7.31.98

Game 1. 3 on 3. ?-11 Chi’s team won pretty big..

Bill, John, I versus Chi, Mario, Tony

The team was chosen through first 6 people who made the free throw. Chris lost to Bill at the end..

Bill on Tony. I on Mario. John on Chi. Vice versa

A mismatch because Mario and Chi got height. Neither John nor Bill were able to guard Tony. I couldn’t shoot well. Bill scored most of the point in a losing effort.

Game 2. 5 on 5. 15-11

Tony, Mario, I, Chris, Chi versus Luong, a black, John, Bill, Michael.

Mario was supposed to set up competitive teams and so choose these teams.

I on Luong. Chris on John. Tony on Bill. Chi on the black. Mario on Michael. Vice versa.

Luong’s team scored the first 5 points, including one in which Luong scored a 3 pointer off me. However, we got back and their score practically froze. I stole a pass from the black to Luong, creating a fast break but missing the lay-up. Chris shot a sole 3 pointer and scored. Chi easily shot his points because the black guy couldn’t guard him. At the end, Chi turned around and shot a difficult jumper, ending the game. Black guy was sorry because of his 2 airballs and bad passes. He even told his team how to play defense although he didn’t play. We had better role players overall, and Mario did in fact made a bad matchup. Tony scored a lot through his drives. Bill was unable to guard him. The MVP would be Tony because he drove in and scored a lot.

Game 3. 5 on 5. 15-6

Tony, Mario, I, Chris, Chi versus 3 blacks, Sinh, Steve

I on Sinh. Chris on Steve. Mario, Chi, Tony on blacks. Vice versa.

Near the beginning, Sinh scored on a long 3 pointer which I allowed him to take. However, he didn’t do so well the rest of the game, as he was off. On one of Chris’s fast break, he missed but I followed up and scored. Chris was involved in many fast breaks and did a lot of lay-ups. The blacks had the body and height but no skills in dribbling or shooting. They also played kind of rough because Chris was clotheslined at one point of time. Chris would be the MVP, scoring so many points. However this game was an absolute blowout.

Game 4. 5 on 5. 7-15

Tony, Mario, I, Chris, Chi versus Michael, Luong, John, Bill, a Filipino

Bill was complaining about being tired so his team played zone.

I on Luong. Chris on Bill then Filipino. Chi on Filipino then Bill. Mario on Michael. Tony on John.

Luong’s team used zone defense. Bill and John on top. Filipino and Luong on sides. Michael on center.

Luong was shooting very well, around 4 3 pointers. I couldn’t guard him that well because I was helping out other people a lot. I also didn’t really get the ball that much. At one point of time, the score was 8-2. The Filipino scored quite a lot and grabbed quite a lot of rebounds. He hustled quite a lot, once beating me to a loose ball. He also accidentally scratched up a scar I got the day before.

Chris reasons for losing are:

Filipino was too fast for Chi.
Took too long to adjust to their defense when 7-8 points already past.
We were playing scrambling defense. We kept trying to get back to defensive position while they were on offense, so they had better shot selection.
Chi and Tony were quite tired.

Filipino would be MVP because he really surprised our team.

Game 5. 5 on 5. 15-9

Mario, Sinh, I, Chris, Steve versus Michael, Luong, John, Tony, Filipino

Mario on Michael. Chris on Luong. Steve on John. Sinh on Tony. I on Filipino.

Tony on me. Filipino on Chris. Luong on Mario.

We played much better this game. We slowed them down, preventing fast breaks. And once slowed, we played good team defense. In fact we started leading the game by a lot and they were forced to quite their zone defense after we got around 5-7 points. Steve and Sinh were really helping out, preventing people from driving in. Steve outrebounded John by a lot. Mario did a real good job containing Mike, even blocking him. I covered the Filipino pretty well although he posted me up twice and scored over me. He also shot one more. I did one fast break lay-up during this game. While their defense was still confused through the transition, I did a quick drive around Tony, Filipino, and Mike to scoop the ball in. Although I was missing all my 3 pointers, I got a pass and managed a 3 to win the game. However, Luong’s team just didn’t do well. Luong aired several 3 pointers. Luong also hit Steve in the jaw accidentally while on offense. Tony was really burned out, and was pretty much too tired.

Notes: The games should have been much more competitive if Mario started out by picking better teams. Michael was off today, as he just came back from LA after 5 days of no basketball. He even couldn’t shoot his accurate turn-around. He also didn’t play defense. Sinh also hasn’t played for a while because of school. He was also off. Tony, Bill, and Chi all seem to tire real fast. When that happens, they don’t play very well. I don’t think I really do that well when Tony is on my team because we pretty much do the same things as point guard. I was the most effective in Game 5. Before the games started, I was learning some moves from Mario. He showed me how I could throw it up rather than scoop it up. More importantly he told me about spinning, that you can use one arm to kind of move the ball with your arm. It seems sort of like travel but he said that it was perfectly legal, done i