Basketball

Short update

2008-04-13T00:54:00.004+10:00

Well, I stopped posting in this blog as I had much less time to write in here.
The team is still going and last season we won a few games, but didn't make the finals.

This season we have been doing much better due in part to our better defense. We have now won four games in a row which is the most we have ever won as a team in a season, this also we are tied on points with Titans for 6th place and maybe also with Rosies for 5th, but will probably still be behind them on percentages.

What's been happening with Spuds?

2007-08-16T15:50:00.000+10:00

So much has happened since I last posted in this blog. The season ended with a victory, and a new season started with some more challenges. They introduced the 10 points per player per half rule into the Social competition as of the 2nd round. Some mixed feedback about it has forced them to reconsider the rule. This rule actually cost us the chance of winning last week after James got his 10 points, which he reached with a 3ptr when on 8 so only 2pts counted for it. We lost the game by 10 points, but had James been allowed to score more then we might have won. One of the opponents actually said that afterwards, as for the last 5 minutes they didn't have to play defense on James, which meant it was almost like playing 4 on 5 basketball.

My personal game has had it's ups and downs. Early in the new season I scored two 3ptrs in a game, but then other times not even get close to the ring. Last week I took the ball up the court and launched it from a step inside the 3pt line and banked it in. As a team we have been playing considerably better, with some excellent defense and some shots that I find it hard to beleive actually go in.

30th Game: vs Trix

2007-04-23T11:16:00.000+10:00

This game was played on the 19th of April at 9:20pm.
This was Dave's return game which meant we had six players. The Trix only had one win on the ladder which gave us a good shot at beating them. They were all younger guys and really had just one or two players that could shoot well. Simbo had a height advantage over all of them and therefore should have taken more rebounds and blocked their shots.

However, there were many occasions when they got an easy shot inside the key with a gap left open in our defense. That is what happens if one person moves out to a player without covering their butt.

Drew picked up four fouls for the game, of which two shouldn't have been called. One of the fouls was when the ball was whacked from a guy's hands and the only contact was made to the ball and his fingers which is classified as part of the ball. Therefore it shouldn't have been called. The other foul was one at half court which technically is a foul but by calling it actually disadvantages their team. That is because it allowed us to get back in defense.

The umpires weren't very good in this game. For one thing they didn't call any three second violations for the game, and I'm sure that both teams should have been penalised for that.

Our first half went in spurts, we got away well taking the first few scores, but about half way in our defense lapsed and allowed them to close the gap back up. We went into the halftime break leading 26 to 22. James had 8 points, Harbs and SImbo had 6 points, Dave had 5 including a free throw, and Tim had 1 point from a free throw.

The second half James was on fire, he single handedly scored 17 points in the half. Dave scored another 4 points, Harbs and Simbo each scored two more points. We had 25 in the half and conceeded 17.

29th Game: vs Aardvarks

2007-04-23T11:15:00.000+10:00

We had heaps of trouble scoring in this game and lost 18 to 51.

28th Game vs Phoenix

2007-04-23T11:14:00.000+10:00

This game was played on the 5th of April and we only had five players with Dave being away and Watson being unable to play on Thursday nights. It was a day when I really needed to have a rest as I had a bit of a flu type thing, but had no subs. We had Tim, Harbs, James, Drew and Simbo. The first half we scored just 10 points while Phoenix scored 28. James had six points, Harbs and Tim each had two points at the half.
The second half we played much better with Tim scoring four, Harbs scored 3 points including a free throw, and James scored another 12 points

We lost this game 31 to 60.

27th Game vs Rosies

2007-04-02T11:23:00.000+10:00

This game was played on the 29th of March and with Dave unable to play due to his pending wedding, Age took his place on the court.

We started off quite well by scoring the first 8 points of the game, but then a lapse in defense and some fast breaks by the Rosies meant that we lost the lead. They had one really good player, but he wanted to do everything himself, and did score most of their points. So next time if we can stop him scoring then we have a better chance at winning.

Tim picked up four fouls in the first half, although one was probably meant for someone else. He managed to not foul out. In the first half Watson scored 11 points with two free throws, three 2s and a 3ptr. James scored 6 points, Simbo scored 5 which included a free throw. Age scored three of four free throws, Tim scored two points, while Harbs missed two free throws. Drew had a few shots but was unable to connect. We led at the half 27 to 26.

The second half we tried to stop the fast breaks, but there were still patches where they went on a run to stretch out their lead. We were holding on within 8 points until the final minute when they hit a couple more shots without us scoring to end on 60.

James scored 11 points with two 3ptrs, one free throw and two 2ptrs. This gave him 17 points for the game. Watson scored 6 points in the half including two free throws for 17 points in the game. Age, Harbs, and Simbo each scored 2 points in the half. Our final score was 50. This gives us 1 and 3 on the ladder since the new draw and puts us 8th.

It appears that the official score sheet has robbed us of another 2points. I wish that the people who score would get it right. There have been other games this year when the scoreboard showed a different score to what the sheet said. It hasn't changed the result in terms of win or loss, but just the percentage on the ladder which could determine the ladder position.

