RI 63 Balestier Hill 28

Short report by REDSports with nice pictures:

RI thrash Balestier Hill 63-28 to progress into B Div South Zone basketball second round

Report by Alex
We were surprised by the high intensity play by our opponents at the start of the game. They managed to break our press countless times and got easy layups. We definitely weren't prepared for this game. We finally managed to get a couple of steals and layups, and Justin ended the quarter with a three.

The second quarter was just as bad. We let them drive and get jumpshots over us. They still could break our press a couple of times and bad turnovers by us caused them to score easy buckets. Their center number 4 was a monster on the boards, getting countless rebounds. The half ended 30 17.

In the third, we shut them down with our full court man to man press and had many fastbreak points. Rarely did they have any attempted shots and they did not score in the third quarter.

Our opponents managed to get back in the fourth, by drawing fouls and hitting shots from the perimeter from number 6. Number 4 also had many second chance points. There were some calls that did not go our way and really affected our game. Players got angry and we had many rushed shots. The game ended 63-28.

Today, we learned that we have to ignore the referee and play our usual game. We have to play harder than our opponents and with more intensity. We werent able to do that today. Our post players, especially our centers have to work really hard over the course of the season. We gave away too many rebounds. The guards have to be more confident in their shooting abilities and not be afraid to take outside shots. Overall, not a pretty game but a good test for us and this game will definitely prepare us for tougher games to come.

RI 106 Peicai 24

We started off with our usual zone press and raced off to an early 30-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter was more or less the same as Daniel scored a flurry of points.

In the third, we did a halfcourt zone press, forcing to take outside shots and work hard on the offensive end. They were worn out by the end of the third and started playing lazily. In the last quarter we changed our defense to a 3-2 and pressured the ball on the perimeter, forcing turnovers. We maintained our focus throughout this game and did not let the opponents get any easy chances. We must also learn to shoot more threes during a game as some are not confident in taking them. Other than that, a good game today and next up will be Balestier Hill Sec.

ACSIS: RI 48-37 United World College

(Reported by Mark, minor edits by Wee Xuan)

Even before the start of the game, we could see that all of their players were bigger and taller than us. Their play was simple. Move around, get ball in the paint and throw it up, then go for a rebound put-back. Our defense was decent but we still allowed them to get many offensive rebounds. We should have boxed all of them out of the area because we will definitely lose to them if we tip the ball with them.

In the third quarter, the pressured us when we were starting the ball. Due to our inexperience, we made bad passes allowing them to catch up. This happened a few times, for example, in the third quarter, they were down by 6 points, but managed to catch up and tie with us in a short time span of less than 2 minutes.

Still, we played good basketball, with a good number of fast breaks which we converted. We also did as what was instructed by the coach, and thus we ran the offense very well, with lots of good passes.

However, this game was an extremely physical game, with both sides pulling and pushing each other, and the opponents using vulgarities. Nevertheless, even if the opponents were calling us names, or playing dirty with us, we should not lose our temper, or sneer at them when we get the basket plus the foul. If we do so, we not only not be able to concentrate on shooting the free throws, we will also play a bad game overall. Moreover, we should not follow the opponents, and purposely hurt others, or even kick the ball just because you are not happy. (Correction by WeeXuan: we should not be played by our opponent mind games' and follow suit to foul them.) Not only will you get a technical foul, it also shows the poor sportsmanship in you.

Lastly, kudos to Kevin for scoring his first basket of the season. J

 

Scoring by quarters:

1st Quarter -- UWC 11 RI 4
2nd Quarter -- UWC 7 RI 12
3rd Quarter -- UWC 9 RI 16
4th Quarter -- UWC 10 RI 16

MVPs:

RI: Ming Jun and Phi

SAS: #16

 

 

 

RI 79 BSS 23

We started the game with our usual zone press, getting a lot of steals and fastbreak points. This was one of the better teams overall and managed to break our press a couple of times. But they couldn't get any easy shots off against our half court man to man defense. The first quarter ended 25-2.
In the second, we continued pressing them and getting easy layups on the offensive end. They managed to score a few shots in their half court offense after we weren't able to get some defensive rebounds.

