RJC 45-39 NJC

Definitely not our best game.
Started slow trying to adapt to the rough plays.
They took the lead while we pondered over dubious calls.
Managed to adapt better towards the end and claw back from 7 points down.
Scored our three pointers when we needed to, forced some important TOs from 2-2-1.
We did it, we didn't give up.

Important thing is: We're through, our dream is alive.

DTFW; it goes on!

Commentary from Poh Kwang

If you are still not aware, RI/RJC is currently in the midst of inter-school competition for all 3 divisions. There are plenty of games to enjoy if you have time to go down and watch.  I went for the "A" Boys match this afternoon (during lunch time) gainst NJC.  Both teams lost to HCI earlier, so it is a do or die match.  Winner will move on to the next round and the end of the season for the loser.  A summary of the match (from my personal perspective and as much of the score that I can recall) as follows:

1Q : By the time I was there, it was near the end with NJC leading by 2.

2Q : NJC started the 2nd quarter better organised and was often quicker to the rebounds at both ends.  This led to many second and third opportunities.  On the other hand, our boys were taking ill-advised and challenged shots.  NJC began to build its lead up to 6, we were fortunate the lead was not more as NJC missed several clear lay-ups and under basket shots.  This notwithstanding, some good defensive work towards the end of the half saw us closing the gap to 3 but a silly foul at the buzzer gave away 2 unnecessary points.  Down by 5 at half time.

3Q : 3rd quarter was marred by poor finishings by both teams.  At the start of the quarter, NJC threatened to run away with the game but a couple of 3-pointers from Danny saw us closing the gap to 3 points.  We are set for a thriller in the 4th.

4Q : Both teams traded baskets early and NJC maintained a slender 2 to 5 point margin till mid quarter.  Then, a sudden change of fortune, good pressure defence forces several consecutive turnovers from NJC.  We were also making up grounds on the offensive glass where our backup center pull down a few offensive boards and getting fouled along the way.  A couple of free throws saw us leveling and eventually taking a 1-point lead with about 4 minutes left in the game.  Momemtum of the game has shifted and now NJC is chasing the game.  In the last 3 minutes, we caught fire hit 3 consecutive 3 pointers but each time we open up the lead, NJC will respond almost immediately.  To the boy's credit, we maintain our composure and killed the game from the charity strip wimnning the game with our biggest margin of 5. 

My evaluation of the match ("A" Boys, please feel free to disagree)

It was a tale of 2 halves.  If I am a neutral party, I would say it is a 50/50 game but a huge pity that NJC lost.  They looked more organised and purposeful especially in their attacks.  However, we made it up with tough defence, aggression and some timely shooting.  If NJ had capitalise on their advantage in the first half, by making some of those missed shots, we might have found the gap too big to overcome in the 4Q.  At the end, the biggest difference was we were a bit more hungry for victory.

What I like about the team, I see everyone on the court giving his 100%.  Team spirirt is also good.  This is extremely important, please keep this up.

What I dislike about the game, not enough communication on the court.  Earlier in the game, some players were Impatient and trying too hard in offence such driving into human traffic and taking shots off balance or with 2 hands in the face.  We were clearly more patient in the 2nd half, moving the ball and that led to good looks and baskets.

All the best in the 2nd round.  Hope to be able to make it for more games.......

RI 76-32 QSS

We knew today's team was a stronger team compared to the last two teams, but during mental preparation in school, warm up and stretching before coach arrived, most of us were fooling around, not doing our best nor focusing which probably explained for the points our opponent scored.

In the first quarter we started off with a bang, scoring many many points and disrupting the tempo of the opponent offense, limiting them to 26-3 in the first quarter. We played good defense, helping well and getting our momentum compared to our struggling opponents, and destroyed the opponent with a couple of fast breaks. The second quarter, our intensity dropped. We did not talk, did not play good defense and had a couple of turnovers, scoring only 11 points while the opposition scored 7.

