Raffles Institution vs ACS International (50-9)
Points by Quarter:
1st-------2nd-------3rd-------4th
Raffles Institution 19---------6---------18--------7
ACS International 0--------- 8----------1--------0
Our season started off with a breakout in the first quarter as we constantly scored on our opponents through fastbreak opportunities and tough pressure defense. The opponents getting any kind of offense going and we ran off to an early lead by the end of the first, while holding our opponents to 0 points. After the first, we lead 19-0.
However, the next quarter was disastrous for us as we ourselves started getting too shot happy as we started launching from the outside most of the time instead of driving in and getting layups. The opponents managed to capitalize on our long misses, getting most of their 8 points from fastbreaks. We actually lost in this quarter 6-8, and this was the quarter in which they scored 8 of their 9 total points in the whole game.
But then again as we have done in most of our other previous games, we jumped out in the 3rd quarter after discussing about how we had to lock up our defense during halftime. After scoring 8 points in the 2nd quarter alone, we held ACS International to only 1 point in the 2nd half. We closed the game shooting 46% from the field and had 21 steals as a team.
Improvements
We need to cut down on our fouls. In this game, we had a total of 16 fouls compared to 9 fouls by ACS International. We had almost 3/4 of our fouls called on the perimeter as we kept reaching in or kept getting called for blocking fouls. We will play harder but smarter on defense, sliding more and reaching in less.
We need to do a better job running out on the fastbreak as this will be the way in which we can generate points quickly and a more easier way. In this game we did not run out on the break that often, resulting in us only scoring 50 total points throughout the whole game.
Strengths
We once again got alot of steals on defense, a total of 21 as a team. This will be crucial as forcing turnovers on the defensive end can give us more opportunity to run out on the fastbreak and can also demoralise our opponents.
On the other hand, we only got 11 turnovers as a team, showing that we took care of the ball pretty well. Of course, we will definitely like to improve even more in this number as taking care of the ball is crucial in key games.
We just got our feet wet in the first game of the tournament and we felt that we could have definitely done much better in many different aspects. We will however strive to improve on these aspects and perform better in future games while maintaining humility. More to come soon!
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Thursday, January 2, 2014
B Division: Raffles Institution vs Boon Lay Secondary (90-25)
Raffles Institution vs Boon Lay Secondary (90-25)
This would be the last of our series of friendly games to end the year 2013. Our opponent was Boon Lay Secondary and the game was once again played at the sheltered courts at the JC side.
The game got off to a really rough start as we struggled to put the ball in the basket, missing many easy opportunities near the rim. We were still able to score points, but instead of us bursting ahead right from the start to open the gap and break their confidence, they scored right after we scored to make it 2-2. This gave them some confidence in themselves and pushed them to score 9 points in the 1st quarter despite our defensive efforts. However, we were still ahead by a decent margin 21-9 by the the end of the 1st quarter.
In the 2nd quarter, we made sure we came out stronger to erase any hope that they still might have had and started playing harder on defense, while running out on fastbreaks more. They could not keep up to the pace that we were at and our hands were everywhere, getting a total of 23 steals in the game.
The 3rd and 4th quarters were more of the same as we relied on our whole teams effort to score as everyone chipped in with the scoring while Boon Lay largely relied on their starting center #10, who single handed scored pretty much half or more than half of his team's points. We were once again to win this game by a final margin of 90-25.
Our player of the game would go to Tristen as he shot a perfect 3/3 from 2pt range and 1/1 from 3pt range. In addition to that, he added 5 rebounds (1 off, 4 def), 2 steals, 2 assists, while only turning the ball over once. It was a very efficient game on his part.
Improvements
Our free throw shooting has to be more consistent throughout the games that we play. In the Dunman Secondary game that we played earlier in the year, we were a perfect 8/8 from the free throw line. Whereas in other games, we were only slightly above 50%. Similarly, we shot 7/12 from the free throw line in this game and we definitely have to improve on this area.
Next, communication. While we are definitely improving a little on this area, we still need to talk every second of the game. We tend to just talk when we feel like it our when we have adrenaline after we score baskets. We should just keep it on for the whole game. This will help us both on the defensive side and the offensive side of the court. Also, the bench can help out. Instead of sitting there and shouting "Good ball" everytime our player scores, we can help to talk on defense and offense as well. All in all, the more mouths the better.