At the start of the second half we did a halfcourt zone press against them, managing to trap the players and getting steals. We took advantage of the weak ball handlers and got easy layups on the other end.
Again, in the fourth, we slowed down and started to play a half court game. We havent been able to hit threes the past few games and continued missing from long range, hitting only 3 threes in the game. We also let the opponents get a couple of offensive rebounds and were punished by second chance points. The final quarter score was 10-8.

We have to learn to control the boards and not allow teams to get second chance points. Also, we should improve on our half court shooting in the next game, especially three pointers. A good performance this game and let's get ready for our next game on Monday.

ACSIS U14: RI 44-40 Singapore American School

(written by mark)

In the first and second quarter, we played a man to man defence. The Americans played a pick and roll offence. They pretty much executed screens at every opportunity. We however did not fight past the screens, and by the second to third screen, there was confusion everywhere with players even losing sight of the player they were defending. Thus, the opponents could cut to the centre of the paint area to get easy shots. On offense, we did not know what play to run. Though there were problems in the play, we still managed to score with our players playing 1 to 1 with the opponents.

In the third quarter, we change our defence to a 3-2 zone. Although there was less confusion and cuts while the opponents were executing the play, there was bad help, and the guards could cut to the paint area occasionally. We also did not pressure their guards enough, allowing the Americans to score 2 3pointer, their only 2 in the game. Furthermore, being down by 6 points, we should not have allowed them to simply make passes from one guard to the other uncontested. Also, we were no scoring on fast breaks. Moreover, we travelled with the ball, and committed charging foul unnecessarily. When the Americans pressure us when we were starting the ball, we threw the ball away or had the ball stripped from us. This quarter, we were outplayed by the opponents, and they nearly doubled the amount we scored.

Fortunately, we were able to make a comeback after being down 32-38. We used a full court press. As the opponent only had 1 ball handler, the ball kept coming to him, and we kept pressuring him. After gaining possession of the ball, we sprinted down to score. After leading by four points, we changed back to our 3-2 zone defence. Being down by 4 points and the clock signalling the end of game in 2 minutes, we did not pressure the guards, letting them take 3 pointers. Fortunately, it did not go in, and we hang on to the lead until the end.

We should be more aware of when to pressure and when to not pressure. Being down by 6, we definitely got to pressure, especially when there is no shot clock. Also, although today's full court press allowed us to totally outscore the opponents; we should improve it because there are many teams with more than 1 good ball handler. Still, a win is a win. Good Job Guys!

Scoring by quarters:

1st Quarter -- SAS 12 RI 9
2nd Quarter -- SAS 10 RI 14
3rd Quarter -- SAS 16 RI 9
4th Quarter -- SAS 2 RI 12

MVPs:

RI: Chun Cheong and Ming Jun

SAS: #4

RI 91 ACS Barker 19

Before the second game of the season, we wanted to focus throughout the full 40 minutes during the match and concentrate on defense. As the game started, we forced a lot of turnovers and got many steals, leading to many fastbreak points by Jordaan and Justin. The opponents found it very difficult to break our press and didn't get any easy shots. We prevented any underbaskets and forced them to take contested outside shots. The first quarter ended 24-1, with ACS scoring from only one free throw. In the second quarter we did the exact same thing as we did in the first, forcing them to dribble along the sidelines and throw the ball away. Kudos to Sim who had 10 straight points in the quarter.
In the third, we continued pressing them. Jordaan scored 18 points the the quarter alone. Justin pressured the point guard and managed to trap the wing players a couple of times. Our press in the 3rd quarter worked well. The fourth quarter was not well played at all. Some players were being too safe in the zone press and fell back on defense instead of pressuring the ballhandler. Number 11 and 7 of ACS were on fire, scoring all 14 points for their team in the final quarter. Our zone was not as effective anymore as players started to get tired lazy. On offense, we lost focus and had many silly turnovers. Our half court offense was not running and we shot many contested threes and forced shots. The pace of the game was slowing down and we weren't getting any fastbreak points. The post players also had a couple of turnovers. The score in the 4th was 15-14.
We learnt from this game that we must fully focus throughout all 40 minutes of the game especially when we play against tougher opponents. The fourth quarter of this game proved that we still can't concentrate for the full game. Our underbaskets must improve as well as we missed a couple of easy ones in the paint. The half court offense also has to improve. Many players were confused as to which play to execute, leading to forced shots. Most importantly however, we CANNOT SLACK on defense. Every player on the court is important to the team defense. As our legs get tired we must not get sloppy on defense and offense.
It was a good game overall but we cannot be complacent as there will be tougher opponents to come.

