Posted 12:46 AM by ACZ
Saturday, March 27th, 2005
Opponents: VCBC(e)
Result: W 73 - 56

Not again....

If only this, if only that.... Yada yada yada, I got hurt again...

Not much of a game as it was really a shoving match.
We probably should've tone down and just stayed safe, but that's life.

ACZ's Line
~12 mins
20 pts, 8/10 FG, 4/4 3PT

Should've been my career playoff performance, but fate puts me down once again.

My shot was just falling, as I felt the awesome warmup today gave me extra lift on my shot, as I had more arc and range than usual.

Perhap I should've sat down, because my team won without me playing anyways...

Posted 3:01 PM by Stan
A sad victory.

We picked up our third straight win, beating a fanatic team, at a great cost. If time could reverse, I rather we lose this game for the health and safety of Acz, SG, Sonni and Paul. Their injuries, inflicted by a bunch of mindless idiotics whom possessed no basketball intelligence nor sportsmanship could be and should be avoided.

I disgusted their playing style. The mere fact they ruthlessly aimed in hurting our players without any purpose in pursuing the ball itself is enough to frustrate and outrage any audiences. Not to mention their continuous acts of flagrout fouling our players after they lost their slightliest chance of winning the game. I disgusted their intentions behind these actions, best annotated from their own coach/team representative "I had controlled myself and I tried to calm my team down, but if they failed [emtionally], there was nothing I can do about it." Such irresponsible comment or idea should not be tolerated in any aspects, let alone that this happened under a church league.

I felt violated for being physically abused in the game and psychologically destructed for the fact that the league has no solutions for these desperados. The queston is not whether this team is allowed or disallowed to participate in next season but whether the league is well prepared for unsportsman events like the above case. This is a matter concerning the safety of every individual player in this league, it should be dealt with highest regard. I sincerely hope the committee of the league will confront this problem seriously and come up with a solution as soon as possible. For the sake of humanity, let unnecessary injuries be the history of this league.

I applaud the heroic efforts of Acz, SG, Sonni and Paul and their civilized manner against barbaric assaults. I hope they recover and rejoin the team soon.

Posted 2:39 PM by ACZ
Saturday, March 12th, 2004
Teammates: 'Pick, Fat Tony, SG

Well, at least I didn't end up in the hospital this time...

Shooting - Decent. Mid-range and long-range jumper was falling, no hesitation on shooting.
Handling - Average. Not handling too much as we kicked it around alot.
Rebounding - Average. Usual share. Had some good box-out battles.
Offense - Decent. Ran screens well with 'Pick and Fat Tony. Able to get my teammates to score in good positions.
Defense - Average. Ankle was still a bit weak, so slacked off quite a bit.

Fun Factor: 8
Achievement : 7

First time playing pickup with the guys since the injury, it was lots of fun.

Played well draining jumpers, but also setup the guys and shared the ball evenly. Developing better chemistry with the guys.

Maybe we lacked some defense, but our opponents were just shooting the ball well.

Fat Tony - Average. Bum knee considered, played okay. I liked the passing, but please, tone down the craziness.

SG - Decent. I swear, I tried REAL HARD (pun intended) to soften those passes. Nice job on defense and rebounding, but many errors in handling the ball. Picking it up too early before a basket, or not getting total contorl on the ball when making the transition between dribble and pass. Shooting is fine, have more confidence. Take those midrange as you get them, and work on the 3 point range.

'Pick - Decent. Good job offensively, but I felt taking that 3 in the last game up top in OT when we needed only 1 was probably not the best idea. Good job in the screen and rolls and finishing around the basket.

Posted 2:14 PM by ACZ
Saturday, March 5th, 2005
Opponents: VCBC(e)
Result: W 74 - 51

Almost stank out the joint.

Team Evaluation:
Offense - B. Worked the ball around nicely for most of the game.
Defense - B. Acceptable defense, but still have plenty of holes in the zone if we sit back too much.
Rebounding - B. Controlled the boards on our end.
Handling - C. We panicked when they pressed us early on, and there were just some careless passing.

Pretty terrible start in a meaningless game, as we had secured 7th place already. But being rattled by the last placed team is unacceptable. Not only did we not control the game, we were down at 28-25 at half. Their press was very effective against our ball handlers, and if we are to get out of the first round in the playoffs, (since we are playing them again), we need to learn how to play with control and break their press.