The second half coach switched the defense to a 4-11 and 5, where we performed well, making turnovers, communicating well and scoring many easy baskets. However, the fourth quarter showed a slight lack of discipline of defensive shuffling, and we adjusted to the opponent's gun-and-run play, and we performed badly again. Nevertheless, our good standard performance for the first and third quarter sealed the game 76-32.

Every game we have to improve, because if not, we would not catch up. Every game we have to destroy bad habits, and practice new ones because if we don't do it now, things would never change.

Raffles Basketball FTW!
Now or Never

RI 54-73 HCI

RI's B Div Team lost the first match of the Nationals to Hwa Chong Institution 73-54. Our lack of fitness was evident towards the end of the match, where we were unable to keep up the pace and lost what was initially a very tight game.

Our next matches are against Temasek Secondary (next Friday) and Presbyterian High (following Wednesday).

We will play better.

RJC 65-21 ACJC

Whole bench got a run out in the RJ-AC derby,
Bench played pretty well, commendable hustles and effort.
Team goal would be to recover physically from the match with HCI,
And also stay healthy & injury free for Monday's crunch tie.
DTFW,
PS: Still remember to die for each other out there.

RI 103-8 BSS

In the game played today at ccab, 3.30pm, RI C division beat Bartley Secondary school by a overwhelming scoreline of 103-8!

Today, our defense was good, although we did make a few errors which can be avoided, and also some of us did not follow to instructions clearly, and the 8 points the opponent scored could have been stopped. We played a 3-11, where we allowed the ball to be inbounded but later force the ball handler to use his weak hand, which helped us create the fast break opportunities. In the end, we achieved our team goal of not letting the opponent score more than 4 points per quarter, and we're thoroughly satisfied.

A great morale booster to our team, we promise that we would push our boundaries and match up to the powerhouses soon!

Raffles Basketball FTW!
DTFW

RJC 58-63 HCI

Fought hard, didn't give up, but still didn't play to our full potential yet.
Need to cut down turnovers, make free throws, get defensive rebounds.
Next up: ACJC; but every game is against HCI. It is why we train so hard.
DTFW, one step at a time.

BTW our name will remain as RJC and not change to RI(JC) because it is ugly.

RI 73-21 Bendemeer Secondary

iToday starts of our "C" division season 2009!

The match was held at CCAB at 345pm, and we went there early, did our mental preparation and when coach came, most of the team said there were at optimum performance for our very first match.

In the first quarter, we played a 2-11, before quickly changing to 4-11 after a few minutes. We made a few mistakes on defense, when the last man did not their roles properly and allowed the opponent to have a shot at offense. On offense, we played an inside game, with Chng and Chun Cheong tearing apart the defense and Alex making strong drives to the basket, ending the first quarter 2-18. The second quarter we switched to a 3-2 zone, and where our mistakes showed from not communicating, allowing Bendemeer Secondary some open shots, before switching back to a 5, where we maintained the intensity of the first quarter, ending the first half 5-33.

The second half we managed to maintain our intensity and we caused many turnovers. However, we did allow the opponent some easy baskets, and some of our players did not mark their man properly. However, we ended the game well 73-21 in our favour.

A good morale booster for our match, and a job well done to Alex, who scored the game high 17 points. Even though we did not achieve a century scoreline like our B Division, this will only mark the beginning of our C division campaign.

Raffles Basketball FTW!
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

Basketball Action

B Div (Nationals 1st Round)

Group D: Presbyterian High, RI, Hwa Chong Institution, Temasek Secondary School

Venue: Jurong West Sports Hall

27 Mar 1445hrs - RI vs HCI

3 Apr 1330hrs - Temasek vs RI

8 Apr 1600hrs - Presbyterian vs RI

C Div (South Zone 1st Round)

Group A: RI, Bendemeer, Bartley, Peirce, ACS(I), Queensway

Venue: CCAB, Evans Road

23 Mar 1530hrs - Bendemeer vs RI

25 Mar 1530hrs - RI vs Bartley

30 Mar 1145hrs - RI vs Queensway

9 Apr 1530hrs - RI vs Peirce

13 Apr 1145hrs - ACS(I) vs RI

A Div (Boys)

