As I have mentioned before, basketball has been one of my greatest passions. And I have travelled throughout Singapore, chasing that particular game that stirs emotions to such an extent. Though my bball activities have toned down, to say the least, it still creates an impact of my life. Of course, you should know that im blogging this while undergoing cold turkey from bball over the last few weeks, in preparation of(or the attempt to preapare for)my exams.
The memories of the game does not mean the event was significant. But it stayed in my head. My recounting of such events is particularly biased, since it is from my point of view.
Before i start, I should tell you what kind fo player I am, if you have not read this post of my basketball pals and myself. I am primarily a defensive player, defined by my ability to guard practically any position. This has changed alot since my secondary school days, where the thrill of offence was my drive in the game. I operate best in the low post and high post, since im 1.73m tall and 78kg (low height and heavy weight = greater center fo gravity). My favourite position is the small forward position, though I can play any other position other than two-guard. I feel the greatest weakness of my game is my shooting ability, which is inconsistent at best.
Memory1: The year is 2001 and I have already defined myself in the neighbourhood courts. People (godbies, peers, pros,etc) call my by 'Botak!' from my crewcut hairstyle. I was young, cocky, and full of confidence in my speed and offensive ability.
There is one group of players, however, I cannot win. Girls. Yes, shorter, physically weaker girls. But girls that play basketball are particularly scary. They have no fear, no matter how tall you are. They do not notice the differences between sexes and have no qualms with bodily contact and crashing head-first into you. And add that to lethal shooting and you have a potent combination.
Guy on the court avoid body contact with girls. 'Bullying' is frowned upon, so any form of defence, especially blocking shots, are followed by disapproving eyes, shaking of heads and, god forbid, cracking of knuckles.
The thing abt neighbourhood ball is that winning to the only thing that can keep you on the court. Win the game, stay on the court for the next challenger. Lose and wait your turn. And I want to play... as much as possible.
So imagine my horror when I see a group of sec 4 girls, 5 of them, coming down to join in the games of 4 on 4. or in their case, 4 on 5, since they are girls and deserve a handicap. All sec 4 girls were from school team.
My team started to panic, since we are the surviving team on the court; we have won 5 straight games and plan to keep it that way. No contact with girls means the loss of rebounding. No contact also means no defence, especially when there are 5 of them. We are going to lose.
They turn to me. I reply, "pass to me. Im going to shoot three pointers." Now, if you remember, I am a supremely inconsistent shooter; the strategy was risky at best. It was the best we could have come up with.
I checked the ball as I saw the bevy get into position. Impenetratable without any contact. Once I received the ball, I launched it up. Hit!
Check again. Launched again, this time the girl jumped at me with slim fingers right in my eyes, and her body leaping towards me. The ball left my hand. HIT AGAIN! I was on a roll. Till now, I cant recall how I managed to hit that shot. It was distracting.
The girls have locked onto me already and knew I was their primary threat. Crap. A check is followed by the close proximity of 2 bodies. No space to launch a three. I pass to a teammate and run to the diagonal of the hoop at the threepoint line. the teammate promptly pass to me as I jack up the shot before the 2 girls manage to catch up.
That game was the first and last time I managed to hit all 7 threepointers Ive attempted, winning the game by my lonesome and sending the bevy back with 0 points.
Memories 2:The year is 2004. My jc was organising a basketball tornament. I gathered a group of players, a mixture of j1 and j2 peers who had never played with each other before. Yet, we had good talent, and had the opportunity to win the whole thing, since the school team players were not participating.
We called the team Tian Zui, or Sin from Heaven. Sounded cool. We had one practice session, which showed off our decent talent.
The first match came, and I was late. Overslept. I rushed to the court and hurried to hand in the application, being the team captain. What happaned after that was a memory I have tried to forget.
Trouble brewed when the j1s told me that they had a soccer match on that very same day. They had to leave the game halfway. That left less than half the players we had on the team.
So I started with the j1s, seeing as they had to leave halfway aniwae.They were too good for the opponent, overwhelming them and pushing the team to a good 20 point lead.
Then they had to leave, leaving 6 players remaining. One of them was not very good, whom i had put into the team roster to fill up the space.So that left 5 competent players. I fielded all 5 players, myself included. Then disaster struck. I was called for 3 quick fouls. I turned to the referee and shouted "What the...!" Before I could even utter the last word, I was whisted for the technical, and sent out fo the game. I still say the referee didnt like my face.
Being sent out, I had to field that one remaining player, and things went downhill from there. They caught up quickly. Since my teams bench was at the side of the scoreboard, I couldnt see the score. I didnt know they had caught up. When I checked, I realised the lead had shrunk to a mere 1 point lead.
As if things couldnt have gotten any worse, Marcus inbounded the ball that was intercepted. That led to two quick points and a lead with around 10 seconds left. The team inbounded the ball and watch helplessly as Marcus missed the three pointer.
We lost. In the first match of a knockout tornament. Disgrace of the century.
Till now, I know things were my fault. I could have called for a timeout. But I had no idea that that was an option. if I came earlier, I could have asked. The timeout would have helped me discuss things with the team and allow Kaijun to that the 3, rather than our center, Marcus. I could have not lost my temper and not get fouled out of the game. Otherwise I wouldnt have to put in that certain player into the game.
I sworn off bball that day to my girlfriend. It was too painful to watch a ball bounce. The self-imposed curfew lasted 3 days.
More to come later.
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