Gryphons in NBL 2009

Gryphons sent a team comprising of old boys and current school boys for NBL 2009 and following 3 games, we've qualified for the 2nd round.

• Gryphons 45 vs Xingers 34
• Gryphons defeated T-Net (score not reported)
• Gryphons 58 vs Wei Tiong 45

The last match in round 1 will be decide whether Gryphons or Yuen Tat (Yu Hua CSC) qualifies as group champions.

4 Oct 1915hrs @ SBC Gryphons vs Yuen Tat

Squad:

Chua Wei Xuan, Ravins Cheung, Wang Jia Cheng, Jonathan Cher, Low Jiaren, Warren Mah, Wong Hong Kai, Adrian Chan, Lim Ray Wen, Wang Jiun Haur, Du Zichao, Loy Jiaming, Wang Luo Kai, Wang Dingyuan, Tim Lim

Coach Low Tong Takes Charge

Gryphons vs Wei Tiong

U16 ISIBL RI 32 vs 35 AISS

(Unable to vote for AISS mvps as I do not have the scoresheet.)

The match was played at AISS today at 5:15pm.

This is one of our poorest match so far in the ISIBL U-16.

In the first quarter, we started off rather poorly, trailing by a few points when the game started. We were rushing our plays and the movements were rusty, always getting off bad shots and looks. As some people were fooling around earlier, our man-to-man defense was poor; we did not pressure our man, always defending them after they get the ball and not helping, which gave them easy shots with their dominant size. Offense, we were poor and missing easy baskets on breakaways.

Second quarter, we went on a roll. Our defense started to work and we were giving the AISS players trouble, communicating on screens, taking out the triple threats and every time a shot was fired, the post boxed out, rebounded and 0utlet to the point guard. Bao Kun and Wee Xuan both got a block each which stopped the AISS players attempts to score, and mark was converting all his fastbreak lay ups, including a foul in! We were doing so well, that we caught up from down by 3 to almost up by ten!

Yet, in the third quarter, our momentum seemed to disappear as soon as it came. Our defense started to loosen up, we stopped running the fast breaks and we let loose many shots, many of those which included our opponents out of angle running shots. By the end of the third quarter, our lead was reduced to 4 points. The last quarter, our fatigue started to show by committing silly mistakes such as passing near the receiver's legs, letting the opponents to score over us and we on the other hand, couldn’t convert our fastbreaks and our shots. At 3:30 minutes, we lost our hard-earned lead and were trailing by 1. Coach called a timeout and we decided to give one last push of our full court trap. However, we were not trapping nor pressuring our opponents and we even let them get another basket. At the last two minutes, we were still trailing by 3 points . Even when we still have chance to win the game, we gave a very "spiritless" fight, not denying our man after the point guard killed his dribble, not fighting for lose balls and letting them get rebounds and using up the remaining clock time, which explained for the 3 point deficit.

Dream.Team.Fight.Win. The motto of our CCA is not some clichéd words to make it sound nice, there is a deep meaning behind that. If we don’t have the determination to keep fighting despite the scoreline, we will never win a game. We are Raffles Basketball Team. Coach told us since day 1 that Raffles Basketball team never gives up, because that's our legacy, putting all our effort and last ounce of energy into the game and achieving the impossible despite the odds against us. We always fight hard and never stop fighting till the last second, but I guess we didn't implement today and let complacency get the better of us. We had no determination for today's match to FIGHT BACK and I think we should never repeat this lacklustre performance we gave today.

MVPs:

RI:

Mark Khoo

AISS:

No. 26

No. 34

ISIBL U16 RI 19-24 Pres High

The match was played in RI on 14th September at 4pm. This was essentially a poor match, filled with missed underbaskets and bad defense. In the 1st quarter, we started off extremely poorly, being very tentative on offense and not finding our shots. Our wings did not drive to the basket enough and we made several bad passes which led to fast breaks on the other end. We could not find our shots, and our man-to-man defense was not 'tight' enough and allowed the twins: Brendi and Brenwin to drive us constantly.

In the 2nd quarter, we came back stronger and played much better. We started looking for shots, and our offense finally got going, and we dropped the ball to the posts more often and scored better. In the 3rd quarter, we fell behind, allowing for easy drives and shots, and not finishing our underbaskets and converting the easy shots. In that quarter alone, we trailed 2-7.

In the last quarter, we pushed for the win, and we played a lot better than the previous three quarters, and scored more than the other quarters combined. We got the ball into the posts, we found our shots and we pushed hard. However, our defense led us down and we never were able to stop then twins, allowing them to score just enough points to beat us 24-19.