Group A: Hwa Chong, River Valley, ACJC, NJC, RI

Venue: Singapore Basketball Centre, Aljunied

23 Mar 1530hrs - HCI vs RI

25 Mar 1420hrs - RI vs ACJC

27 Mar 1200hrs - RI vs RV

30 Mar 1200hrs - NJC vs RI

A Div (Girls)

Group B: RI, Yishun JC, Pioneer JC, Dunman High

Venue: Singapore Basketball Centre

22 Apr 1420hrs - RI vs PJC

24 Apr 1420hrs - Dunman vs RI

27 Apr 1420hrs - RI vs Yishun JC

RI 47 - 84 CHS

South Zone Final: RI 47 - 84 CHS

In the final yesterday, a lot of areas for improvement showed, and we will definitely be working on them before the national season kicks off after the March holiday break. We produced a very lethargic performance yesterday, and were punished by the speed and hovering heights of the opposing team.

Many thanks to all the supporters who came down and cheered their hearts out for us, despite the wide margin throughout the game, and we would like to congratulate CHS on their well- deserved win.

We'll be back in two weeks time, hopefully with our full team back free from injury, and ready to take on the rest of the nation. Yesterday's game was the last southzone game for the sec 4s, and on the whole we're glad we managed to achieve our target for the zonal stage.

Once again, thanks to all the old boys, ri supporters and teachers for the excellent support yesterday, the team will be back stronger, I promise.

RI 61-22 Woodlands Ring Secondary

We finally won.

Perhaps it was our home ground, or because our B div seniors were supporting us, or maybe because they didn't have many tall players, but we finally won.

We started off with a bang, with Alex and Chun Cheong scoring a couple of strong lay ups which gave us the early lead. Our taller post players intimidated the opposition and we played good defense, ending the early score in 17-10. The next quarter, coach rotated the bench a little and we extended our scoreline to 32. However, we still made silly mistakes, like not boxing out, hence allowing the shorter guards and wings to grab the rebounds over and over again. However, we performed well with a few fast breaks and ended the score 61-22.

In our debrief, Alex reminded us that even though we have won, our mistakes still cost us quite a number of points. We identified them and decided to from now on everyone give their 100% during training and 110% during training.

(Quote: Like is just like a basketball game, cherish ever second you're on the court because you never know when you're going to get benched.)

MVPs:
Ri:
Alexander Loh

WRSS:
Jonathan
Zheng Yu

RI 51-52 AISS

The match was held today at 4.45pm, in the indoor courts of Australian International School.

Before the match, we had a team talk. 6 of us wanted to talk, 3 wanted to box out while the most of us wanted to play like a team and all of us wanted to make our underbaskets and lay ups.

We didn't.

Playing the match without Chng, we started off, determined to play our best. We started off with a 3-2 zone before changing to a 1-11, ending the first quarter 13-4. However, in the second quarter we couldn't keep up the level of focus and had many missed lay ups, ending 28-19.

In the starting of the second half, one of our key post players fouled out. We remained intensity and third quarter ended with 40-34. The last quarter, two of our key players fouled out. With one player injured and three fouled out, things were looking bad for us. However, good defense and poor offense plays from them drew the scoreline 48-48 after alex scored a three. We then switched to a full court press but due to a player's nervousness we commited to fouls, and AIS scored 4 free throws in a row. With a few seconds left on the clock, coach planned a last minute second play and Alex scored a buzzer beater three, concluding the game 51-52.

Throughout the game, we identified several mistakes that we were making and suffered from them. Today's match is not a loss for us, but as a rude awakening.

Points:
- Free throws
- Making lay ups properly
-Boxing out

MVPs: RI
-Alexander Loh

AISS
-Thomas Andersen
-Max Kadarusman

RI B Div Qualifies for SZ Finals

Report from REDSPORTS on the RI-Queensway Match

Thanks for all the wonderful support, RI made the South Zone Finals by beating Queensway 74-67 with a late burst of on court focus and intensity.