Game was pretty stale, but got better in the 2nd half. We regained composure and control of the game in the 2nd half as we scored a season high 49 points in the 2nd half.

ACZ's Line
~25 mins
12 pts

Shooting - Decent. If not for the missed layups, I would've had my best game percentage-wise.
Handling - Decent. Broke the press well, but probably took on too much as the opposition had me locked in during some possessions.
Rebounding - N/A.
Offense - Average. Pretty much ordinary role running our offense.
Defense - Decent. Roamed well in the zone to disrupt their perimeter play.

For the 2nd straight game, I did not lay an egg in the first half. (Is it a coincidence that we won 2 straight?)

Decent shooting, but disappointing as my ankle didn't hold up well enough in some layups. I was glad coach pulled me after missed layup as I just didn't feel well going up.

I was hoping I could take it easy in this game and save some for the playoff, but because the opponents pressed hard and we were having problem breaking their press, I had to step up and help dribble more to break the press.

Foam - Decent. Scoring a season-high 18 points led us to victory, but it was really how he was able to do it with limited touches. I foresee a big game coming up as we will play against this team in the playoff and we'll go to him more often.

SG - N/A. Wasn't feeling well, and worse, got hurt at the end of the game. We will need him to step up if we were to be successfully beating the press next game.

Fat Tony - Average. Another day in the office for him, except for his first 3-point play of his young career. Played fairly well in a physical contest, and should his legs hold up, he will have another solid performance.

'Pick - Average. Not having the kind of offensive dominance some might have expected, but his defensive presense is paying huge dividend. (Hate to say it, but he's 2-0 this season)

Posted 3:00 PM by Stan
Our team wrapped up the season with two consecutive wins, something that we never have for the past two seasons. The fact that we won the last two games is mostly contributed by the adversaries' inability to score and defend. As a result, we pulled out a 20+ margin of victory in both of them, and again, something we never have for the past two years.

Of course, there are other factors that contributed to the victory. One, our team's defensive intensity had gone up. The recovering and the returning of Acz and Big Michael, enhance the team's parameter and interior defense. Acz is averaging four steals per game since his return from injury in early November last year. His steals boost great confidence to our team's parameter defense and strike fear to many guards in the league. Big Michael's decent interior defense help the team tredmendously in lowering opponents' field goal percentage as well as minimizing their offensive rebounds. He also play good help defense which further amplify his defensive presence. Both individuals' excellent defensive skills not only improve the team's weak defense but set themselves as models for others to imitate.

Two, the addition of Paul and Fat Tony increase the depth of our bench. Paul's game was simple and effective. He either put his head down and drive to the hole, or he will draw the defense and kick it out to open teammates. His playing style fits well in our team since we lack players that drive and finish strong. He is averaging 10 points per game, impressive considering he comes off the bench and we average only 50 points per game. Fat Tony is another valuable asset in our team. His offensive rebounding along with hustle plays add extra possessions to our offence. Again, his role accommodates the necessity of a hustle player doing what so called "the dirty works". On the top of that, he is making high percentage shots in the last two games. Paul and Fat Tony provides us additional offensive support while the starters are resting.

Three, reform in practices showed signs of maturity in discipline, concordance and competitiveness. We spent a few hundered dollars last season in practices, and good amount of time in those practices were wasted in pointless skirmishes with minimal committment and self-centered performance. Unfortunately, we continued this bad habit in the first few practices of this season, however, we improved. A simple change of attitude quickly tighten the intensity of practices. Players are more assertive of what they are doing, greatly increasing their performance as well as confidence. They are more willing to run plays that we have learned and collaborated more with other teammates, thus, generating easier shots. Practices become much more meaningful and are good preparations for upcoming games.

Off the court, plenty of opportunities allow teammates get together to discuss the team's current affairs or simply get to understand each other further. Although that has nothing directly assosciate with basketball, indirectly, it helps the players more comfortable playing with each other.

There are pros, and there are cons. Despite we won the last two games, we failed to achieve the goal that set by our coach. The underacheivement should not be overshadowed by victory since these games supppos to be in our pockets.