26th Game vs Saints

2007-04-02T11:22:00.001+10:00

22nd March 2007

25th Game vs

2007-04-02T11:20:00.000+10:00

15th March 2007

24th Game: vs The Outsiders

2007-03-13T12:47:00.000+11:00

With the admin people at the Minerdome making a decision to make it so we don't have any Sunday games, they scrapped the old social grades and created new ones. This meant that we now have different teams in our grade, with the exception of just two who were in our old grade. Some of the teams from our grade last season are in the new grade too. The most annoying thing about this is that our first four weeks of the season count for nothing. They wasted our money.

This game versus the Outsiders was played on the 8th March 2007 at 9:20pm.

We had a full seven players for this game with Watson playing again. We started by losing the tip and having them score first.

One of the umpires for this game was pretty bad, he made alot of wrong calls.
Some of the decisions about who last touched the ball out of court went against us.

We didn't have a really crash hot game, although we had some patches where were scored a few in a row and played good defense. James was the standout again, scoring six points in the first half and another four in the second half.
Tim scored one of two free throws in the first half and two of two free throws in the second half. Dave scored two points in the first half, Simbo scored one of two free throws in the first half and two points in the second half.
Watson scored a 3ptr in the first half and another two points in the second half. Harbs scored two points in the second half.
At half time the score was 13 to 32, and the final score was 27 to 50.

Drew got a block that was in correctly called a foul which resulted in much frustration and Dave also got called for a foul on a block.

23rd Game: vs Exies Acmy

2007-03-05T11:04:00.000+11:00

This game was on Sunday the 4th of March. It will be the last Sunday game of this season. The reason why we had a sunday game was the took in to many teams for the social competition and didn't have enough court times. They have decided that they will change the grades from now for the rest of the season by taking out all new teams from the thursday competitions and create a seperate Sunday competition for them, and this will mean that we will probably have to face the harder teams from now on.

Onto this game, we had six players for this game with the return of Harbs and Watson, but James didn't show up for the game.
The game started with their possession, and Harbs picked up a foul the first time they took the ball to the hoop.

Both teams struggled to score early on and after a few minutes there was still no score but 2 fouls to 4. There was an extremely high foul count with 8 on us and 12 on the Exies. Having Harbs and Watson on the floor gave us alot more running pace which helped with some fast breaks during the game.

Dave, and Simbo both scored four points, while Watson scored two and missed two free throws in the first half. We played in spurts and allowed them to get away in the middle of the half. The score at the half was 10 to 20.

Our second half had patches of great defense, but also saw their top scorer become a cherry picker for the fast breaks, he scored 17 points alone in the half, which also included a 3ptr which he was fouled on.

Part way through the half we decided to start playing man on man instead of zone, and it helped slow their scoring and gave us more opportunities to score. Tim scored 5 points with 3 of 4 free throws, Dave, Simbo and Watson each scored 4 in the half.

Drew hit a 3ptr, but unfortunately it was after a foul was called, but we may as well count it anyway since it made no difference to the result of the match.

Tim played exceptionally as he got several steals as they tried the long pass down the floor as well as dishing off for the assists.

The final score was 30 to 46.

We were on top of the White ladder on percentage with the same number of wins as Excies, but now that they are changing the grades we will probably be towards the bottom of the new ladder after this week.

Next game this Thursday.

As a side note Dave and myself are playing the Indoor Cricket semi final tonight (Monday 5th March) at 6:45pm.

22nd Game: vs Air Force One

2007-02-27T13:50:00.000+11:00

This game was played at the Arch Sports Centre and for this game Simbo got a guy from his church (Jarrod) to play for us. Sure he has the skills and is energetic with youth, but there were times throughout the game where he tried to do to much himself and not pass the ball.

Anyway, this meant we had a substitute and it was good to not have to play the whole game, but it also creates a certain level of annoyance with some players not spending long enough on the bench. I ended up playing just 23 of the 34 minutes in the game.
The game was only 34 minutes because i was late and the team hadn't paid the sheet on time. This also meant that we started 5 points behind. This didn't matter to much as we scored first and took the lead about half way through the term. We restricted them to just three more points for the half, and we scored 19. The foul count at the half was 3 to 8. Jarrod had 10 points with one 3ptr and 1 of 4 free throws, Dave had two points which came from rebounding one of Jarrod's shots, James made 7 points including 1 of 3 free throws.

The start of the second half we were a bit lapse on our defense, and with a few three pointers by the opposition the gap closed a little bit. We regrouped after a timeout and managed to stop them and score ourselves to eek out the lead again. Jarrod made another 11 points including one 3ptr, Tim and Dave each scored 2 points, James scored another 8 points and missed a free throw, and Simbo made 6 points and missed two free throws. We ended up winning the game 51 to 32.

Maybe i'm a bit miffed that Simbo suggested that I sub off with 7 minutes remaining in the game, when I reckon he should have gone off to even out the bench time. Doesn't matter anyway since we won the game and that gives us 3 and 1 on the ladder and in second place behind Exies.

21st Game: vs Desteradoes

2007-02-16T00:32:00.000+11:00

After the walkover last week, we had the same five players this week, and again Timmy was a few minutes late to the game.

We started well with James scoring the first 7 points for our team, Drew hit a three pointer from about half a metre outside the three point line, but hit no more shots.
Tim made one layup while Dave hit two jumpers. We led at the half 17 to 10.

Our second half we were let down in our defense. We lost the lead after a 11 to 3 run. The lead swapped a few times during the half until they hit a couple more shots without us scoring. James was the only one who scored for us in the second half with 13 points for a total of 21 for the game. Simbo fouled out with a few minutes left in the half.

