our starting PG, Yao Zhen got into foul trouble. He collected 2 fouls in the 1st minute, and coach was forced to keep him out of the game. Fortunately, we held our composure and got off to a good offensive rhythm, gaining an 8 point lead in the 2nd quarter. HCI’s PG also got into foul trouble soon after and was kept at the bench. Despite this, their bench was deep as the other HCI players turned up their intensity and managed to reduce the lead to 1 at half-time.

In the 3rd quarter, both teams started to trade baskets. HCI slowly gained their offensive flow, and got into their usual run-and-gun game. I personally feel this was the turning point of the game. Eventually, they got the lead and build it to about 8-9 points. We also lost much of our offensive rhythm and struggled to contain them. Still, everyone fought hard, defended fiercely and never gave up.

In the 4th quarter, with both our PGs fouled out, Ray Wen was forced to handle the ball and this limited his offensive chances greatly. We then started using much of our press to force turnovers. It worked fairly well, but an experienced team like HCI did not let us take much advantage of it. Yup so the game was over, we lost.

Personally, I believe this has been the most memorable game for many of us. Despite the emotionally-crushing defeat last week, the team held each other together and fought truly hard today. We are all proud of ourselves. Every loss was painful, but the joy of fighting hard together and trusting each other will become precious memory for all of us. Yup so I thank the team for all the effort being put in throughout these months of training. Also, thank you Coach and Mr Quek for all the guidance and patience.

To the J1s, you guys have so much potential yet to be shown in your game. Keep your heads up and train hard for next year. The J2s will be down supporting u guys all the way.
Yup we have one more game next week. Let’s go down to the court with the right mindset and play our last game with all our hearts. Dream, Team, Fight, Win.

4th May, RJC versus YJC.

Our last match together as a team playing competitive basketball. Overall result was . Wasn't exactly a good way to end the season. First quarter ended off with a low score of 5-4. Got back to our feet after the 1st half and won by a margin of about 17 points.

Even though the season has ended. The J2s will definitely return and help out the juniors in any possible.

Rock on and Peace out.

A Div Girls: RJC 48 vs AJC 21

The RJC Girls played a good game against AJC to win our last game of this round 48-21. We started off the match well and managed to pull the scoreline apart early on in the game. Apart from the fact that quite a few of our players ran into some foul trouble, this has been our best performance of the round.

The RJC Girls will advance into the next round, which commences next week.

jiayou.

A Div Girls: RJC 71 vs IJC 9

The RJC girls played a good game on friday to beat Innova JC 71-9

It was a good opportunity for each player to gain some match experience, especially for the younger J1s, and also improve on our team cohesion in preparation for future matches. Overall the team played well but not without some hitches here and there. There is definitely much room for improvement and we are confident that we will continue to do better in the matches to come.We are picking up our pace and gaining good momentum for the rest of the season.

Within the group for the A Div Girls, AJC beat SAJC on friday, so RJC and AJC will be advancing into the next round.

The RJC girls play AJC on Wednesday 2pm at Clementi Sports Hall.

A Div Girls: RJC beat IJC (by a lot)

A Div Boys: RJC 38 vs HCI 54

A Div Girls

RJC 52 vs SAJC 47

The A Division Girls fought hard today to secure for ourselves a win against SAJC.
It was a close game with a score difference of about 3-6 in the first half but we managed to pull away in the third quarter, gaining a comfortable lead in excess of 10 points. But SAJC fought back in the fourth and caught up quickly.

This is our first challenging match of the season and the experience we have gained from this match will surely help us in our future matches against more formidable opponents.
May we 精益求精 and fight on =)

Our next match will be against IJC this friday, 2.40pm at Clementi Sports Hall.




RGS 59 vs Anderson 62
On a separate note, the B Division Girls from RGS lost in the finals today against Anderson, but their fighting spirit was extremely commendable. The girls had a bad start in the first half, trailing by more than 20 points in the second quarter, but managed to fight back and close the difference to a mere 2 points in the last quarter.

It was a heartbreaking loss, but the girls' never-say-die fighting spirit was truly one to be proud off.
Well done girls.

All the best to the A Div boys for their match this Friday. Believe in yourselves and fight hard so you can all walk tall and proud, with no regrets, regardless of the outcome.
dream, team, fight, then win.