We still lack in defensive intensity in the first half. Defensive failure was most obvious as we gave up many early baskets due to various reasons. One, failed to control the boards. Rebounding is almost like gambling, a 50-50 split with the adversaries in both defensive and offensive rebounds. Two, lack of help defense and rotation. Giving up outside shots is the nature of our 2-3 zone defense, but allowing easy layups from slashers is fatal. The interior is the heart of the defense. The opponents will try everything to attack it, and by keeping the ball out of the paint we can easily disrupt their offense. Three, lack of communications between teammates. Many situations where two teammates block-out one opponent or teammates simply fail to notice where the others station.

Despite the weak defense of our adversaries, our scoring mostly came from fast breaks and long shots. We still lack the patience in moving the ball or attacking zone gaps. We rarely runs plays and never generate an easy layup or shots from them. If we can't run a play successfully on the two worst teams in the league, we can't do much damage to those above us. A good example of our inconsistent offense came in the first half of the match against VCBC(e). In the beginning, we missed some fastbreak layups and some open long-range jumpers. Accompanied with poor defense, we quickly found ourselves down 3 points in the first half, down 3 points to the worst team in the leauge. The lesson is clear, run our plays, explore our plays, and trust our plays. We've decided these plays since last season, and we've done them in our practices numerous times. If we continue to fail executing our offense decisively, our season will end shortly.

Understand and improve our weaknesses and focus on our strengthes. We have the players and the coach to be a better team, and we are. Looking back from the beginning of the season to now, the team improved bit by bit. Winning is important, but it is second to our effort and spirit of working togehter. Whatever the result might be, let's make the playoffs a memorable one.

Posted 12:34 AM by ACZ
Saturday, February 26th, 2005
Opponents: WAC
Result: W 68-48

4 years I've waited, and our team came out played the best ball of this season.

Team Evaluation:
Offense - B. Worked the ball around nicely for most of the game.
Defense - B. Gave up open shots early, but adjusted in the 2nd half and made the difference of th game.
Rebounding - B. Still giving up some offensive rebounds, control the boards for most of the game.
Handling - A. Regardless of their defense, we didn't make unforced mistakes or played carelessly with the ball.

A convincing win, but it was close up to half-time. Our starters played well today to give a comfort zone to work with. We started playing decent offense as Foam dominated on offense and eating up their defense. When they stepped up and started to crowd the inside, we kicked around the perimeter and got some looks outside. When the starters went to the bench, our offense took a dip. However, even though we didn't shoot a great percentage, but neither did our opponents, and we went into half with a lead of 29-24.

Coming out of the 2nd half, we knew we have to make an early run to secure the game. We did just that after a few minutes of trading baskets. However, in the 2nd half, we received more support from the bench and we were running away with the game. In the past games, we usually let up in the 2nd half and often come so close before losing the game due to lack of energy. I made it a point today to spark the team and energize the bench so that each and every player to come off the bench would be pumped and ready to play.

The only thing negative I should say is that we launch too many early shots. Even though some went in, those that didn't could've costed us the game if the other team played better.

ACZ's Line
~30 mins
14 pts
~ 6 Ast, ~ 2 TO, ~ 4 Stl

Shooting - Decent. Good percentage thanks to layups and my teammates.
Handling - Good. No problem getting by anybody while handling well in traffic.
Rebounding - N/A. When Foam is getting double-doubles, I should just run the floor.
Offense - Good. Set the table well, and controlled the tempo of the game. Looked to setup more in the 2nd half with the absence of SG the PG
Defense - Decent. Average in the first half, but played better in the 2nd with more focus on their top outside shooter.

FINALLY! 4 points in the first half is a season HIGH! Jokes aside, the win is more important than me scoring 30 in the first half. (Then again, me scoring 30 in the first half, we probably win the game)

The best thing today was that I felt I controlled the tempo of the game when needed. I felt I ran the offense well, but didn't held on to the ball too long to make it the ACZ show. I deferred to my teammates when needed, and took control at the appropriate moments. I was also able to find the open man, hit the hot shooter, and reward the big man when he makes a play and ran the floor (Great job, Fat Tony).

