U-14 Nationals RI 74-26 Bukit Panjang Government High

It wasn't as easy as it looked. It was definitely to be a hard match, we knew right from the start that Nationals definitely wasn't going to be easy. Memories from our horrific lost last year kept appearing in our minds, and we wanted to ensure that such problems would not return to haunt us again. In order to keep our minds 100% focused on the match, we even asked for a postponement of the class tests on that day.

Yet for some reason, almost half of us came to the match afraid. And it showed. The match was played out in a tense manner, with a sincere lack of communication between players. Even for the senior players, we made that very same mistake, which caused both our offense and defense to break. For our full-court pressing, the communication was almost non-existent, allowing the Bukit Panjang point guard to break the press entirely by himself.

On the offensive end though, we never actually ran a good 1-4 play. There were just too many little mistakes that were going on, whereby there was always someone who did something wrong, eventually rendering the entire play useless. Definitely, we would have to work upon this in order to make sure that we improve ourselves for the remaining of our Nationals, lifting our level and never making the same mistakes again.

We'll be needing communication to pull us through no matter what is to happen in this season.

Dream.Team.Fight.Win.

Nationals.

Coach

This is the Nationals. On the court there is only 1 acceptable mode, and it's "War-mode". To all the players, you cannot step ont othe court if you are not in the right frame of mind.

Today's game was not hard at all. We only needed to open our mouths and decide to talk. But only some did. So we struggled the entire game. The reason we stretched it to a 48 point margin was simple, we just used superior physical ability to overwhelm them.

On the bright side, Jordaan shot very well, and it was good to see Lawrence play 20 min in his all-out style. Bryan did well too and showed much better fitness.

U-14 RI 59-40 Yuying Secondary School

Southzone finals. It was hard to believe but after so much sweat, blood and tears, we were finally at our first checkpoint. As we made our way to Delta Sports Complex, we knew that this was going to be a terribly physical and hard match, after watching them play quite a few times. Through mental-prepping, we managed to calm our nerves down, especially as we had gone through the defensive plays the day before, so we knew what we had to do to prevent a loss in the finals. For most of the sec 2s, we could still remember the way we agonizing lost to catholic high the previous year, so we went into the match fully prepared and ready. We wanted to make sure that we win the southzone title for the first time since Gabriel's batch.

Right off the tip, we were ready to go, with justin laying off an alley pass to jordaan for an easy lay-up. We collapsed to a 1-1-3 defense, with the 2 players of the last line pushing up. Maybe it was due to a lack of experience, or a lack of focus, or just nerves, but we allowed for way too many back-door cuts and easy baskets. However, we soon regained our nerves and cut off such silly mistakes, playing much better defense. We did well to jam the cuts, not allowing the other team to take open shots. Granted, there were some shots that they managed to hit, but those were contested shots, not wide-open ones.

However, most of the problems came from rebounding, both defensively and offensively. On defense, we did not box out well enough, allowing the other team to get easy offensive rebounds and put-backs. On the offensive end, the weak side was not cutting in for the rebounds, giving the yuying team too easy defensive rebounds. Also, when we reverted to a press later in the game, we did not manage to get our press going well, with them breaking through quite a few times.

A good point to take was that all the players managed to play in the final, allowing them to feel the pressure and learn to handle it. This experience will definitely do the team good later in the season, where we would have high-pressure matches like this, and we definitely must not crack under the pressure. Although we did not have a great game, we managed to edge out a win despite all that was at stake.

Definitely, this has been a satisfying victory, but we definitely cannot rest on our laurels. We must continue fighting and improving, in order to win the nationls and make history.

On a side note, if anyone has seen a stray medal at delta sports hall, please inform the team as one of our team-members has lost his medal. Thank you.

Dream.Team.Fight.Win.

South Zone Champions

(From Coach)

We did 2 (or rather 1.5) of the 3 essential things and came out with a 18-point margin. Not the prettiest game in terms of execution nor was it one of our better games. But in finals, what matters most is the end result. From that perspective, we got the title, learned from our mistakes, and will enter into the next high-stakes match much more prepared.

Take a good break and come back Friday for PART II.

U-14 RI 61-33 Mayflower

The match wasn't as easy as the scoreline suggests. Right from the start of the match, we knew that we had to be weary of this squad, after the close fight between us earlier in the season. At the start of the match, we were down 6-2 early on, with the other team getting easy fastbreak baskets. However, we did not get nervous or tense (like the previous matches). We fought back, and slowly built up a lead, ending the first quarter 15-10. We slowly outlasted them throughout the four quarters, finishing the match with a strong victory. 

SouthZone Finals. Here we come. 

Coach: You guys did well. We did not allow MFSS much space throughout the game. MFSS' fight and resilience was admirable but you did well to be prepared for it. Eventually you simply fought them quarter by quarter.

Batch Jersey for RI '09

Nicest Batch Jersey Award! :)

Thank you guys!

U-14 RI 77-23 Serangoon Garden Secondary

At the back of a bad performance against Cat High, we bounced back today, getting the win. Before the match, we were briefed by coach on how to defend against no.9, who proved to be their star player. We wanted to make sure that we did not make the same mistakes as the previous game, especially in our communication and defense. 

Today, we showed up ready to play. Right from the start, we talked on defense, telling our team-mates whenever no.9 did a cut. This worked pretty well for us in the first half, where no.9 was limited to only 2 points. However, when we switched to a zone, things did not go according to plan. We did not pick no.9 up fast enough, without much help side defense. Once or twice, we were left with little or no defense on him, allowing him to drive easily, allowing him to score all his team's points in the 3rd quarter (10). 