"A" Div Gals

RJC 44 vs NYJC 20

RJC girls won their first game in the "A" Div Basketball Competition. They are in Group A with: SAJC, AJC, NYJC & IJC

Group B: VJC, JJC, TPJC, SRJC, NJC
Group C: HCI, ACJC, YJC, MI, TJC

Next match
Wednesday 1300hrs
RJC vs SAJC @ Clementi Sports Hall

Stand Up and Fight!

It was my 3rd crushing loss in 3.5 months - that painful loss to Outram Sec by 1 point; so near and yet so far with Serangoon Gardens in the NIKE Finals; and today the loss to Innova JC for the A Div.

Guys (A Div), STAND UP and FIGHT!

This is only your 1st loss of the season. If there is reason for you to give up, then I should have buried myself underground a long time ago.

JC2s, you've never made it past the zone competitions before. This year everything looked promising. You are not going to give up just because you messed up the first match?

STAND UP and FIGHT! Get up and prepare to play HCI. Track record does not matter - their past championships do not matter. Let's go out there and redeem yourselves.


Groupings
A: HCI, IJC, RJC, YJC
B: AJC, CJC, ACJC, JJC, NYJC
C: TJC, NJC, MI, SAJC, MJC
D: VJC, TPJC, SRJC, PJC, ACS (I)

A Div Basketball First Round

RJC versus IJC (Innova JC), 20th April

The first match of the year for the A Div has ended. To our dismay, RJ has lost to IJC. (score: 45-57). First two quarters started off reasonably well, with us trailing behind and managed to take a lead of 8 points. However, things went downhill near the end of the 2nd quarter. Unnecessary fouls were made, getting cut past easily, no rebounds etc. Rebounds and underbaskets were mostly dominated by the opponent's number 13. Personally, I feel that the number 13 was phyiscally better than us. Many turnovers , like mis-passing, were also made which lead to a few fastbreaks by the opponents.

Overall, our mindset during the game was not up to standard. Yes, we do want to win, but it seems like the opponents want it more than us. The next match will be HCI at CSH (Clementi Sports Hall) at 4.10pm.

Good points:
- defence intensity was there

Bad points:
- no rebounds
- lots of turnovers (unforced)

To the A Div: Lose is lose, whatever that happened today can only be blamed upon ourselves. However, lets not let it affect us. The season is not over yet. There's still HCI and YJC. Get our minds set, rekindle the fire to fight and win, and achieve victory. We have trained so hard, so we aren't gonna drop our heads and sulk, are we?

Introducing C Div 2007

C Div Match Report--RI vs Deyi

C Div Basketball Friendly: RI vs Deyi Secondary
18/4/07

@Raffles Institution Basketball Court

Final Score--RI 86: Deyi 41

The heated game was marred with tension between both teams and against the referee, with a combined total of 36 fouls committed, and a number of players fouling out from the opposing side. In the first quarter, RI played excellent defense and strolled to a commanding 24-4 lead. In the second quarter, RI let in some easy baskets but still maintained a margin of about 20 points, with the first half ending at 41-16 in RI’s favour. The second half started a rotation of the whole RI bench, and a total of 14 players got to play for the home side. In the third quarter, the opposing no. 14 managed to get some open looks and made the points count. The fourth quarter sparked a ferocious RI revival, overpowering their opponents to end the game with an 86-41 victory. There was a fifth quarter which RI won in the end. All in all, the guards played well and the posts made a commendable effort combining together for 35 points and a huge number of offensive rebounds.

Learning points:

1. Communication on defense—improved but still room for more
2. Jam the cuts—especially for the guards
3. Post defense—front the man/ bend low and put your arms out
4. Better boxing out
   

RJC 2007 A Div Campaign

RJC "A" Boys have been drawn with:

1. Innova JC
2. Hwa Chong Institution
3. Yishun JC

20 Apr, 1400hrs, RJC vs IJC @ Singapore Basketball Centre
27 Apr, 1600hrs RJC vs HCI @ Clementi Sports Hall
4 May, 1400hrs RJC vs YJC @ Singapore Basketball Centre

It's been a few barren years for RJC Basketball (boys). Yet this year, the team is shaping up well in training and we look forward to surprise a few opponents.

Nike League Finals: Raffles vs Serangoon Gardens

Serangoon 56 vs RI 49

RI lost the finals in a mostly see-sawing affair. Big leads were rare and the game started with both teams noticeably tense.

Credit to SGSS, they played well and made the most use of their dominant big man. RI was not able to get into our preferred game at all. Apart from the few fast breaks we got at the beginning, they did very well to stop Danny from orchestrating the fast breaks.