Foam - Decent. A monster in the first half, but gotten less minutes in the 2nd as I believe we are saving him for the playoffs. Good job working in the paint and not get discouraged by the bad calls. Another Double-Double, but got less touches in the 2nd, due to the defence's overly concern of his scoring abilities. Still got to work on those rebounding off the free-throws. A tip would be to hold your man regardless, don't take ANY step in towards the basketball, but instead push out.

SG - Average. A sickened SG means a ineffective SG, but I applaud his courage and effort for trying to play through it. Tough break on the hard foul.

Fat Tony - Decent. A career high in points, blocks, and steals? And the win? Wow. Great job in the hustle department, still can't believe you were the second guy up the floor. And like I said, the only thought in my head was to "Reward the Big Man". Keep up the banging, rebounding, and hustle, and your playing time will increase and maybe even continue to start. Gotta move your feet quicker on D to not get beat on the base-line.

'Pick - Average. Coming out of retirement was overshadowed by Fat Tony's coming out party. Could've done a lot more, but still getting back to the groove. I would attribute some of the credit to Fat Tony's extra effort to you because he seemed to be more confident knowing that if he uses all his energy, you would be coming in and filling his spot. Without the extra big man, he would DEFINITELY not run as much as he did. I definitely do not think you want this performance to be your swan song.

Posted 10:02 PM by ACZ
Saturday, February 20th, 2005
Opponents: VCBC(c)
Result: L 54-43

Team Evaluation:
Offense - C. Worked the ball decently in stretch, with no particularly bad instances. Just didn't hit enough shots.
Defense - C. Again, we made several pushes that made it close, but cannot keep up the intensity.
Rebounding - C. Average rebounding considering our usual job. The other team simply wanted it more than we did at times.
Handling - C. Pretty much acceptable as we did not made too many blantant mistakes.

Overall, we played average, which will not be enough for us to win. Giving up offensive rebounds were once again our downfall. We started pretty sluggish, as we had a last minute change to the starting 5 which I felt was a bit awkward. It was awkward not because I returned to playing the point, but rather I had to play with 4 forwards which made it difficult because neither of my wingman were playing in a more of a guard fashion. A better term would be say we have a guy playing out of position, which takes away any fluid team movement. Of course, it's tough since we never have enough people at practice.

The amount of second chance points we give up per game is enough to cost us any chance of winning. Thus, the quickest possible way to make games closer and get us closer to a W is to minimize giving up second chances. If we can cut that by half, it basically makes our games within a 2 possession game and a chance to win.

ACZ's Line
~25 mins
11 pts
~ 2 Ast, ~ 4 TO, ~ 2 Stl

Shooting - Average. Couldn't get the rhythm until the 2nd half, but when I did, it was too little too late.
Handling - Average. A little bit of ankle, a little bit of the refs, and not enough composure.
Rebounding - Average. I'm actually trying NOT to go for rebounds, but I went for a few because I wanted to win.
Offense - Average. Decent in some stretches, probably not very effective in others. Having a hard time being both a scoring threat and a playmaker.
Defense - Fair. Play decent positional defense and helped out around the paint.

Still cannot score in the first half.... I am not 3/3 in not scoring in the 1st half and tallying over 10 in the 2nd.
What is going on? If I can maintain 10 per half, or even 7 per half, I can help put the team in a position to win ALL 3 games I've played in.

The main explanation would most likely be that the team and I are deferring and borderline relying on Foam in the early going.

Foam - Fair. Decent in the first half, average in the second. Pretty much the same usual work, played decent on defense, but needed more work on the boards. With a smaller team like this, he should own the boards on both ends. One thing I noticed is his positioning under the boards is too deep, leaving guys roaming for the long rebounds. A guy his size should be able to throw himself around and claim his terrority, perhaps look to expand that terrority.

SG - Average. Played with a certain hesitation and I think it hurt his game. Did hit the boards on offense a few times which gave us extra possesion. However, sub-par in terms of running the offense as he didn't take as much command and organize the offense as much as in the previous games.

Fat Tony - N/A. Bascially non-existent as he never had enough time to get into a groove. Defense needs more work in terms of discipline and positioning. Also, like I said, you have to hit the boards and use your fouls if you have to.

