Madballers

2005-10-08T23:00:00.000Z

Its been a while since I have posted anything on this blog page.

Many things have changed in my life since the last post, Ive had to play less ball and concentrate on work :)

Family member passing away was probably the turning point.

However, I am looking to pick up balling once again. Winter is not an excuse to stop balling.

Friendlies are gonna happen real soon. Keep in tune.

2005-02-13T21:59:00.000Z

First and foremost... Happy Chinese New Year...Year of the Rooster...

A new year, and new beginning and a new story in my life.

Time to reflect on my basketball. Last year has probably been one of the better years of balling for me, meeting new friends, creating a team and improving my basketball for the better.

However the team needs to rebuild. A fresh start.

Time to recruit and reaching my targets and goals. It will be an interesting year

2004-10-06T21:08:00.000Z

Ok ok.... so its been a long time since I have posted anything on this blog page.

Honestly speaking the team is non existant, yet I continue to run the Sunday basketball club.

A welcome bunch of Kiwi's and Aussies have recently graced us with their prescence and re-lit some of the competitveness in some of us.

Currently I am on a scouting mission in order to create a new team, looking at starting in the middle where I can strengthen the inside prescence, something that we have lacked for some time now and I can see a few possible members fitting this slot.

The team re building will in fact take a lot longer than envisioned at first, losing my shooting guard Shane, and power forward gabriel has forced me to re think the tactics originally used in the first team.

Although I would still like to play the point guard position there are a few candidates that can play 2 guard with me allowing me to step away from the main team and concentrate on running the teams tactical threats.

Throughout this month I will sort out a second team and run a few recruitment drives in order to find some fresh faces and hopefully to create a more dynamic team we have had in the past.

Exciting times are to follow these few months reaching the Winter I hope to create a more creative and tougher squad than we have had in some time.

2004-08-23T21:10:00.000Z

The Day I met the Kandi Man

For those who are not keen into basketball, Kandi Man is the nickname for non other than the British Michael OIowokandi, who currently plays with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

At just over 7 foot tall and an easy 270 pound athletic centre. He was easily spotted amongst the crowd of budding ballers at the Rebook Gym located in the heart of Canary Wharf, East London.

I didnt expect him to play as I was told he might be able to make it, but as we all started to warm up and shoot around.... a very tall guy walked through the door high fiving his fellow friends.

I was given the chance to get some "love" from him as we shook hands and was introduced to the man mountain. A rare oppurtunity given by a good friend and I jumped at the chance to play with some NBA talent.

The teams were quickly picked and to be fair... Kandi dominated the plays with his athletic low post moves and power play. I did feel a bit sorry for the guys double teaming him as I saw a few elbows flying into their general direction so I opted to steer clear from his inside game.

I played point guard for the team, and although we had a reasonable team. I felt that with Michaels presence, the guys wanted to show off and impress him. But that only led to being blocked and losing possession of play.

However it was a good length of playing time. 3 hours of non stop balling, I slowly began to gain respect and confidence of my team mates and began to do some nice set plays and a few fancy paces to their favour..... adding a few oohhhhhss, followed by ahhhhsss.... from the crowds.

Scoring wise, I made some good moves, a few crossovers, embarissing defenders and the trusty jump shot and three pointers were out in force for me. But the highlight was when I managed to control a play, grab the defensive rebound, crossover two people for the alley opp to a near Jam/tip in.

Overall a worthwhile experience, I didnt get the chance to get his autograph or even take a photo with him, but at least he showed me "love" and wasn't just saying it, he meant it.

Proudest moment of the year..... an NBA Star player, showing me the respect I deserved.

A smile still lingers.......

2004-06-29T09:53:00.000Z

Finally, the Madballers Team Jersey has arrived, aptly named Meteors.
The kit does look great and a huge resemblance to SLAMDUNK, the anime cartoon.
Already there has been a great response from non team members also wanting a kit, so therefore I am simply going to sell as merchandise :)

On the recruiting front, there has been a few new faces on the weekly turnout. However not as much as I would have liked. Overall the past few weeks have been jam packed of players wanting a game, there was a point when 18 people turned up and that made problems for me selecting teams etc. But it was a great workout and people had fun.

In the next few weeks I will begin to chose the main team members and focus hard on selecting a few friendlies for us to get back into shape and work on our defence and formations.

It will be an interesting next month at Madballers, work is already on the way in regards to our website and will be hopefully up and running in the summer.

2004-06-14T22:10:00.000Z

Its been a while since Ive posted anything on the Blogger.

