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...