Raffles vs Serangoon Gardens SS

Short report from Redsports

Report by Coach

RI beat Serangoon Gardens by 71-29.

It was a good and balanced game for RI as players performed consistently for the entire game, applying a full-court pressure to overcome the opponents. Serangoon Gardens performed admirably, specially notable was their extremely high field goal percentage. With the few shots they managed, they converted at an astonishing rate. If not for the high-pressure defense, the game may have turned out a much closer affair.

Despite missing 2 players down with injury and sickness, the RI 10-men brigade took turns to trap their opponents. Credit to SGSS, they never really collapsed under pressure. Beyond the occasional series of turnovers by their younger players, they actually improved in handling the press as the game progressed. Of course RI also took the chance to improve on our zone press as well.

• Justin Chua top scored with 23 points on 4 front court steals
• Lawrence poured in 13 points with put backs from rebounds and layups, 3 steals
• Jordaan scored 10 and looked good for continual improvement, 1 steal, 3 assists, 1 offensive rebound
• Brendan scored 8 points including 2x treys, 3 steals
• Bryan had 6 rebounds, 6 steals, 3 assists and 4 points - a good all-round contribution
• Greg had 7 rebounds and 3points
• Joel - 5 points, including 1x trey
• Daniel -2 points, 1 rebound
• Benedict - 4 points, 2 rebounds
• Yves - 2 points, 3 rebounds

Beyond the statistics, it was a good team effort!

Report by Alexander Loh

Today was the first match of our B Division season. We started the match with our 2-2-1 press and did so throughout the game. Soon, as our defensive intensity increased, the opposing team started committing many turnovers, which led to many fastbreak points for us. However, they managed to break our press a couple of times and had a few easy layups. We ended the first quarter up 17-6. In the second quarter we let up a little on transition defense by allowing players to just drive past us and not putting any ball pressure on them or sliding with them. Our half court offense was a little static, leading to many bad shots. The half ended 28-15. In the third quarter we started to pressure the ball even more, which caused them to throw the ball away . We ended up scoring a lot of points off turnovers thanks to the whole team defense. Everyone contributed to the defensive intensity and Justin finished with a lot of fast break points. In the fourth quarter we set up a 1-2-2 zone defense after the 2-2-1 press. We got confused at first as some players thought that it was a man to man defense, thus leading to easy buckets for the opposing team. We soon communicated with each other and clamped down on defense, forcing them to take outside shots and not allowing them to get points in the paint. Sim and Lawrence hit three pointers in the last quarter as well. The final score was 71-29. Overall, it was a satisfactory start to the season, but many things can be improved, such as court awareness and communication on offense as well as defense. Let’s all learn from our mistakes today and prepare for the next game.

2010 B Div: South Zone Tournament

The 2010 South Zone B Division Tournament has started. RI is a seeded team and here are the fixtures:

12 Jan 1315hrs - RI vs Serangoon Gardens Secondary School
18 Jan 1315hrs - RI vs ACS (Barker)
20 Jan 1545hrs - RI vs Bartley Secondary School
25 Jan 1200hrs - RI vs Peicai Secondary
27 Jan 1430hrs - RI vs Balestier Hills Secondary

All games @ CCAB

Raffles FTW!