We lost the game 30 to 47.

20th Game: vs Prospectors

2007-02-05T13:40:00.000+11:00

The New Season 2007, and with the Social now split into three grades, we have found ourselves in the White grade facing just one of the same teams from last season. All the other teams appear to be new teams for this year.

Our first game on the 1st of February was against the Prospectors at 6 o’clock. They were wearing tops with Ballarat on them, and I think they borrowed them from the centre. Our team consisted of Dave, Simbo, James, Drew, and Tim. We started with four players as Tim was a few minutes late due to the early game. Harbs was away for this week. The opening tip had to be redone as they missed the ball at the top of the arc. The opponents got the first clear possession of the game, and scored first with a three pointer, but James and Simbo quickly scored to take the lead which went back and forth for awhile. We stretched the lead out to 6 or 7 points near the end of the first half, and ended the half up 21 to 16. Tim had 3 fouls at the half with two of them while trying to stop their #5 after he got past me, after that Tim decided that we should swap in defence, but they changed their attack. Their #5 appeared to be their best and most experienced player, as he controlled most of their plays, but also took the ball himself launching shots off balance. After he hit the first 3 ptr we thought that he might continue to hit them, but only made one more 3ptr. He probably scored most of their points though for the game. At half time Simbo had 6 points, Dave had 6 points, Tim had 4 points and James had 5 points.

There were two jump ball (possession arrows) in the first half, and so we started with the ball in the second half. We had a bit of a plan for the rest of the game, and it kinda worked. Keeping the defence tight and helping out when we had the ball. Several times Simbo got the rebound in defence, and had the open player behind him but kept passing in front through the danger zone. Despite that Simbo played a superb game scoring a further 15 points in the second half for a total of 21. He took several rebounds at both ends of the floor which allowed him to get some easy baskets under the ring. We managed several fast breaks in the second half with James in control of the ball and passing off for the assists. Simbo was on the receiving end of many passes and also was there to clean up the missed shots. Tim scored a total of 8 points, while Dave also had 8 points and James made 12 points. Drew launched several shots but couldn’t make the shots, although most of the shots were rebounded by one of our players. The couple of fouls Drew picked up could possibly have been deliberate. A highlight of the game was with about 4 seconds left of the clock, the tall guy of the other team went to launch a 3 pointer, when Drew came from nowhere and got his hand to the ball to block the shot cleanly and this game us the last possession of the game. The final score was 49 to 33.
A great way to start the new year and hopefully a sign of things to come. We are looking forward to the making finals this season.

19th Game: vs Exies Acmy

2007-02-05T13:38:00.002+11:00

Our final game of the season is one that we had to win so that we didn't finish on the bottom of the ladder, a loss would see Exies move ahead of us to second last.

We Tim missing this game, the rest of us played hard and ended up winning in a great tussle.

18th Game:

2007-02-05T13:38:00.001+11:00

To be Reported on.

17th Game:

2007-02-05T13:37:00.000+11:00

To be Reported on.

16th Game: vs Titans

2006-11-03T15:40:00.000+11:00

2nd November 2006

This game we had six players again, and we started really well by getting the first score on the board. It took a minute or so before that happened as we lost the tip. We managed to keep the score close for the first 10 minutes, but then they went on a bit of a run and towards the end of the first half stretched the lead to 20. At half time we were down 10 to 31. Tim had 2 and James both made a 2ptr, Dave made two 2pts and Simbo made two free throws. It looked like it was all over and to a certain extent it was, but we didn’t completely give up on it. The second half we came out with a stronger defensive strategy and we managed to claw back some points after they stretched the lead into the higher 20s. Dave, Harbs and Simbo each made a 2ptr, Simbo also made 1 free throw and James hit two 3ptrs in a row and the another two 2ptrs. By the end of the game we had levelled the score for the second half with a final score of 29 to 50.

It was a good defensive effort by most of our team, and better than the previous time we played them. The margin was about half this time.

I had four fouls with about 4 minutes left of the game and I wanted to make the fifth one really count but never ended up getting it. If only the other team didn’t think so highly of themselves.

15th Game: vs Blue Devils

2006-10-27T23:17:00.000+10:00

26th October 2006

This week we had six players again with both James and Simbo back. The blue devils are a good team, and many of their players play in higher grades. The biggest problem with them from our point of view is that they are arrogant about the game.

Our first half was pretty bad as we only scored 10 points while they scored 37. Dave made our first score for the night then James scored a 3ptr, followed by a 2ptr, a free throw and another 2ptr. Tim had 3 fouls before half time and so couldn’t play as hard in defense for the second half.
The second half Tim made 1 of 2 free throws, Dave made a jump shot, Harbs made 8 points with a couple of nice drives, Simbo made four points including 2 free throws, James made another 9 points with two 3ptrs, a 2ptr and a free throw. I made two points after I got a rebound and threw the ball back up at the backboard. Tim picked up his fourth foul with abour 15 minutes left of the game which made it hard to stop the arrogance scoring as several times he was left by himself to defend the fast break. Anyway the final score was 36 to 67, which I was quite happy with since we were able to prevent them from scoring 70 points, and we almost made it to 40. We should still be second last on the ladder.

Next week is on Wednesday at 10:10pm.