On offense however, we recognized that they were playing a 2-3 zone, this taking quite a few outside shots, which went pretty well for the our team. All in all, this was a pretty good game for our team. 

Definitely, the next 2 games will be difficult, but we will stay focused and give it our very best.

Dream.Team.Fight.Win. 

We're nearing the checkpoint

To Cdiv'08

Hey Cdiv,

Good effort today, even though it was a pretty lacklustre performance on the whole from you guys, you managed to seal the win, and it was very heartening watching you guys own the court today against our good friends from the other side of Bishan. Especially when Joel hit his net-swishing three-pointer :D

Despite all the "favourite tags", and all the off-court talk that your team will definitely win SZ, favourites for the South Zone title etc, DO NOT let it get into your heads, because complacency can destroy any team (as many of the sec 2s will remember) and nothing is certain. I really hope you guys don't take the next two games for granted and assume it is a free ride to the final.

Still, we were all very proud of you today, undoubtedly it was very very shiok watching you guys beat Cathigh, something i've only experienced once. Keep up the good work, hopefully you'll remember what I told you guys today after the game, and focus on the two games left before the final, the game where you will fight for your lives for your first taste of gold this season.

U-14 Ri 73-42 Catholic High

This was going to be one of the biggest games of our south zone campaign, and we knew it. However, we didn't turn up as prepared as we were in our previous match. Everything started wrongly, right from the warm-ups, where we were too quiet and didn't communicate with each other. The problem was immediately pointed out, but yet it was still carried into the game. We were never able to get our talking going and because of that we made silly mistakes that we would otherwise never make. For example, during our defense, we often allowed too nervous, something that could definitely be solved through talking and communication. On offense, we did not execute our plays, relying much on our fast-breaking for points. 

Overall, we definitely have to improve on the team's communication, as it is only through communication that we can ever and will ever get out of bad situations. Take today's game for example, we won because our individual players were extremely skillful, and that the other team were shorthanded. The shots we took were definitely not good shots, and hitting it were only a matter of skill. 

Our defense today was extremely bad. Our nerves certainly was a big factor. Also, we were jumping all over the place; although we were already told that jumping on defense was akin to giving up. The ball was constantly thrown over the heads of the last man, something that should definitely not happen. 

Dream.Team.Fight.Win. 

Let's keep improving 

U-14 RI 63-27 Guangyang Secondary School

We came into the match prepared and focused, knowing that the other team was quite a strong one. Albeit all the postponements and problems before the match, we still managed to stay focused, knowing that focus was the difference between winning and losing. We knew that we needed to keep a strong defensive mentality, and that was exactly what we did. The team played exceptionally well on defense, with everyone playing good individual defense, stopping their key players well. On offense, we took too many rushed shots at the start, but as we slowly settled into the game, we ran our offense much better than before, managing to get open shots and back-door cuts. 

On a side note, our point guard: Justin had a great performance, playing exceptionally well on both ends of the court. With his strong individual defense, he managed to limit their opposing point guard from executing the plays. He limited his own turnovers and contributed 15 points. 

CatHigh, here we come. 

U-14 RI 86-29 Bukit Merah

This was to be the first match of our 2nd round, and we came prepared for a much tougher match than those of the 1st round. We raced to a strong start in the first quarter, getting steals and finishing our fastbreaks to get a 24-2 lead after the first quarter. We fought hard throughout the match, keeping up with our intensity to finish off the game with a win. We leaked quite a few points in this match as we let them have quite a few put-backs, we sent them to the line far too many times, committing unnecessary fouls. Also, we did not defend number 6 well enough, allowing him to score 18 of their team points. 

On a side note, Greg put up a strong performance, drawing quite a few fouls and attacking the basket much better than before. We'll be having our next 3 matches in the following week. It'll be quite a tight schedule, but we'll be ready. 

Dream.Team.Fight.Win. 

No time to relax. 

  

  

South Zone C Div Championships: 2nd Round

The draw for the groups are out:

Group X: RI, Serangoon Gardens, Cat High, Bukit Merah, Guangyang
Group Y: Mayflower, Yuying, Kent Ridge, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian, Gan Eng Seng

Matches @ CCAB
10 Jul (Thursday) 1530hrs - Bukit Merah vs RI
14 Jul (Monday) 1300hrs - RI vs Guangyang
16 Jul (Wednesday) 1415hrs - Cat High vs RI
18 Jul (Friday) 1300hrs - Serangoon Gardens vs RI

U-14 RI 100-17 Peicai Secondary School

Before today's match, we worked to keep our focus on the match, after the lecture that we had by our teacher-in-charge, we knew that we mustn't fool around at any point before the match. This worked out for us as we had a strong start, outscoring the other team 29-2 in the 1st quarter. We moved to a 2-2-1 trap, and it worked quite well for our team. However, we still have a couple of tactical errors that we'll have to work on in order to improve on our pressing. In the 2nd half, we moved to a 1-1-3 defense, where we were expected to get all the rebounds, but due to miscommunication by the bottom 3 players, we leaked a couple of offensive boards leading to easy put-backs. However, in that period, we managed to spark many fast-breaks, with brendan sim contributing many of his points in this fashion. Overall, the team had a confident game, and it showed that we were confident with the ball, and we also cut down on silly turnovers. The 2nd round will start next Tues and next Thurs. 

Dream.Team.Fight.Win. 

Round 2