MVPs:
Pres High:
Brendwin
Brendi

RI:
Chun Cheong

ISIBL RI 39-31 North Vista Secondary School

This match was played on 10 September at North Vista Secondary School at 4pm. For this match, we were coached by Coach Lim. For the match, the team alternated between the secondary 1 team and the sec 2 and sec 3 team, which each team playing a quarter before alternating. The secondary 1s started the match brilliantly, with both Ming Jun and Jing Hui hitting the 1st two 3-pointers of the match. Bao Kun, too, hit a three in that quarter, and we ended the quarter with a 14-9 lead.

In the second quarter, the sec2s and sec3s came into the match, and we continued the run of strong plays, finding the low postman and also looking for the outside shots. Our posts were also grabbing offensive boards aggressively, but we were unable to convert most of our underbaskets due to various reasons. Yu Xuan also hit 2 jumpers down the stretch. Also, we managed to shut down the other team, limiting their points. Unfortunately, we still did not box out enough, and allowed North Vista to grab a few offensive rebounds and easy putbacks. Generally, we had a good first half, and played strong enough for us to go into the break with a lead.

In the 3rd quarter, the sec1s came back into the game, and we continued with our strong plays, finding answers to all their offense, and finding shots on the opposite end. We managed to get the ball to the high post, and ran our plays well, setting up shots for the cutting wings, otherwise driving hard to the basket. Chun Cheong was exceptionally effective in this quarter, scoring both from the line as well as for shot range jumpers. In the last quarter, we kept to the game plan, and played well enough to secure a win. The final score: 39-31.

MVPs:
RI:
Bao Kun
Chun Cheong

NVS:
Marcus

ACSIS U16: RI vs OFS

Team List for RI vs PHS, RI vs AISS, RI vs CHS

U16

Guards: Bao Kun, Ming Jun, Peter Pang (Captain), ZongTai, Seah Nguan (PHS only), Shin Liang (AISS only)

Forwards: Mark, Mikhael (PHS, AISS), Kim (PHS), Yu Xuan (AISS), Daryl (CHS), Jinghui (CHS)

Post: Mahmood (Vice Captain), Wee Xuan, Chun Cheong, Jack Zheng, Nicholas (CHS)

U19

Guards: Justin, Alex, Joel

Forwards: Jordaan (Captain), Sim, Daniel, Yaozhoong (Standby for 3 games)

Post: Yves, Greg, Benedict, Chng, Lawrence (Vice-Captain), Ding

U19 ISIBL North Vista 81-54 RI

After a horrible performance last Tuesday, our boys look forward to making it up for this match. Yet, things didn't go as planned.

Things were wrong right from the start, where we had poor plays which included our center not being active in the play, and we had scrappy offense there after. Fortunately, Jordaan hit the first three of the game and we got our momentum, making a few shots from the high post during plays, a few fast break points, but that's about it. Like in previous matches, we fired three pointers at will, most of the time it missed and were not rebounded. We led by 1 during the buzzer.

Second quarter, we were still maintaining the level of intensity as the first quarter. Joel kept us in the game after firing a three when NV got a good start in the second quarter, and two subsequent ones later. However, that was only Joel, and the other forwards were cold on the floor, firing a few airballs. Nearing the end of the quarter, we gave up quite a few fast break points and we allowed them to sink the buzzer beater, which gave them the lead of 8 by the first half ended.

The third half was a disaster.

Lousy plays, bad passes and decision making for shots, spacing and not even having the heart to get back on defense. We were destroyed by their fast breaking, mainly from their number 7 and their lanky number 10. In that quarter alone, we were outscored 23-4, outscored by a shocking 19 points. During that time, we were shouting at one other for making mistakes, not following plays made by our coach, everything you could think of that would lower our morale and spirit.

Fourth quarter however, we went all out on a 3-22, making a few key steals and making our lay ups, until we made a foul and we stopped. North Vista quickly pulled back two of their starters into the game and the game ended with a thrashing 81-54 scoreline.

Throughout the game, we were passive on the boards and not aggressive with rebounds. We also had scrappy plays that would have murdered us if it wasn't for the individual skills of the team. Basketball is a team sport. There is no way you can win it by yourself, you have to work together as a team; choosing the right times to shoot, communicating on defense(saying help only if you mean it), rebouding hard by boxing out your man, etc. That is why we love basketball so much, it is not an individual sport but one that relies on all 5 guys giving all out on the court and 7 guys cheering and encouraging the team from the bench, and when we win, we don't win alone. We WIN as a team and LOSE as a team, we share joy and pain. We work together and share the results together, because we know our teammates are always there for each other. Take this loss, learn from it, and let's perform better next match.

