Our C Div boys are using this T-Net tournament as a pre-season training.
3 June Tuesday 1600hrs @ CCAB - RI vs Queenstown SS
5 June Thursday 1300hrs @ CCAB - Ahmad Ibrahim SS vs RI
10 June Tuesday 1200hrs @ CCAB - RI vs Yishun SS
12 June Thursday 1300hrs @ CCAB - Springfield vs RI
Come watch the boys in action as they shoot to wrestle the Zone Title from Catholic High!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
U16 Youth Cup Gryphons 59 - 61 Home United
It was an extremely physical game yesterday night, and making most of our foul shots, we had a 6 point lead going into the halftime break. It was in the second half where coach's absence was felt as we failed to deal with their trap successfully for a rather long stretch. The lead was traded many times, and after a few dubious calls at the end, we failed to tie the game and ended losing by a mere 2 point margin.
In order to qualify for the next round, we will have to beat Henderson tomorrow, Saturday 31st may 4pm @ Kembangan Mrt. The team would also like to thank Mr Ong Swee Teck for coming down to support us, and congratulate Mr Choo on a successful coaching debut :D
In order to qualify for the next round, we will have to beat Henderson tomorrow, Saturday 31st may 4pm @ Kembangan Mrt. The team would also like to thank Mr Ong Swee Teck for coming down to support us, and congratulate Mr Choo on a successful coaching debut :D
Thursday, May 29, 2008
U18 Youth Cup: Gryphons - Combined Schools Red
Final Score:
26-78
Although the team was affected by complications and ended up with only 5 players playing the full 40 minutes, they did far better than the scoreline suggested. Despite starting the game off shakily, the team managed to put together some good offensive and defensive plays. Despite being matched up against the stronger and more skillful Singapore Schools U18 team, the 5 Raffles warriors didn't back down and hide in their shell. In fact, they played better than usual because they went out to fight hard and put in their best effort. So, good job to the team, we're proud of you :)
On a side note, Gryphons #5 Kevin Boo had a very nice block shot on transition defense. He also made good hustle plays, the most notable one being a long sprint to save a bound-for-out-of-bounds ball and throwing it at the feet of one of the opposing players and turning it to our possession. Center Feng Yifei also did very well in the paint with numerous rebounds and a good shooting percentage in the area. #7 Nicholas Chong played well and had a nice foul in shot! :D #11 Simon rebounded well and #8 Chey Zheng Feng did well with defensive rebounds and a couple of treys :)
The team's next match would be against Tagawa (who beat Weixiong by 60+ points) this coming Sunday, 1 June @ SBC Court 2. See you there.
26-78
Although the team was affected by complications and ended up with only 5 players playing the full 40 minutes, they did far better than the scoreline suggested. Despite starting the game off shakily, the team managed to put together some good offensive and defensive plays. Despite being matched up against the stronger and more skillful Singapore Schools U18 team, the 5 Raffles warriors didn't back down and hide in their shell. In fact, they played better than usual because they went out to fight hard and put in their best effort. So, good job to the team, we're proud of you :)
On a side note, Gryphons #5 Kevin Boo had a very nice block shot on transition defense. He also made good hustle plays, the most notable one being a long sprint to save a bound-for-out-of-bounds ball and throwing it at the feet of one of the opposing players and turning it to our possession. Center Feng Yifei also did very well in the paint with numerous rebounds and a good shooting percentage in the area. #7 Nicholas Chong played well and had a nice foul in shot! :D #11 Simon rebounded well and #8 Chey Zheng Feng did well with defensive rebounds and a couple of treys :)
The team's next match would be against Tagawa (who beat Weixiong by 60+ points) this coming Sunday, 1 June @ SBC Court 2. See you there.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Milo Youth Cup U18 Fixtures
29 May 1900hrs @ Kembangan MRT Basketball Courts
Singapore Schools Red vs Gryphons
1 Jun 1430hrs @ SBC2
Gryphons vs Tagawa
8 Jun 1500hrs @ SBC1
Gryphons vs Wei Xiong
Singapore Schools Red vs Gryphons
1 Jun 1430hrs @ SBC2
Gryphons vs Tagawa
8 Jun 1500hrs @ SBC1
Gryphons vs Wei Xiong
Milo U16 Cup - Gryphons 66 - 48 Kaixuan
The U16 team was initially made up of sec 2s and 3s, hoping to make use of the tournament to gain exposure. However, after some disputes over the minimum age for teams, there had to be some adjustments made, and now the b'div 08 team (sec3s and 4s) will be playing in probably their last tournament together in RI jerseys.