Been lazy and perhaps an inconsistant turnout on a weekly basis doesnt really allow me to write much.

Pretty much been a quiet few weeks for the Madballers Crew. Many have started to move away and brings me to a point where I am forced to recruit new members and now starting to re structure the team into a better and more challenging team.

Its gonna take a while, but with new fresh faces popping up every now and then its hard to really mesh a single team out of it.

Latest news is we have a 6"7 Guy who plays for USC that turns up for some game for us.... Hes Ed Chang, friend of Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi.... Yes... we do have someone kinda famous whos rubbed shoulders with the only few Chinese basketball players that have made it to the NBA... but Our Ed... is a gentle Giant.

Sadly hes not here for long... so I am desperatly trying to merge a team as quickly as possible to get as many matches possible for our team.

So... watch this space...... New Madballers Crew to represent Soon!

Peace... Im out like the Lakers... lol

2004-05-24T21:32:00.000Z

Sunday 23rd May

A good turnout today, 13 in total, which some consider an unlucky number, whilst others like myself dont really care!

Spilt into 3 teams of 4, we quickly sorted out teams and began our little tournament.

It was 2 hours of pure fun, I have the tape to proce it.

Due to the big turnout, Im really too lazy to review every game, but the highlight of the game??? Everyone had a magic moment, lapses of brilliance but wait for the edits to come on through, and I'll give you a yell when its done..

2004-05-21T13:33:00.000Z

Sunday 16th May, Marylebone Sports Centre

This was a day where I wanted to play ball, and belive me when I started to shoot there was no stopping me.... I felt like I was Karl Malone and tried to step into his shoes. His famous Pick N Roll, and set shots. They all went in!!!

It was madness.... 3 teams of 4, total enjoyment throughout the two hours in the sauna-like atmosphere.

Endless visits to the water fountain was needed to juice up.

Overall nothing much to say about the game apart from GOOD SWEATY FUN!

2004-05-08T20:56:00.000Z

All Saints Sports Gym. 1.45 pm

Well the team arrived at the gym real early hoping that Intial5 would be early, but that wasnt the point. We were forced to wait a whole hour and half before anyone of the team had keys.
Well we entered the building and quickly changed and began to warm up.
The turnout was good for the Madballers Crew, team consisted of Ricky, Shane, Kevin, Steve, Kirk, Kingsly, George, Susan & Peter.

We just started off with a 3 on 3, Steve, Me and Kingsly were the three against Kirk, George and Kevin.
It was a great warmup session, both teams scoring beautiful layups and deadly accurate jump shots.... this was just the things to come from the game. We knew that we were gonna have a good game today.

Once the Initial5 team warmed up we quickly began the starting 5. Team consisted of Ricky, Shane, Kirk, Steve and Kevin.
We started the game real quick and pushed Initial5 to the edge in the first 5 minutes. Shane and Steve took control of the game whilst I ran the Point. This allowed the team to run amok throughout the game and scoring almost at will. Kingsly scored some welcome outside shots whilst Steve did what he does best.
We hustled and played great defence. Kevin & kirk locked down the boards and Ricky carried the assists and the attack bringing some very nice moves from Shane and Steve for the finish.
The result : Madballers Win 11-3

Feeling the quick loss, they suggested that we change the teams into a mixed affiar.
Recruiting Shane and Peter into their team, we still kept the same team. We had Susan for Shane.

The game started vey fast as Shane was bringing the team down with his fast exuction breaks. We had a problem keeping up with Shane and his consistant shooting. But soon after our plays were not working as well as we planned and changed tactics to make sure that steve had the ball in the paint whilst working low post, he freed me and Kingsly more to open shots. Kevin offered some great help by posting in and working his shots. However it was a fast paced team and Peter and Shane struck up a formidable partnership almost scoring one after the other.
Result Madballers lose 11-9.

After this game, Shane and Kingsly left early due to other commitments, so we had Peter and Susan playing Guard, whilst Kevin, kirk and me played the post.
We had to play the London Philly champion team, the game started in their favour, but I found my groove and began to attack like a beast at their defence forcing them to double team me, this enabled the likes or Kirk and Kevin to penetrate the paint and partly dominate for a brief period of time. This brought our score level for the majority of the game. Moments of concentration allowed the other team to pick up the pace and bring their team to a lead, this began to awaken the monster inside me and fired me up. I answered basket for basket and scored almost at will. Unable to contain me they posted Steve and one other guard to mark me. Forcing me to take more outside shots. No problem. However we werent able to catch up the loss and eventually lost the game by a few points.
Result Madballers lose 11-9

The remaing time the rest of the team played alternative games with the remaining teams.