MVPs:

North Vista:

Larry

Kian Hao

RI:

Bryan

U16 ISIBL RI 25-36 OFS

We pushed hard right from the start, wanting to fast-break and trying to get easy baskets. And our fast-breaks worked for us in the first quarter, with both Yu Xuan and Mark getting fast break opportunities and scoring. We played our motion and tried to break them down in a half-court setup, but this was eventually not very successful, but we still managed to get the ball to the posts (both high and low) and drawing fouls. Our free-throw shooting was much better than our previous match, but improvement is still desired. On the defensive end, however, we did not stop the 3-points by OFS and they sank 2 of their attempts. Despite that, we ended the quarter leading 7-6.

As the match developed, our fast breaks did not work for us, and our motion offense too did not produce the desired results. We could not find open shots, and when there was an opportunity we did not take it. On defense, their point guard Felix ran circles around our defense, and we never really stopped him. In our man-to-man we 'opened' too much and wasn't able to help whenever Felix or Ori (shooting guard) drove past us. As a result of that, they found many easy shots, as well as drive-and-dishes to the open 3-point shooter. We began to trail from then on.

However, late in the game we began to charge and tried to overturn the deficit. Bao Kun and Mikhael both played excellently, driving hard to the hoop and scoring. However, our 3-22 never took off, as we were too slow to react. Yu Xuan also scored from an inbound play. But they proved to be too strong for us, as they continued to bomb threes and we eventually lost 25-36. Our next match is against North Vista on Thursday, we will come back stronger than before.

MVPs:

RI:
Bao Kun
Mikhael

OFS:
Felix Tsai

U16 ISIBL RI 21-20 WRS

This match was a really close one. We started the match with Chun Cheong sinking his trademark jumper, and our confidence was relatively high. As already mentioned in the U19 report, their tactics for the U16 match was largely similar, with two post players coming to screen for the point guard. This was a pretty big issue for us in the 1st quarter, with us not communicating on defense and not warning Bao Kun about the oncoming screen. However, we slowly got used to their plays and were far more effective on defense. Still, WRS slowly built a lead as they rebounded harder than us and had many easy put-backs. On the other end of the court, they pressed us with a half-court man-to-man, which we found trouble breaking. There was a general lack of coming hard to the ball, as well as screens which could have helped break the defense.

In the 2nd half, all that changed when WRS changed into a less aggressive defense, and we were able to take advantage of it. We were able to find open shots, and were more aggressive when it came to driving towards the basket. Our defense was also much stronger, forcing turnovers and more importantly grabbing defensive rebounds. The weak-side man started to sink lower for rebounding (on Coach's instructions) and we slowly cut into WRS's lead.

And that led to the most intense last minute that we've had for a long time. Down by 1 point with approx 40 seconds left to go, we made a play to score 2 points, and defend hard to get the win. Benedict then drew a foul, scoring 1 freethrow and missing his second. Then, Mikhael grabbed the rebound and drew a foul of his own, also scoring only 1 free-throw. On the defensive end, WRS missed their first shot but managed to get an offensive rebound. However, they missed their subsequent shot and made a team effort to box out, and secured the rebound. Pushing forward, Yao Zhong drew another foul, and his freethrows could have sealed the game, but he missed both. Thankfully for us, by then there wasn't enough time for the WRS squad to react, and we won by 1 point.

MVPs:
RI:
Bao Kun
Chun Cheong

WRS:
Nicholas

U19 ISIBL RI 33-14 WRS

We started off really strong and well, with jordaan converting his two free throws after a hard foul. However, we had a little problem communicating on defense when WRS did a play which involved two of their posts screening the point guard at the same time. Fortunately, they did not manage to convert any of their plays and their only point came from a fast break from their no. 4. The second quarter was played the same intensity, though the scoring was much less reduced after WRS adjusted to the pace of the game. However, perhaps it was our homground, Jordaan hit his jumper and lawrence converted his free throw, and Alex scored his first shot of the game.

The second half however, when the opponent decided to press, we had some difficulties adjusting; we had a few turnovers from a few bad passes and decision making. We weren't finishing well when we got to the botttom of the rim, and we did not run our press breaker smoothly. To make it worse, we were outscored 4-5. Last quarter though, we slowly got used to the pace of the game, and we pulled apart 9-3, ending the game 33-14.

Our fast breaking and plays percentages are as high as our 3 pointers, which is unacceptable. We have to be better in our finishing and run plays more smoothly, in order to do better for the matches ahead.