14th Game: vs The Outsiders

2006-10-27T23:16:00.000+10:00

19th October 2006

Well for this game Simbo couldn’t play, and James forgot the game time and was waiting on Simbo for the time but never got it. Devo wasn’t able to attend either. So as a result of this we only had four players. Had I known that before the game, I would have tried to get another player to fillin. The actually started the game before they should have as I wasn’t ready to be on court so we had Tim, Dave and Harbs on the court at the start of the game which was about 3 minutes late. I got on court about 1 minute after they started playing when we were already a few points down. Anyway having only four players we struggled to get points on the board and also stopping them scoring. Dave scored all six of our points in the first half, while they scored 35. At half time one of the spectators that none of our team knew asked us if we needed another player for the second half, and so a couple of minutes after the start of the second half Greg came on. Our second half was heaps better with Tim making two points, Greg scored four points and I made one of two free throws, then at the end of the game took a shot from behind the backboard which just beat the buzzer. The final score was 15 to 65. Both Tim and Harbs had 3 fouls, Dave and Greg both had 1 foul for the game.

13th Game: vs Kings

2006-10-13T18:15:00.000+10:00

11th October 2006

This team we beat last time, but they didn’t have as many players last time. We had six players but I was late by about 6 minutes due to Bible Study commitments. Devo couldn’t make the game, but everyone else was there. This Kings lineup has players that play in both A1 and A2, which I had thought that this social competition wasn’t supposed to allow A1 players to compete. That’s why they have the Social ‘A’ grade. Either I was wrong, or they changed the ruling or they just don’t bother enforcing it.

Anyway the were doing alright when I arrived only down 8 to 5, then after a few minutes the margin was out to 20 points. I subbed on at about 11 minutes to go in the half. No one got into foul trouble in this game with no more than 3 fouls.

The first half Tim scored with a drive that he threw up off the backboard. Dave made 2 points, Harbs scored 6, James made 4 with a free throw and a 3ptr, Simbo made 5 points which included a 3 point play for the free throw. The half time score was 18 to 40.

The second half Dave and James both made another 4 points each while Simbo made 2points. Our defence in the second half had some rare patches of greatness, but for the most part the Kings were able to score at will. One of their players (Brutty) I’ve played against in the mixed competition and he seems to be able to make the shot from any ware on the floor. Not sure how many points he got, but I think he hit atleast four 3ptrs. It took us almost five minutes in the second half to get any points on the board. The final score was 28 to 82.

12th Game: vs Exies Acmy

2006-10-13T18:13:00.000+10:00

5th October 2006

This was a marvellous game with six players (Devo was unwell) we took an early lead and never lost it. There were a few times with the score was even, but we managed to score again. The first half Tim and Simbo each scored 4 points, Dave made 2, James made a 3ptr while Harbs made 8 points. We led at half time 21 to 17.

The second half was mostly James who scored 12 points while Dave, Simbo and Tim each made another 2 points. We got our lead out to about 13 points at one stage, but then the Excies started to make a run at us, and closed it down. We ended up winning by 5 points. 39 to 34.

11th Game: vs Titans

2006-10-04T11:51:00.000+10:00

Date: 28th September 2006

We this game turned out to be a lot like our previous encounter with this team several weeks ago. We had seven players for this game although Tim and Simbo were both late and missed about 5 minutes. Tim forgot his top so after a timeout at the 11 minute mark we all used bibs. Dave had to take the tip despite still recovering from his injury.
In the first half Dave and James both made two shots, and Simbo fluked a shot from outside the key. He got the ball and didn’t really think about the shot, just putting it up and off the back board. For much of the game I wasn’t happy with most of what was going. When I found out that we would have to wear bibs, it was just another frustration to add to the game.

At half time the score was 10 to 39. The second half was a little bit better, but not by very much, Dave scored three more baskets, James scored another field goal and 3 of 4 free throws, and Harbs made 1 of 2 free throws. The final score was 22 to 69 which was similar to our previous encounter. My own game was pretty crap with some of the time I just watched the opposition get the ball. I picked up two fouls, the first one I grabbed the guy to stop the fast break, while the second one was a blocking foul, as the guy drove in, and bumped me, then took another bounce before making the shot.. and the bloody ref decided to count the basket… it was like 2 seconds before the shot. Jerks. Simbo picked up 4 fouls with heaps of time remaining in the game, but managed to not foul out.

10th Game: vs Globo Gym Purple Conbras

2006-09-23T14:19:00.000+10:00

Well this game I was late missing the first 10 minutes as I left Small Group before basketball. Devo thought the game was at 10:10pm and missed the first half of the game. James apparently turned up but left with a headache. Watson played this game so we ended up with Seven players.

When I arrived the score was 8 all. The trailed by 7 at half time, 12 to 19 with Tim and Harbs each getting 2 points, Dave and Watson each scoring 4. Watson made 2 of 3 free throws. The second half Watson dominated our scoring with 15 points which included alot of drives and fast breaks. Harbs scored 2 points and Devo made 1 of 2 free throws. We ended up losing 30 to 32.

The last 30 seconds of the game the other team were just trying to hold the ball and not try to score. I suppose we should have fouled them and sent them to the line. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

9th Game: vs Saints

2006-09-16T22:27:00.000+10:00

This is the second time that we have played against the Saints this season, the first time was when Dave injured his ankle and we played most of the game with just four players and got absolutely hammered.