Posted 3:31 PM by ACZ
Saturday, February 5th, 2005
Opponents: RCAC
Result: L 51-44

3 months since my last game...

Team Evaluation:
Offense - C. Fairly static since we were faced with a defense that we are unfamiliar with attacking.
Defense - C. Decent in stretches, horrible in others. Poor rotations and didn't gave up easy baskets in crunch time.
Rebounding - D. Couldn't secure defensive rebounds as most defensive boards turned out to be 50/50 battles.
Handling - C+. Aside from some lazy passes and attention lapses, our handling was acceptable.

ACZ's Line
~34 mins
12 pts - 5/19 FG, 2/9 3PT
6 Ast, 6 TO, 5 Stl, 5 Reb

Shooting - Average. Launching up all kinds of shots, but didn't get feet set in many of them.
Handling - Average. Couldn't do much off the dribble with the ankle.
Rebounding - Average. Got off the ground once, but had good box-out whenever I was around.
Offense - Decent. Ignited the offense when Foam wasn't getting good position.
Defense - Average. Poor ankle restrainted me from doing more damage defensively.

First real action in 3 months for me, I think overall I did okay. However, the ankle really prevented me from doing more damage, and I think if my ankle was 100%, I could've changed the outcome of the game.

We started off slow, but steadily, we kept in it with Foam being our focal point in the offense. It was good because he got good position in many occasions, but there were many baskets he should have scored or get least get to the line for it. If we are to be even close to winning games, Foam has to step up a bit more in converting his chances, especially when he has good advantages like in this game. Down 9 at the half.

Our team defense were very spotty, as I think we let too many of their non-scorers got their points. One thing I noticed, which is a clear problem with our team, is that our guys are a bit inflexible. For example, if a guy is assigned a spot in our zone, he'll stick to there regardless if the world was coming to an end. One specific example, when getting back on D, I (usually playing up top on the zone) would be the 2nd guy to arrive. What I see is that the other guard is slated to his side. However, that stays the case even when the other team is coming down court on my side. Technically, the other guard should be alert and flexible and come over to my side and cover my spot until I get back. We should not be restricted to what we are assigned! Furthermore, this leads to further "stubburness" on offense. Suppose Guard_A played the left wing in the previous trip down, he'll keep playing the left until otherwise be told. Problem: there is a time when it's a fast break or a push where I end up being on the left. Again, technically, Guard_A who arrives after me, should fill in the other side on the offense. Not the case... More problem arise as most of our team has that mentality. And it lead to this...

Most players on our team only take what the opposing defense gives us. In other words, if the opposing defense gives us nothing, then we will just resort to our fetal position because that's it. It's over. Anyways, this will be addressed in the next practice IF our team decides to address it.

In the 2nd half, we adjusted more and played better. After going scoreless in the first half, I stepped up by being more aggressive. The biggest change I feel I made from the 1st half is that I became more vocal and directed traffic, basically, doing what I feel would work best to exploit the defense (while still running our team offense of course). It worked better because we had more openning, and our guys from the bench contributed with many open shots. Like 'Pick said countless times to me before, when I start to get the attention of the opposition, my teammates got alot more open and I can find them easier. Such was the case as we made many pushes to get the score back close and forces the opposition to take timeouts. (Funny, but now that I think about it, they seem to had called many timeouts in the 2nd half! MUST CHECK TAPE!)

Even though we lost in a game we could've won, it gave us a glimpse of what we can improve even more. I also applaud our coach for drawing up the last play which I feel we executed perfectly with the exception that the shot didn't go down.

Foam - Average. Could've done better if he was more aggressive and established more of a presense on both ends. Offensively, he played well in the first half, as he kept us in the game. In the 2nd half, both his endurance kicked in and the opposition adjusted to stop him. Defensively, still need to rotate quicker. Rebounding needed more work as he couldn't get in on many boards that seemed to be his. Also, for a big man, he seems to get tied up too much for jump balls because he brings the ball down too far or hold it too far way from his body.

SG - Average. Did not run the team as well as he did in the last game due to the different defense shown. Decent defense in stretches, but a bit indecisive at times. Lacked penetration in our offense. Didn't get good enough positions before making passes. For example, at times, I had to come up high to receive the ball due to their defense. However, I think you should have shifted a bit more over to my side (or who which ever side you are passing to) so that you can get a better passing angle.