We played our first game yesterday against Kaixuan, finally getting the chance to play against teams without any overage players in this tournament. The game started off very slow-paced, and at one point through the second quarter we found ourselves down by a whopping 18 points due to a streak by kaixuan which included them getting several foul-ins and numerous successful 3p attempts. Thankfully, we came back strong after a time-out and our traps and defense saved us yet again from an embarrassing defeat. We turned the 20 point deficit around and led by 1 at the end of the third quarter. It was evident in the final quarter that the Kaixuan players couldn't seem to match up with our pace of the game and we eventually broke away to triumph by 18 points.
We will be playing Home United (protectors) tomorrow, 8.30pm @ SBC. They are a team consisting of several star players from various secondary schools, and we'll be playing without coach, but the taste of victory is surely too sweet for us to give in before the game has even started and we'll be gunning for an upset.
Monday, May 26, 2008
From Coach: For Those Still Getting Over It
We all fail.
But it is not failing that hurts.
What hurts is knowing that you didn't give your best.
What hurts is knowing that you didn't give your best.
(It's all the "what ifs")
Nothing else should haunt you for long.
Nothing else should haunt you for long.
==================================================================
You give your best not because you need to impress people.
You give your best because that's the ony way to enjoy your basketball, your work and everything else.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
RJC - VJC
Final score:
RJC 35-42 VJC
This was the deciding game for both VJC and us. In this winner-takes-all match, the eventual victor would earn the right to play kingpins HCI in the semi-finals. We went into the game all pumped up and ready to dream, team, fight and WIN.
Yet, as the score suggests, in a very low scoring game, RJC lost out simply because of its inability to convert the baskets. We did an excellent job on the defensive end as a team, shutting down the opposing star players #4 and #14 and interrupted their offensive performances, even though they did contribute their fair share of points.
The 3s just wouldn't go in, the second chance points just wouldn't be converted, the free throws just wouldn't go in. We could blame the ball, we could blame the crowd and the noise but we did ourselves in. Kudos to VJC, they deserve their ticket to the top 4 while the favourite-for-the-final RJC team that played far, far below their usual standards could only fantasize about what could have been.
A premature end to our campaign leaves us wondering what went wrong. We can never and will never forget this excruciating loss. I can't, I won't.
RJC 35-42 VJC
This was the deciding game for both VJC and us. In this winner-takes-all match, the eventual victor would earn the right to play kingpins HCI in the semi-finals. We went into the game all pumped up and ready to dream, team, fight and WIN.
Yet, as the score suggests, in a very low scoring game, RJC lost out simply because of its inability to convert the baskets. We did an excellent job on the defensive end as a team, shutting down the opposing star players #4 and #14 and interrupted their offensive performances, even though they did contribute their fair share of points.
The 3s just wouldn't go in, the second chance points just wouldn't be converted, the free throws just wouldn't go in. We could blame the ball, we could blame the crowd and the noise but we did ourselves in. Kudos to VJC, they deserve their ticket to the top 4 while the favourite-for-the-final RJC team that played far, far below their usual standards could only fantasize about what could have been.
A premature end to our campaign leaves us wondering what went wrong. We can never and will never forget this excruciating loss. I can't, I won't.
RJC - AJC
Final score:
RJC 55-62 AJC
They say, "Offense brings entertainment, defense wins games and rebounds win championships". For a game we lost by a mere 7 points, defense was horrible and rebounds on both ends of the court was unbelievably shameful and suicidal.
This is a game lost on the boards. We started neck to neck ending the 1st quarter 13-13. When AJC started to pull away with 10 point leads, we never gave up and tried to pull closer each time. Lady luck was on our side and we were hitting our shots from downtown quite well - 11 team 3pointers by the end of the game (considering we were shooting about 20% from the 3 point line since game 1). However, everytime we tried to cut AJC's lead, their national player #9 would get an offensive rebound, score the second chance points and we, back at square one, could only whine and beg for proper block outs on the defensive boards. AJC's #6 also hit several crucial dagger 3 pointers that consistently hindered our efforts in making a run to cut their lead.