This game on the 14th September at 9:20pm saw us with six players again, but without Devo. We lost the tip, but the ball ended up out of court so we gained posession. We got on the board fairly early in the game, but a couple of bad shots and turnovers allowed the Saints to skip away to a healthy lead. Their #21 seemed to be able to hit any shot he took in the first half, he is also an umpire who I mentioned in the report when we previously played this team.
The first half Dave made two points, Simbo made four points and James made seven which included a 3pt play from a single free throw. They each had two fouls at half time too. We were behind 13 to 37 at the break. The second half, Dave shot a 3ptr and another field goal for a total of 7 points for the game, Simbo made 2pts, Timmy started to get the ball to fall driving in a few times and scoring. Timmy made 7 points in the second half including an alley oop that was passed by James, and also included a 3pt play free throw. Harbs got to the line for two free throws, but was unable to connect on them. James made another 2 baskets, plus made four of four free throws in the second half. The two times he got to the line was due to tech fouls called against the saints. The first tech foul was because the player kicked the ball after his teammate #21 scored a basket, and the second one was with about 8 seconds remaining a player said or did something that the umpire deemed to be inappropriate.

Our team had 8 fouls in the second half, with Timmy gaining 2, Dave another 1, James another 2, and Simbo another 3. Simbo fouled out with 8.8 seconds on the clock. After the second tech foul we had the inbound, and I was looking to take a 3ptr, and Dave tried to get it to me for the shot. The first attempted inbound was knocked back out, so we had another chance at it, I received the ball and went for the shot and got fouled. This meant I got three free throw attempts, and its the first time I've been to the free throw line in along time. I can't remember the last time, but I do know that the first game that I played with this team I started I made 2 of 2 free throws for the first points for the teams history. Anyway I had been way off with my shooting all night, I think I attempted 3 3s and another 4 other field goals. My first free throw was off to the right, the second shot just went in, and the third was a sweet shot. The final score was 37 to 59, with Timmy and Dave scoring 7, Drew scoring 2, James scoring 15 and Simbo 6 points.

This game Simbo played harder from the start which was good to see, and the fact that he fouled out, meant that he was trying harder in defense, although there were several foul calls against us when we made no contact with the player, but that happens sometimes. I had to tell Simbo not to take the in bound pass from the base line, he should be ready and looking to receive the in bound pass in the hope of scoring points inside. Also he shouldn't be left to dribble the ball up the court, as he can be easily stripped by most opposing teams. This was a game were I attempted to many shots that weren't a good option.

Anyway our next game is on the Wednesday night at 9:20pm. If anyone reads this and would like to support us feel free to come along to the Minerdome.

The Four Knights

2006-09-12T18:37:00.000+10:00

September 11, 2006
Vs Saints.

The game started with both sides having four players, and lucky for them that myself and Devo were there to do the scoring. Anyway the four knights were Adam, Scotty, Troy and Terry. Adam was on fire from the start scoring the first few points of the game. About 5 minutes into the game two more players arrived for the Saints, which meant they then had a substitute. One of the late comers was #23 who was a young guy who had a fair bit of speed, and who I would say was their best player. He ended up scoring 10 points in the first half and the score at the break was 21 to 18 with the knights leading. The knights used their timeouts well in both halves so that they wouldn’t tire to much. In the second half the Knights were up by as much as 10 points, but in the last 4 minutes the Saints closed the margin so that they were level after a couple of 3ptrs. The Saints picked up more than 10 fouls in the second half with #23 fouling out of the game with a few minutes remaining, and three other players ending the game on 4 fouls. With under a minute left the Saints #21 picked up a tech foul after he slammed the ball down following a foul call, and possibly said something that the umpire heard. So for the rest of the game the Saints continued with 4 players on the court. The final score was about 44 to 38.

The four knights moved well taking the ball to the basket finding the gaps in the defense. They got a few fast breaks despite being a player short. The biggest part of the game was the way they managed to draw the fouls on the Saints players. This being an early game is why only four players showed up.

8th Game: vs Blue Devils

2006-09-07T20:57:00.001+10:00

7th September 2006

This team were in 4th place on the ladder, and are a group of young guys with one player who is taller than Simbo. This meant that there was more competition for the rebounds.

For this game Tim was unable to play due to a leaders meeting or something. Dave returned after his injury, which meant that we had six players with Harbs, James, Devo, Simbo, and myself.

We actually started this game pretty well as we took a lead early on, but once the devils got themselves together they pulled away from us on the score board. The first half Dave (“they call me Bruce”) made two shots just outside the key, Harbs got the drive to the hoop, Simbo got a shot from a bit outside the key, Devo made his first points with a jump shot about half way out to the 3 point line and James continued his scoring feet with a 3ptrs and two 2ptrs. We had 5 team fouls in the first half and were behind 17 to 35 on the board. Simbo says it takes him 25 minutes to warm up in a game, which means that he should run to the stadium before each game, although that would probably take an hour or more.

The second half Harbs made scored 4 points and had a couple of free throw attempts, Simbo score 4 points once he was more committed to the game and scored after cutting in from the top and receiving the pass, and pushing the shot in. James made 5 points including one free throw, and Dave made another 2 points.
Our defence in the second half was a little bit better as we prevented them from scoring 60+ points. The final score was 32 to 57.