Fat Tony - Average. Again, inconsistent playing time will hamper your performance. Also, I believe the system needs to give you a much more defined role to be successful, as you seem to be lost because you're doing things out of your game. I think you played well in stretches when you were relied on inside, but it was a bad decision when I saw you matched with a perimeter player.

Posted 9:17 AM by Stan
Whoa, almost forgot this site existed!

How come nobody is posting their basketball game comments anymore? Where's the post-game analyses and personal opinions? Are you people dropping out?

I haven't posted for a while too, hehe...so maybe I should shut up too.

I still get my weekly Friday night basketball at Killarny. The competition varies week to week, but with SG and Blue Foam and companies as regular visitors, it is still a fun place for exercise.

Posted 4:52 PM by ACZ
Thursday, November 11th, 2004
Teammates: 'Pick, Fat Tony, SG

Should've saw the signs...

Shooting - Decent. Knocked down midrange jumper with confidence, which led to the defense being concerned with my hot shooting, thus leading to the downfall...
Handling - Average. Just a normal day. Didn't lose handles, but didn't risk anything dangerous in traffic.
Rebounding - Average. Usual share.
Offense - Average. Still getting used to the timing.
Defense - Average.

It was a fun day. With all things considered, this was one of the better experiences. Up til the part where all you hear is screaming.

I actually played well with Fat Tony and his friends, and it's a different pace with 'Pick and SG.

Unfortunately, the ankle was severely sprain after my legs were taken out on a jumpshot. What makes it such a bad incident was that I was very far away from the basket, which is where my usual injuries comes from.

SG, 'Pick, Fat Tony - Thanks for taking me to our annual hospital meeting. Hopefully I've ended our little 2 year tradition.

*Injury Update* - After 10 days of swelling and pain, I was finally able to stand on 2 feet. Should be out at least until Christmas before any serious playing, if not longer.

Posted 9:59 PM by SG
Date: 8 Nov, 2004 (Monday)
Venue: YMCA
Shooting practice

After our second loss of the season, I am determined to improve my shooting so I can contribute more on the offensive end. My shooting right now is very inconsistent. I would say it's my all-time low because I'm in the middle of changing my ball release. There is no rhythm whatsoever.
Hopefully, I will be able to shoot more and get used to the new shooting form as quickly as possible.

Posted 1:43 PM by SG
Saturday, November 6th, 2004
Opponent: BPGCC
Result: L 54-46

My personal stats
mins 5-8
0 pts
0-2 FG
1~2 Ast
1 Reb
1 TO
1 Stl

Personal Evaluation
Shooting - N/A. Only had two chances so can't really rate my shooting performance

Handling - Average. Just brought the ball up on a couple of occasions didn't do much with the ball as they were playing zone

Defense - Above average. Working hard on the defensive end boxing out my check constantly though it didn't' show on my stats.

Things I have to work on
Offense - Keep working on my shot and at the same time be more assertive to lead my teammates and show what others what I am capable of so the $44 for YMCA and weekday training time is not wasted. (haha............ the $44 is more important though)

Defense - Need to buy into the system and trust my teammates in the zone as there were several occasions I lost track of Foam and was trying to cover for his spot then later found out he was already there. Also need to go after the ball more on rebounds rather than just boxing out and expecting my teammates to get the ball to prove to my new coach that I can play in the forward position.

Team evaluation:
Offense - (C) Too many TOs and low shooting percentage. But much better ball movement compared to first game. Still need to improve on that though.

Defense - (C) Allowing our opponent to go on a double digit run was in my opinion what killed our chance. But I have to say other than the mental lapses on getting back on D, we had good improvement on our half court defense.

Rebounding - (C) Our offensive rebounds have definitely improved in the first half but seems to disappeared in the second half. But our defensive rebounding is still quite weak with people not boxing out.

Like ACZ said, it was an exciting game. I have to say that we played much better both on offense and defense compared to our last game. But we still lack the defensive presence at critical times to control the tempo. It was quite frustrating to watch my teammates and wasn't able to help them. Especially when I felt there were occasions that I could've helped in containing our opponent. But it's going to take time as the coach gets to know me more. With the heroic effort of ACZ we were able to battle back in the second half but we failed to maintained at that level for long. I think this is a very important lesson for us so we will make sure we can control the tempo of the game for a sufficient amount of time to give us a chance to win the game.