Here's a YouTube video uploaded probably by Mr Ian Chew - teacher @ Catholic High.

(Thank you Ian)

RI 74-67 QSS

11/2/09
South Zone Semifinal
RI 74-67 Queensway Secondary School

RI beat QSS in an emphatic 74-67 win in the South Zone Semi-final.

Before the game, things weren't looking bright when the bus still had not come half an hour before the match. We cabbed there, and started our warmup routine as soon as we reached CCAB.

The first quarter showed the effects of our transportation problems, as QSS started out strong and we trailed narrowly by 5 points. By sheer determination and team spirit we managed to pull back some and were still down 35-33 at the half. We pushed the pace in the third, and Weixuan's buzzer-beating 3 pointer tied the game 53-53!

It all boiled down to the last quarter, and with beating hearts and clenched fists, we grinded our way to the front, with inspirational plays by many on the court. The game was settled as Ryan and Weixuan managed to convert their numerous free throw opportunities in the final minutes.

We never gave up.

I LOVE THIS TEAM.

Hey c div, some points to note and ponder over before the match against AIS this Thursday and before season starts.

It does not matter that we lost the three matches in the ISIBL ranking tournament, but it matters to find out where we've gone wrong and how we can learn from it. The worse thing we can do is to not WANTING to know our mistake and refuse to learn from it.

We're all imperfect, everyone make mistakes. We have to be patient and not to get upset over small matters because team communication is important. How would you like if a player is upset and hurt of some people's rash and harsh words and is mentally not wanting to play as a team?

Our cca motto is Dream-Team-Fight-Win for a reason:

DREAM- At night when we sleep, we dream that we make our lay ups, that our shots go in and NOT THE OPPOSITE. We dream that the opponent keeps looking at us before the match and it strikes fear into them. We do not believe that we would lose, we believe we would WIN. (quote anonymous:When you believe you will win you have won half the battle.)

TEAM- There's a reason why basketball is a five-player game compared to a individual sport like eg. running.
Stop thinking of personal glory, whether you're able to slash or your high three point percentage because eg. you're a good defender but the other 4 players playing WITH YOU are not, there's no point.
We have trained as a team since February as of last year(except for dsas) and there's no way we can do it without each and everyone of you.

Fight- This is what is most important. Go for every rebound, every missed shot and stop the slow transition from offense to defense just because you're tired. We do not give up until the last second, we do not give up until the referee declares the fourth quarter over. Think positive.
Example: If we're down by eg. 16 in a match and there're 4 minutes left, stop thinking it's over, we'll lose. Thinking that in this 4 minutes, our team is going to play good defense and make 8 good baskets to overtake the opponent.

Win- When the first three is executed, there's very little chance that this would not happen. When we win, we celebrate together and we cheer together. When we lose, we comfort each other and find out where have we gone wrong, and how we can improve on it.

As aforementioned, it does not matter whether we won or lost in previous matches. Every match that we go into is a new and clean one, whether we win or lose does not depend on past matches but instead on the THINGS WE DO DURING THE MATCHES. It does not matter if you hit a 100 three pointers in a previous match because that does not determine how well you would perform for this one.

In a match, it does not matter whether you're playing or you're sitting on the bench. It matters whether you're 100% focused on what's happening in the game. If you're on the court, you play your best and hearts out to win. If you're on the bench, observe what's happening in the match, note the opponent's weaknesses and the mistakes our teammates are making and if you're substituted in do not repeat them.

Off court, our team does not really bond, the only times "bonding" happens is the short mrt rides home after training, and half the team isn't there. The only time we have really bonded was during the Shanghai trip. Don't you think we should do more bonding?

On a side note, good luck to the B division team facing rivals Catholic High next tuesday!

P.S: (Please remove this if you find it unsuitable coach thanks.)