MVPs:

RI:

Jordaan

Brendan Sim

WRS:

De Jin

Team List for RI vs WRSS, RI vs OFS, RI vs NVSS

U16

Guards: Bao Kun, Ming Jun, Peter Pang (Captain), Seah Nguan (OFS only), Shin Liang (WRSS only), Zong Tai (WRSS only)

Forwards: Mark, Yao Zhong, Kim (NVSS, OFS only), Mikhael, Yu Xuan (OFS, WRSS only), Daryl (OFS only), Jinghui (NVSS only)

Post: Benedict (Vice Captain), Wee Xuan, Chun Cheong, Jack Zheng (NVSS, WRSS only), Nicholas (NVSS only)

U19

Guards: Justin, Alex, Joel

Forwards: Jordaan (Captain), Sim, Daniel,

Post: Yves, Greg, Mahmood, Chng, Lawrence (Vice-Captain), Ding

ISIBL Updated Basketball League Schedule

These are the fixtures for ISIBL

U-16
RI vs United World College 1/9/9 4.45pm @ UWC
RI vs Woodlands Ring 7/9/9 4pm @ RI
RI vs Overseas Family School 8/9/9 4.45pm@ OFS
RI vs North Vista 10/9/9 4pm @ North Vista
RI vs Pres High 14/9/9 4pm @ RI
RI vs Australian International School 17/9/9 5.15pm @ AISS
RI vs Cat High 18/9/9 4pm @ Cat High

U-19
RI vs United World College 1/9/9 6pm @ UWC
RI vs Woodlands Ring 7/9/9 5pm @ RI
RI vs Overseas Family School 8/9/9 5.45pm@ OFS
RI vs North Vista 10/9/9 3pm @ North Vista
RI vs Pres High 14/9/9 5pm @ RI
RI vs Australian International School 17/9/9 6.15pm @ AISS
RI vs Pioneer JC 29/10/09 4pm @ RI
RI vs New Town 30/10/09 3.30pm @ RI

U19 ISIBL UWC 45 - 38 RI

The match was played immediately after the U16 one.

(As I was not watching the match entirely, pardon for the lack of information.)

Compared to the previous game, we started off better than the previous. We grabbed the rebounds after their missed attempts and we box out hard. However, probably due to the fact that we were impatient, we fired three pointers at will, and only one was made throughout the entire first quarter. Second quarter, coach substituted the wings, though the wings had to make a few mistakes in order to get their momentum going, before we saw a nice breakway lay up by Daniel and a beautiful three by Alex. We ended 21-15.

Third quarter, we hit three three pointers and we went off for a full court zone press that failed as many times it succeeded. We did not intercept after trapping, which defeated the purpose of the trap. Fourth quarter we were still unable to catch up, though we hit two three pointers from jordaan and joel, and ended 45-38.

Throughout the match, we were not aggressive with our rebounding, always not boxing out fully and jumping with the guys much taller than us. We also did not treasure our ball possessions, like playing with the ball at half court doing fancy moves and firing shots that were ill-advised and challenged, when we know we can get better looks than that. Patience goes a long way in basketball, and we should know how to use that.

U16 ISIBL RI 17 vs UWC 43

Today kicks off our ISIBL campaign.

The match started off with UWC's number 19 Prithvi winning the tip-off, and soon we found ourselves facing physically dominant players than us. Much smaller and less physical than them, we were out-rebounded many many times when their forwards took their shots, them even grabbing the rebounds over our heads. Though not all of them were converted, the number of rebounds they got killed us and we were limited to only 10-2, with Bao Kun scoring the only basket in that quarter.

The second quarter was not much different from the first, where sloppy offensive plays and poor rebounding almost murdered us. The only points we got was only after a successful screen, where our forward fired a mid range shot. On defense we were terribly careless, allowing them to receive the ball in the middle over and over again after the post players set screens for the forwards, which resulted in the pathetic 21-4 scoreline by the end of the first half.

Third quarter was the only time where our scoring really began. Changing to a different strategy which included firing of more three pointers, we released more shots, though not all of them were converted. Fortunately, one of our forwards converted both his free throws and took one for the team. Also, one of our sec one also scored the only three pointe made by our team in this game! However, the final quarter we still couldn't really pull it together. Though we drew some really nice fouls, it still wasn't enough, and we were destroyed 9-5.

Despite knowing that we were going to have a disadvantage due to our smaller size, we still didn't treasure every possession and we made silly mistakes that were just due to poor planning and communication. That was the worst part of it. Hopefully we can take a break now, and come back stronger for next week matches.