RI missed a good number of open layups, about 5. That proved to be the main regret that we'll all walk away with. It was really a game within our reach. Perhaps something we could have almost won comfortably if we got our game going.

Yet this is not something that we should allow, to take away from the closure that we wanted for this season. We had 7 good games after losing in the South Zone. Of all things, I managed to correct some of my own regrets.

At the end of the day, the goal for this tournament was to enjoy ourselves, enjoy one another, and give us a chance to prove to ourselves that we did not waste our time the past year.

That I feel we accmplished, although it certainly would be sweeter if we had won. However, victory is never forever and defeat is never final.

I'm sure we'll live to fight together another day.

Report of Semifinal

In a game played on Wednesday, we defeated Hougang Secondary by a score of 80-54. The game was started with some excellent fast break opportunities converted by our forwards. Much of our emphasis in the game was on the defence, especially against Hougang who relied on one star player, Number 9 on offence.

In the end, the sheer size difference and skill difference made for a comfortable win as we dominated the boards and scored almost all the transition baskets. On defence, we were not quite as good as could have been defending the perimeter, as they managed to get a few wide open looks for three, which they promptly converted. Zhengfeng played well today, scoring 29 points, one shy of his previous game's tally. An Zhen also scored 21 points, mostly on the fast break. Credit goes to Hougang who fought hard despite the scoreline.

We will be playing Serangoon Gardens on Friday, and again, the focus will be on defence. We are going to give it our all.

Nike League Finals: Raffles vs Serangoon Gardens

Raffles Institution B Div team will be playing Serangoon Gardens Secondary School in the Finals of the Nike League.

Date: 13 April 2007 (Friday)
Time: 1615hrs
Venue: Singapore Basketball Centre (601, Aljunied Crescent)

We beat Hougang Sec today in the Semi-Finals. Report will follow soon.

Come see our excellent B Div team in action for the last time!

RI in Final Four

RI beat Chung Cheng Yishun 60-52 on Monday to advance to the semifinals of the Nike Schools League.

The game started out quite close for both teams, with Danny scoring freely and getting the first few baskets. Chung Cheng #7 led the charge back into the game with his sharp shooting, scoring 3 three pointers in the first quarter alone. Nevertheless, we maintained a slim lead into the second quarter, led by good performances by Zheng Feng and Danny, who combined for 51 points in the entire game.

Despite an adequate effort on defence, the score was alot closer than it should have been, with some squandered chances that we had, as well as the treys from #7, who was having a hot shooting day. He ended up with 10 3 pointers in the game. Nevertheless, by the fourth quarter, we were firmly in control and held on to our lead decisively in the last few minutes, milking out the clock. We will be facing Hougang next on Wednesday.

RI passes round of Sixteen

Our game against Kent Ridge Secondary School marked the beginning of the knock out stages for us. Overall, it was a well contested match with the score kept closely matched all the way till the end of the game.

It was definitely a bad start for us as we were down by 12 points after the first 5 minutes of the match. Again, the lack of effort to bring the defensive intensity up led to a bad defensive performance by RI. Also, RI was lackluster on the defensive boards, leading to a few easy put backs by the centres of Kent Ridge during the first quarter. However, RI proved to be more productive in the second quarter, regaining the lead. In the second half, RI was on a roll as Zhengfeng hit 5 3 pointers to pull the score apart. Kent Ridge never got back the lead resulting in a win for RI, with a scoreline of 46-38.

Good sportsmanship was displayed by players from both sides as it was a rather low fouling game.

Raffles Institution 84-32 Riverside Secondary

Raffles Institution 84-32 Riverside Secondary

In the Nike’s League match played on the 2nd of April 2007, we defeated a Riverside Secondary team by a score of 84-32. Despite the large margin of victory however, we got off to a shaky start due to a string of petty fouls which Riverside were able to capitalize on to take an early 4-2 lead. A lack of intensity on both the offensive and defensive ends continued as the first half progressed and this resulted in many open shots for the Riverside team.

In the second half, we stepped up on our level of intensity and started applying more pressure on Riverside on the defensive end resulting in numerous fastbreak baskets and from there, we were able to take a 62-23 lead entering the fourth. In the fourth, the defensive pressure continued and this further inflated our lead to a winning margin of 52 points.

Credit to Riverside for putting up a good fight despite the final result and this match was also useful as we were able to give all 12 players of the team a good run out before the knock-out stages start on Wednesday. Full court press was also executed well and in short a well-played match by both teams.