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
Thursday, September 10, 2009
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
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
Monday, September 7, 2009
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
Friday, September 4, 2009
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
Thursday, September 3, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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.
(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.
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.
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