The next game is at 9:20pm on Thursday the 14th.

7th Game: vs The Outsiders.

2006-09-01T18:15:00.000+10:00

This was an early game, and when the clock started we had only three players there with Devo, Simbo and myself. James and Harbs arrived and we started the game with 3 minutes gone on the clock and 3 points down. Timmy arrived a few minutes after we started.

I was feeling like crap, exhausted, fatigued and think I have the flu, this is probably due to my walking this week, but that is off the topic really.

The opposition scored the first 13 points of the game, and when Timmy arrived we took a timeout when we were down 2 to 15. I sat down already tired after about 3 minutes on the court.

Timmy had two free throw attempts late in the first half but missed them. James made three shots and Simbo two shots in the first half so the score was 10 to 30 at the break. Unfortunately at this point Simbo was playing to the same level that he had in previous weeks which meant that we didn’t get enough rebounds.

The second half was better with James scoring 11 points including a 3ptr, and Simbo making another 4 points inside the key. This might be a little harsh, but Simbo shouldn’t be looking to dribble the ball up the court when we have other players who are better ball handlers. I sometimes take the ball up court, but I’m not the best at it by any level of judgement. With about 10 minutes left in the game, Simbo started to pull his finger out, so to speak, and got into better position and brought down some more rebounds. The two shots I remember taking myself were in the key, one in each half, the first missed the backboard, and the second was a hook shot that went in the ring but bounced out… so close. I know that on many occasions I take some stupid low percentage shots, but I’m trying to do that less. I rarely score any points, but that doesn’t matter much if James is scoring heaps and Simbo could get 10 or more a game. Timmy and Harbs had an off night with their shooting, while Devo doesn’t take a lot of shots, but his overall game has improved since he started playing with us.

We should have kept the opposition to around 50 points, but instead the final score was 25 to 71.

6th Game: vs Kings

2006-08-24T17:39:00.000+10:00

Date: 23rd August 2006
Time: 10:10pm

Lets start off by saying that our level of defence as really picked up in the last couple of games, and tonight was a continuation of this commitment. Tim and Harbs returned after working last week. This game was on the Wednesday night at 10:10pm. Waston decided that he wanted to play for us this week since he was unable to play his regular game due to work commitments. He hadn’t played for us since last year, so really it was only a few games missing. He probably won’t be a permanent player in our lineup. James played again for us after a brilliant showing last week. Devo, Simbo and myself made seven players this week.

Simbo won the tip but the ball just went straight out of court, which meant that the Kings got possession. The Kings had five players for the game which was to our advantage as we were able to keep a little fresher. Tim picked up a foul very early on in the half, and I had thought that it could be one of those nights where he fouls out with heaps of time remaining, but in didn’t turn out that way as he only picked up 2 for the match. We managed to keep the score close mainly thanks to James who scored 13 points in the first half (including a 3ptr and 2 Free Throws), whilst Harbs and Watson both scored 2 points. Our fouls were spread quite evenly between all out players, although Watson got 3 fouls in the first half which included a charging foul.

At the halftime break we were down 17 to 24. The Kings main scorer was #6 who I think must have scored at least half their total. Most teams have one or two players who do the majority of the scoring, and that showed with us tonight as well.

Watson played brilliantly and scored 13 points in the second half for a total of 15 points. Tim made a great layup for 2 points as did Harbs. Simbo increased his level of defence and started getting into the right position for the rebounds after we had told him. This helped preventing the Kings from getting many second chance shots. Simbo scored 4 points in the second half, while James made another 8 points which included 2 free throws after the final siren.

Our second half defence was possibly the best ever, as we targeted the Kings #6 and managed to prevent him from scoring a lot in the second half. We managed to draw a lot of fouls against the Kings in the second half, with their #11 picking up 4 fouls in the second half which meant he fouled out with around 4.5 minutes remaining in the game. With about a minute remaining in the game one of the Kings players injured his ankle and couldn’t continue to play the rest of the game, which meant they played the rest of the game with 3 players. The lead changed hands several times in the final 4 minutes of the game, with us finally getting the better side of the game. Simbo fouled out with less than a minute left, and so I returned to the court. I was still unable to score in this game, but that doesn’t matter much. With approximately 3 seconds remaining on the clock we were up by 4 points and the Kings had the ball, the shot went up and missed and then a foul was called against them, which meant we were heading to the free throw line after the clock ran out. The final result was 46 to 40 in our favour.

It’s great to be able to say that we can win again. Congratulations to all who played in this match, it was great to be apart of the action. When Dave returns it will be awesome.

Focus Knights vs Drummond St

2006-08-24T17:37:00.000+10:00

Last Monday the 21st August 2006, I went to score for the Focus Knights following my Indoor Cricket match that we lost by a single run.

The Knights’ player lineup included, Adam, Scotty, Russ, Hayden, Terry and Troy. Their record for the season was 5 wins and 2 losses, which put them 5th on the ladder and equal of points with 3rd place. Drummond St were 4th on the ladder.

The Knights started the game extremely well scoring the first 13 points of the game. So one could say that they had a real easy game, but after they scored the Drummond St held the margin after a couple of 3 pointers and stayed between 8 and 15 points behind. The main part of this game was the rebounding, both offensively and defensively. For about 10 minutes of the match in the second half, the Focus Knights were unable to get any rebounds and this allowed the margin to be closed do to 2 points.