In the end, impressive composure by AJC's #6, a good outing at the 3 point line and a near 20-20 performance by their center #9 secured their victory. Our imbalance scoring at the offensive end, coupled with our decision to play the 2-2-1 despite AJC's success at press breaking made sure that the 7 point lead was insurmountable.
RJC 55-62 AJC
They say, "Offense brings entertainment, defense wins games and rebounds win championships". For a game we lost by a mere 7 points, defense was horrible and rebounds on both ends of the court was unbelievably shameful and suicidal.
This is a game lost on the boards. We started neck to neck ending the 1st quarter 13-13. When AJC started to pull away with 10 point leads, we never gave up and tried to pull closer each time. Lady luck was on our side and we were hitting our shots from downtown quite well - 11 team 3pointers by the end of the game (considering we were shooting about 20% from the 3 point line since game 1). However, everytime we tried to cut AJC's lead, their national player #9 would get an offensive rebound, score the second chance points and we, back at square one, could only whine and beg for proper block outs on the defensive boards. AJC's #6 also hit several crucial dagger 3 pointers that consistently hindered our efforts in making a run to cut their lead.
In the end, impressive composure by AJC's #6, a good outing at the 3 point line and a near 20-20 performance by their center #9 secured their victory. Our imbalance scoring at the offensive end, coupled with our decision to play the 2-2-1 despite AJC's success at press breaking made sure that the 7 point lead was insurmountable.
RJC - NYJC
Final score:
RJC 50-38 NYJC
We played a pretty sloppy game for our 1st 2nd Round match in recent years (RJC made it past the 1st Round for the first time in a handful of years). The well prepared NYJC team managed to race ahead with an 11-2 lead. However, we overcame our usual 1st quarter jitters and managed to maintain an uncomfortable lead of about 10 points throughout the game.
The opponents came prepared for our 2-2-1 and we were left "chasing their dust" many times when they broke our press. We outlasted them in the end. Kudos to NYJC for their spirit and preparation (they went on to beat eventual finalists AJC by about 10 points in their last group game).
RJC 50-38 NYJC
We played a pretty sloppy game for our 1st 2nd Round match in recent years (RJC made it past the 1st Round for the first time in a handful of years). The well prepared NYJC team managed to race ahead with an 11-2 lead. However, we overcame our usual 1st quarter jitters and managed to maintain an uncomfortable lead of about 10 points throughout the game.
The opponents came prepared for our 2-2-1 and we were left "chasing their dust" many times when they broke our press. We outlasted them in the end. Kudos to NYJC for their spirit and preparation (they went on to beat eventual finalists AJC by about 10 points in their last group game).
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Girls' Report: National Schools A Division Basketball Championships
On behalf of Valerie, the Captain of RJC A Division Girls' Basketball Team:
End of Round 1
RJC vs YJC
56 – 23
RJC vs ACJC
62 – 19
RJC vs
47 – 11
3 games down; 5 more to go.
It’s the end of round 1 and the girls have successfully topped the group by defeating all three opposing schools, hence earning ourselves a ticket to the quarter finals, where we would be facing off with NYJC (9th May, 3:30pm), TPJC (12th May, 3:30pm) and finally, our arch rival - VJC (14th May, 3:30pm) in the coming week.
Three games have been played so far, but we have yet to witness our best performance. Despite sailing through all three games (as reflected in the scores), the team believes that we are capable of much better plays than what we have shown so far. It has been acknowledged that our fundamental problem lies in us lacking team play and sustainability. However, this is not a major cause for concern as the team has been working hard to solve this problem together through trainings and team talks; and recently, there has been a notable progress in the team’s performance which we are definitely looking forward to display in the games to come.
Improvement, both as a team and an individual, was evident with each passing game. The game against
Overall, we would say that invaluable lessons are learned with each game played. We have been training hard and playing comfortably as a team, with our coach's unwavering support and guidance, gearing us to face our subsequent rivals. It is going to get tougher in the quarter finals; but we are not ready to give our opponents an easy time either!
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