Raffles Institution vs Hua Yi Secondary (87-32)

Raffles Institution vs Hua Yi Secondary (87-32)


Points by Quarter:

               1st           2nd         3rd         4th              Total

RI--------25-------15-------31-------16------------87
HYS-----12--------5---------2-------13------------32


This was our second friendly game of the year, playing Hua Yi Secondary School. The game was held at the RJC courts.

This game got off to a quick start as we jumped out to a big lead in the 1st quarter and lead 25-12 by the end of the first. We were able to force many turnovers and took advantage of their zone defense by swinging the ball fast, resulting in many open shots both beyond the arc and under the basket as they were unable to keep up with us. This continued all the way to the end of the first half as we held a halftime lead of 40-17.

The 3rd quarter was when we really pulled away for good as it seemed like we turned up the intensity of our 2-2-1 zone defense by a notch and they were unable to get the ball pass half court without turning the ball over. Due to the fact that they had turned the ball over at their side of the court, we were able to get easy layups the instant we came up with the steal. Our defense saw us through a 31-2 run in the 3rd quarter.

However in the 4th quarter, it seemed like we got a little too comfortable with ourselves as we were only able to score 16 points which was almost our lowest scoring quarter, while Hua Yi was able to score 13 points, the most they scored in one quarter. Hence we were only able to outscore them by 3 points in the 4th, the only quarter where we did not outscore them by double digits.



Improvements

Although we were able to cruise through the game, never trailing from the opening tip, we need to know how to play each quarter hard and consistently instead of coming out strong and letting loose at the end. This game was a very good example of us letting loose toward the end as we only won the 4th quarter 16-13. We need to maintain our energy throughout the whole game as until the final buzzer sounds anything can happen, especially in close games. Kicking this habit is a must

Our 2-2-1 defense was able to force many turnovers, but the 2nd line is still not doing a good and consistent job intercepting the passing lanes and sprinting back to help out the last man. One reason for this happening is that the 2nd line is too close to the 1st line and this increases the distance that the players on the 2nd line have to cover in order to recover and defend. So proper spacing can solve this problem

Lastly, easy baskets. We have to make sure we make our open layups. In this game, we missed many under baskets, but were able to get the 2nd rebound and even the 3rd or 4th rebounds and eventually put it back in. But this was only because Hua Yi had a pretty evident height disadvantage. We cannot expect us to be able to grab so many rebounds against stronger teams with bigger and taller post players. Hence, as long as we make it on our first attempt, we will be alright.



Strengths

We had fierce 2-2-1 defense which startled our opponents a little and allowed us to force many turnovers which resulted in easy baskets for us. Our matchup defense was good as well as we were able to force more than 5 shot clock violations during the game as they were unable to take a good shot with us harassing them around the perimeter.

We shared the ball well as we could swing it around alot, making the defense work and tiring them out, which gave us an advantage eventually as the game went on.

We were able to take advantage of our height and out-rebound them, giving us more possessions and hence more chances to score, but at the same time not allowing them to have many second chance points as for the most part they were only able to have one shot at the basket.






Though we won this game, we have to be ready for stronger opponents that are coming up and continue to work on our game and our defense. As of now, these are the 5 main areas that we need to improve on:

-Defense
-Fast break
-Rebounds
-Converting easy baskets
*-Free throws


On to the next one.