Terry picked up 4 fouls in the first half, with the 4th one being called right at the end of the half. That call was a little dodgey from what I saw of it, and Terry said that he made no contact with anyone. The second half he started on the bench, and when he finally subbed on he lasted less than a minute before picking up his 5th foul.

After the margin was closed down, they took a timeout and regrouped. Following that they started getting into great positions for the rebounds and managed to stretch the margin again, finally winning by almost 10 points. Next week they are playing at 8:50pm.

5th Game: vs Exies Acmy

2006-08-17T22:49:00.000+10:00

Again Tim couldn't play, but also Harbs couldn't either due to work. So I left it to Simbo to find some more players, and He did that. Found three other guys to play, one plays in A1 or something. They were all young and speedy up the court. We had six players with Devo and myself too.

The opening tip had to be redone as they both missed the ball. Simbo ended up losing the tip, but we were able to get the ball back pretty soon. Exies started with only four players. We had the first score, and we kept the score close in the first half, and actually had the lead for a fair bit of it. One of the guys scored 10 points in the first half, one scored 4 and simbo scored 2. We led by 2 at halftime.

In the second half we had actually stretched our lead to 8 points, but we let it slip in the last 2 minutes of the game. A foul on a scoring basket followed by a free throw tied the score up at 40. They scored again once more after that. We had another chance to win or tie the game in the last 30 seconds, but were unable to. All in all it was a good game, but we should have won it. We had three players scoring 12 points each for the game. Simbo and Devo got quite a few rebounds. Simbo needs to either work on his dribbling or just not bring the ball up the court, as on several occasions he was stripped.

We remain on the bottom of the ladder and play next week on Wednesday at 10:10pm.

4th Game: vs Titans

2006-08-13T12:42:00.000+10:00

This game we had Six players with Will returning and Kappas playing along with Devo, Simbo, Harbs and me. The opposition were young guys who tried to be trying for some showtime. Early on our defense was great. Simbo won the tip and we scored the first basket when Will scored. We were holding the score close for about the first 12 minutes, but then after a substitution the defense waivered a little and they were able to stretch the gap. Will scored the second basket. The with the score on 4 to 11, I had the ball at the 3pt line and was going to pass it off, but then I became open for the shot so Will said I should take it. I made the shot with nice arc it swished, nothing but net. Such a great feeling. Simbo made his first basket a little later. After a patch of some turnovers and a lapse in defense the Titans were able to take the half time score to 9 to 28.

Our second half was so much better for making shots. Will had 1 of 2 free throws plus another 2 field goals. Harbs made one layup. Simbo played the best I have ever seen him play. He got into great position for the rebounds and the inside shots. He was grabbing the ball with both hands in both offense and defense. The second half he scored another 7 baskets for a total of 16 points for the game.

The final scoreline was 30 to 66. We play at 8:30pm next thursday.

3rd Game: vs Globo Gym Purple Cobras

2006-08-02T23:57:00.000+10:00

Well tonight, Simbo got another two guys from BAF to play for us tonight, and Devo also played so we ended up with 7 players, but only 5 tops. So as a result I wore a T-shirt with a taped number 11 on it, and Nick took Simbos top when he subbed off. Nick only played about 10 minutes of the second half.

We started pretty well and had 4 points to their 11, but after I came on I didn't add anything to our game as we got further behind. I don't have much confidence in my own ability to play this game. Anyway, Harbs made two baskets in the first half and Tim made one basket and 1 of 2 free throws for a team total of 7. Our second half was much better, we played more structured defense and slightly better offence. Alex has the height which we have needed, but I don't know how often he'll be playing.

The Globo Gym Purple Cobras really only had two players that had good skill, their number 5 handled the ball most of the time and set up the passes for the scores. He also made shots himself including 3ptrs. This is frustrating at times, cause I wish that I could do the same thing, but I know I won't be able to. Their number 7 also was in position to score a bit.

Timmy and Harbs scored another 3 baskets each in the second half and Simbo made one shot which he actually took from outside the key. Personally I don't think he should take shots from outside the key cause he has the height and should be able to take the step towards the basket and send the ball to the hole.

It seems that our team plays in spurts of good offence and defence, but by this time the score is usually already out of reach. We should get better as the season goes on and be more consistent during a game from the start. The final score was 21 to 59.

Next week we are playing on Thursday at 8:30pm.

2nd Game: vs Saints

2006-07-28T23:45:00.000+10:00

Ok, so this game was a late one, starting at 10:10pm. I received an sms from Devo around 4:30 that afternoon informing me that he couldn't play that night, so we would end up with 5 players. I went and picked up the top incase we got six players.

Well Dave and me were the first to arrive, and as we went past the opposition bench, I noticed the same guy that played on Monday night for Celtic against Focus Knights. He was to play for Saints in this match. Normally his attitude bugs me, so I was a little worried about how it may affect the game.

About 4 minutes into the game, Dave took a shot and landed partly on an opponents shoe which resulted in him rolling his ankle, and therefore took no further part in the game. Hopefully the damage isn't to bad. From that point on for the first half we played with just four players, Tim, Simbo, Harbs and myself. The halftime score was 7 to 41, with 7 team fouls. Tim actually picked up his 5th foul at the end of the half. The other team were nice about it and allowed Tim to continue to play the rest of the game.