Teammate Evaluations:
Foam - Average. Started the game really well. Probably the best player on the court for his first 10 min. But later committed some unforced errors before his performance started going downhill.

ACZ - Average 1st half - Didn't do too much in the first half as he was still adjusting to the teammates after a long break.
Excellent 2nd half - single handedly change the game around, too bad the team couldn't hold up after he left the court

Fat Tony - Above Average for first ever game. Considering he didn't have much experience playing organized full court games, he adjusted to the game very quickly. Had some good positions in the low block but his teammates failed to find him. Solid defense. Though the bar will be raised higher next time now that he has one game under his belt.

Posted 8:54 PM by ACZ
Saturday, November 6th, 2004
Opponents: BPGCC
Result: L 54-46

Team Evalution:
Offense - D. Ball movement wasn't fast enough, coupling with turnover made it tough for us to get going.
Defense - C. The fact we allow the opponent to get 15+ points lead means we played lousy defense, but the fact that we were able to cut that lead down twice in the second half indicates that we can play good D in stretches.
Rebounding - C. Gave up a lot of offensive rebounds in the first half which was costly to the final outcome.
Handling - D. Many careless passes translated into opponent fast break points.

ACZ's Line
20~25 mins
13 pts - 6/11 FG, 1/4 3PT
~ 5 Ast, ~ 3 Reb, ~ 6 TO, ~ 6 Stl

vShooting - Average. Couldn't get open shots, need to work more on shooting semi-open shots.
Handling - Average. Terrible in the beginning as I was getting used to the pace. Improved in the second half.
Rebounding - Average. Got a few by plain hustle and wanting the ball first.
Offense - Average. Nothing in the half court.
Defense - Decent. Pressured the ball well to come up with steals, but also crapped out as fatigue set in and I had to chase all over the perimeter.

If nothing else mattered, it was an exciting game for everybody, except with our result. By half time, it looked very much like last year (with us down and me playing like crap), it very well could've ended the same way as last year, but luckily it didn't. I didn't even remember what happened last year until now, but I'm glad I contributed more this time than my performance last year.

The game started as I watched from the bench, and I like our focus on defense right away: Guys were talking, hands were out, and we were playing a decent zone. However, once our starting Centre went out with foul trouble, it went sour rather quickly. Right away we were giving up rebounds and second chance points. Coupling that with some turnovers and missed shots, we were down double digit mighty quick.

I didn't help the cost when I got off the bench. I basically stank out the joint as the worst player and turned it over a few times right away. Luckily, coach pulled me after an ugly appearance before I could do more damage to the team. At the half, we were down 15~17 points.

Disappointed with myself, I was just trying to hide on the bench. I was surprised when Foam (promoted to Player/Asst.Coach this year) told me I will be starting in the 2nd half.
With the support of Foam and coach, I gave everything I had in the 2nd.

Started out with a few steals, we were able to go on a good run, forcing the other team to call a timeout, and we cut the lead down to within 1. After the storm, I was dead tired and almost hada cramp in my calf (causing me to miss that one layup as I couldn't high enough). Went to the bench for a quick breather.

The run ended and we couldn't keep up the defensive intensity. I thought I made a point to the guys not to go for the steal intentionally, but some of our guys didn't do that. As a result, they were able start building up the lead again. However, we played better than the first half and were able to hang around within 10.

In the last few minutes when we needed to make a push, we got some stops and tried to chip into the lead. With about 50 seconds left, with us down 6 or so, I drove the lane after Fat Tony found me on a give-and-go and I kicked it out to an open man. He missed, but had he made it, it would've been a winnable game.

Overall, Our second half effort was good, as everybody stepped up defensively. However, a turnover here and a bad shot there can cost us the game. Hopefully we can learn from our mistakes.

Foam - Average. Decent in the first half as he attacked the basket well and made good plays. Eventually fatigue set in and he was less active in the 2nd half.

SG - Average. Limited game time made it impossible for him to get in rhythm.