Strengths
We took care of the ball well in this game only committing 7 turnovers as a team while getting 23 steals as well. This means that the number of turnovers we made is at least 1/3 of what we forced from our opponents. We have to keep our turnovers down and steals high consistently in every game.
We also got huge production from the whole team as 8 players scored at least 6 points. This will be huge if we can maintain it throughout the season coming up as we wont miss a beat regardless of who is on the bench resting.
Last but not least, our rebounding was stellar again as we got 39 total rebounds (22 off, 17 def), almost breaking the 40 mark. We must continue to go in for offensive rebounds regardless of whether we think we have a chance or not and this will then keep our rebound numbers high.
We conclude this year's friendly games winning all games except the aforementioned controversial loss at Ngee Ann Secondary. Our win column consists of teams like Dunman Secondary and Presbyterian High and we have definitely learnt a lot from these games, while boosting our confidence as we now know roughly where we stand. However, we cannot be complacent at all and continue to play hard in every single game. It does not matter if we win by 5 or 50, we have to be there each game, ready to go hard on defense, run back in transition, and run out on the fastbreak while communicating at all times.
2014 South Zone Season, here we come...
This would be the last of our series of friendly games to end the year 2013. Our opponent was Boon Lay Secondary and the game was once again played at the sheltered courts at the JC side.
The game got off to a really rough start as we struggled to put the ball in the basket, missing many easy opportunities near the rim. We were still able to score points, but instead of us bursting ahead right from the start to open the gap and break their confidence, they scored right after we scored to make it 2-2. This gave them some confidence in themselves and pushed them to score 9 points in the 1st quarter despite our defensive efforts. However, we were still ahead by a decent margin 21-9 by the the end of the 1st quarter.
In the 2nd quarter, we made sure we came out stronger to erase any hope that they still might have had and started playing harder on defense, while running out on fastbreaks more. They could not keep up to the pace that we were at and our hands were everywhere, getting a total of 23 steals in the game.
The 3rd and 4th quarters were more of the same as we relied on our whole teams effort to score as everyone chipped in with the scoring while Boon Lay largely relied on their starting center #10, who single handed scored pretty much half or more than half of his team's points. We were once again to win this game by a final margin of 90-25.
Our player of the game would go to Tristen as he shot a perfect 3/3 from 2pt range and 1/1 from 3pt range. In addition to that, he added 5 rebounds (1 off, 4 def), 2 steals, 2 assists, while only turning the ball over once. It was a very efficient game on his part.
Improvements
Our free throw shooting has to be more consistent throughout the games that we play. In the Dunman Secondary game that we played earlier in the year, we were a perfect 8/8 from the free throw line. Whereas in other games, we were only slightly above 50%. Similarly, we shot 7/12 from the free throw line in this game and we definitely have to improve on this area.
Next, communication. While we are definitely improving a little on this area, we still need to talk every second of the game. We tend to just talk when we feel like it our when we have adrenaline after we score baskets. We should just keep it on for the whole game. This will help us both on the defensive side and the offensive side of the court. Also, the bench can help out. Instead of sitting there and shouting "Good ball" everytime our player scores, we can help to talk on defense and offense as well. All in all, the more mouths the better.
Strengths
We took care of the ball well in this game only committing 7 turnovers as a team while getting 23 steals as well. This means that the number of turnovers we made is at least 1/3 of what we forced from our opponents. We have to keep our turnovers down and steals high consistently in every game.
We also got huge production from the whole team as 8 players scored at least 6 points. This will be huge if we can maintain it throughout the season coming up as we wont miss a beat regardless of who is on the bench resting.
Last but not least, our rebounding was stellar again as we got 39 total rebounds (22 off, 17 def), almost breaking the 40 mark. We must continue to go in for offensive rebounds regardless of whether we think we have a chance or not and this will then keep our rebound numbers high.
We conclude this year's friendly games winning all games except the aforementioned controversial loss at Ngee Ann Secondary. Our win column consists of teams like Dunman Secondary and Presbyterian High and we have definitely learnt a lot from these games, while boosting our confidence as we now know roughly where we stand. However, we cannot be complacent at all and continue to play hard in every single game. It does not matter if we win by 5 or 50, we have to be there each game, ready to go hard on defense, run back in transition, and run out on the fastbreak while communicating at all times.
2014 South Zone Season, here we come...
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