This player I was talking about earlier appologised for what happened after the game on Monday night about the clock. That was good to see and hear, as I guess I never thought that he would.

Dave's girlfriend came during the first half to pick him up, and while they were on the sidelines, one of the Saints players decided to make a pass across the court in their direction. It wasn't a good pass as there was noone there to stop the ball and it ended up hitting her in the face. Ouch!! That was nasty.

The second half of the match Buzz, who was scoring for us, came on and played wearing jeans. Normally you have to wear shorts, but the result wasn't in doubt. I could mention the final scoreline, but it doesn't matter. For much of the second half the other team weren't really taking the game to seriously, and let us do almost whatever we wanted. Buzz spent much of the time in our attacking half, and scored after taking 3 or 4 shots, with each time the Saints player rebounding the ball and giving it back to him. After taking several shot attempts include a few 3ptrs, I eventually made a basket in the key. Simbo, Tim and Harbs each made a few shots, with our total score being 21. We lost by heaps, but it wasn't the worst game I have been involved in.

In terms of a score line, a few years ago when we played in 'C' grade we had a match vs the top team. For that game only Trav and myself were the only regular players for the team, we found another 5 players for fillins, but none had the fitness or skill level to compete with our opponents. Needless to say Trav and myself also lacked the fitness and skill for the grade. Anyway that game we failed to score a single point. Trav and a couple of free throw attempts, but that was the closest we got. The team was Beavers, and they were on top of the ladder at the time. They were up like 40 to zero and decided that they would play full court press on us.. Now that just isn't very sporting is it. They ended up with 110 points for the game.

Next week our game is on Wednesday at 10:10pm.

Focus Knights

2006-07-25T17:07:00.000+10:00

I've decided that i'll also do a short review of the Focus Knights Basketball team, the players include Lindsay, Adam, Scott, Russ, Hayden, Troy, Terry, and Chris. Eight players is alot to have on your roster, but it does allow for some players not being able to play every game. It does, however sometimes mean that players might not be committed enough and result in only having four players turn up occassionally.

In part this basketball team used to be the Yorkie Yabberring Yobbos, starting off with some players from York St COC before most left for various reasons. Now only a couple attend York St.

Anyway, last monday night they played against Celtic Tigers, and led for most of the game, and at some parts were up by 15 points. The second half saw the Knight pick up 12 team fouls compared to Celtic getting 3 fouls. This meant that in the last minute, the Celtic players went to the free throw line. This allowed them to close the margin from 11 points down to 4 points at the end of the game. One of the Celtic players told me that I should wait for the ball to be in play before restarting the clock. There was about 3 seconds left on the clock when I apparently started it to soon. I thought the ball was in play. Wouldn't have changed the result anyway. That same guy I've played against in the social grades before, and he appears to be very cocky on the court. He usually scores alot of points for Celtic with a few 3ptrs during the game.

Celtic have a big guy who plays center, but really didn't score as many as he should have, seem to miss several close in shots. The final score was 43 to 39. And means the Focus Knights are in the top half of the ladder now.

1st Game: vs Kings

2006-07-21T00:47:00.000+10:00

These guys we have played against a few times in the past. They have some players that play at least in B grade. They also can be a little arrogant at times, and show off a fair bit.

Anyway, with Dave playing the Indoor Cricket pre liminary final, we had six players for this match. Our lineup was Tim, Simbo, Andy, Will, Devo, and Drew.

Having not played basketball since last year, most of us took awhile to get back into it all. Andy was the only one who had been playing regularly. He has been playing on a team with Dave for Sovereign Knights. Tim managed to get 3 fouls within the first 7 minutes of the match, so after that he had to pull back abit with his defence, as in this competition a played is fouled out on their 5th foul. He managed to make it through the game collecting just one more foul.

Our subs worked out pretty well, with everyone getting a rest when they needed it. This tried to keep us fresh. This is meant to be for fun, but the opposition zap the fun away a bit. Andy is good at running the floor, which is sorta what Watson did for us last year. We won the ball from the tip, but couldn't use it well enough to score first, in fact we were 9 points down before we scored. Andy made our first points for the match with a layup. Simbo scored a basket inside the key late in the first half. We went to the half time break down 23 to 4. Our second half saw some better defense and strategies used. Will made a 3ptr early in the half. Simbo had a few more chances at scoring inside and made 1 more basket. Tim scored on the drive into the lane. Will also scored inside. My efforts were all for naught, I took a few shots that I probably shouldn't have, a few of my passes were nowhere near a teammate. One pass I did make to Tim, I bounced the ball between my own legs, and possibly through an opponents legs, and luckily Tim was there to pick up the ball.

Hopefully we do a bit better next week. Don't know what time the game is yet. The final score for this game was 13 to 36.

The New Potatos

2006-07-21T00:36:00.000+10:00

Ok, so after not entering a team last season, myself and Dave decided that we'd like to play in the social competition. I asked some of the people who played for my team last year. Tim, Simbo, Devo, and Will said they'd play. Although Will might not play every week, due to possibly starting Volleyball in a couple of weeks. Tim asked another guy from BAF, Andy. There was also another guy that was going to play, but can't due to a back injury. At the moment we have 7 players listed on the team. There is another guy from BAF that I think wants to play also, but couldn't this week.

We are still missing one of the basketball tops (#4) that we used last year.