Fat Tony - Average. Debut went fairly quiet, but showed glimpse of what could be in store. Able to help out with the rebounding, but also made a few good passes. Need to build up the stamina in order to get more minutes.

Posted 1:00 AM by ACZ
Friday, October 29th, 2004

Location: Killarney Community Centre
Duration: 10:30pm - 12:00am

First day back, kinda tired...

Shooting: Decent. Managed to get many jumpshots going.
Handling: Average.
Rebounding: Average.
Offense: Average. Aside from scoring, didn't have the timing right with SG and 'Pick just yet.
Defense: Average. Slacked off at times.

Fun Factor: 7
Achievement: 6

Definitely too late to be playing ball, especially with me not used to the weather just yet. Worked up a little sweat with an hour of running and gunning.

Letting SG running the point, I worked my way around the floor getting open and taking good jumpers. Still need to work with SG to develop better timing. Overall, I think he did okay setting up, just need to keep his head up and make quicker decisions.

SG - Average. Pretty ugly on the offensive end, but good on the defensive end. Especially impressed with the constant hustle and box-out so that I can pad my rebounding stats taking his rebounds while he keeps his man completely sealed.

Foam - N/A. Got taken down with a shot to the face.

'Pick - Decent. Provided consistent scoring by hitting long jumpers. Defense a little suspect playing in the box zone. Ran the floor well surprisingly.

Posted 5:09 PM by ACZ
Wednesday, October 23th, 2004

Location: Zhongguanchuan Sports Complex, Beijing (Outdoor)
Duration: 3:00 - 6

Final act of my Beijing tour. No fanfare, just a whole lot of rainbows.
Shooting: Excellent. After hitting the 3 on my first shot, I knew the stroke was in. Cashed in about 70% of shots from beyond the arc.
Handling: Good. Solid handling with various forms of attack.
Rebounding: Average. The usual: no more, no less.
Offense: Excellent. Smooth offense filled with post play, outside shooting, alley-oop toss, and penetration. Also threw a handful of no-looks.
Defense: Good. Challenged a few good SF/SGs and locked them up.

Fun Factor: 9
Achievement: 8

First impressions are important, but a lasting impression would be difficult to achieve. Of course, nobody knew it except me.

Right from the first game, I was pumped. First being that I haven't played for 2 weeks, and second because the other team had a few decent players.

First shot, open 3. Swish. Second shot, a 3 with my check up on me. Then a driving layup, followed by a step back fadeaway. It went well as I shot with a surprisingly high percentage. At that point, I realized the good shooting form I was in and I tried to work on more offensive moves. I especially enjoyed my crossover-stepback 3s as it's seen as a cocky move.

Of course, when I did it again, my check got yelled at by his own teammates, which made his defense more questionable. The guy is a decent defender with height advantage over me, but his team's pressure made him performed poorly. He even jumped to prevent a shot when I simply made a crossover because he was afraid I would step back for another 3. Of course I drove by his flying shadow into an open layup. Then one of his teammates went off on him and he reacted and said how they didn't help him. I agree with him, as I was slow to drove by him because I was surprised by his "block" attempt, yet nobody got close to me as I paraded to the basket. The lesson: don't critize teammate too harshly. (And yes, I was laughing inside as I drove to the basket)

The rest of the day went well, as I combined both scoring and playmaking for my teammates. A bunch of no-looks and over the head passes which won some applause from spectators.

Funniest moment was when I was posted and got the ball in my favourite post position. My friend gave me the ball and stood there on my wing. I was going to make a move, but his check was right beside me on my left and I couldn't even make a pass (unless it's a cross court to the other side). So I made a motion for him to clear and take his check with him. He slowed paced from the wing to the corner, and his check took a swipe, but missed the ball, as he followed him to the corner. Problem is, he was now next to me on the other side. So I told him to clear again and he disagreed, so I gave him the ball and I cleared.

Overall, it was a great day for me to end my tour. Certainly, I've earned a great deal of respect and probably emerged as the best guard on those grounds, which is consider the upper echelon of pickup ball in Beijing. It was also a good learning experience for me to see the culture/style and to improve my own personal play, especially offensively. (Funny thing is that I probably registered more blocks in my 3 months in China than the past 2 years in Canada. And it wasn't even a matter of height.)