This was a great performance in our eyes and showed Initial5 that we are a team to be reckoned with. A proper game will be held in 2 weeks time in which I hope that the full team will be able to attend and this time there is no mercy.

2004-05-01T22:46:00.000Z

Initial5 Vs Singapore5

Today, looking at the weather..... seemed a bit moody, but still got up from bed to don my kit and make my way towards All Saints for a 1pm meet up with Shane and his friends.

There was nothing to say, in the air around us there was only one objective. To Win... nothing else.

We arrived at the court with Initial5 messing about and doing some drills. The team quickly changed and started to warm up as well.

After 5 mins of warming up, we were ready for game time. The team consisted of Me, Shane, Lennon, Adrain and Kingsly.

Shane & Adrian played the guards, Me and Kingsly played the Forwards and Lennon was Centre.

We started the game slow as I had a hard time adjusting to their playing styles, but slowly adapted and we all become more fluid in our playing style.
Shane and Adrian ran the point and made jumpshots all over the place, Kingsly with his accurate shooting from the outside, while me and Lennon owned the boards. I made some good assists and brought back some colour into our offence. We continued after a brief timeout and carried on battling away.

We simply took over the game and shocked Initial5 with our early lead. I even managed to tip in a basket while two Initial5 guys were fighting for position, hehe..
Result: Shane5 Win 21-16

Second game, after a dissapointing loss to us, Initial5 had a halftime huddle to talk about tactics. We simply took orders like soldiers, each player knowing their own job role in the team and this would be one of the memorable games.

Started with Initial5 playing with a new lease of life, switching with using the Forwards as screens so their Guards could shoot more, once I told the guys I wanted to play the PointGuard, things changed dramitically, as soon as we grabbed the boards, Shane and Adrian were already making the fast break. I simply broke down the defence and dished out to any open player, this remained out playing style as I started to loosen up somemore and began to enjoy this thrashing we were giving Initial5. A few cock ups led to Initial5 catch a few unwelcome baskets, but that was the only few baskets that they would make. Throughout the next 35 minutes, they were unable to make a single basket fall. Kingsly with his shooting from the outside and me with my fade away jumpshots.
Shane and Lennon making some good plays and I was dishing and faking out the defender, we played much better and soon we began to take the piss somewhat.

Result: Shane5 Win 21-4!

Final game against Initial5, this was a swift game as both teams were tired after over 2 hours of non stop basketball began to take its toll. We pretty much played the same stlye and hunger as the last game and quickly raced to a good lead. I made some important saves and a few acrobatic layups to make the team feel more easier. Even though Initial5 tried to attempt a few baskets here and there, somehow the baskets took many lucky bounces and they soon chased our score, Kingsly had a slight problem with his ankle and Lennon had problems with his knee... we still carried on the intensity. Adrain was clearly feeling the strain and led to a few sloppy plays. However Lennon still battled on for a few blocks too. Shane and Me were simply running the show and played off each other to rally more points for the team.

Result : Shane5 Win 21-14

Even though we were tired, Shane managed to persuade us to play the Philippino team and as tired as we were, we simply were not ready for the lively upbeat style. They simply were fresher and quicker than us, and manged to grab some easy baskets due to our concentration loss.
We simply answered every single basket they made and at half time the scores were at 11-9.
Second half, was a different thing, we stepped up a gear and began to play the way we played earlier, closing down their plays and climbing back to a healthy lead. But the only thing we lacked was energy and we simply lost our game to us not being as fresh as the other team was.
Lennon and Shane took control of the inside scoring and I made a few more acrobatic plays to score a lovely floating lay up over 3 defenders. Simply the highlight play of the game, as we battled hard for the boards and ran the fast break.

Result : Shane5 Lose 21-19.

A truly enjoyable game and a welcoming playing style to what I normally play. No subs, and a 3 hour non stop session of basketball has truly ruined my weekend.... hehe... however, Initial5 lost the game, they still welcomed Shane5 team back again, perhaps for another ass kicking?? We shall see.

Man of the match? I would say it would be a Tie between Shane,Lennon and Me. Not mainly as we scored the most, but what we offered to the team.

Rematch next week??? Anyone Interested.... let me know...

Enjoy the Long weekend!!

2004-04-24T16:46:00.000Z

Saturday 24th April, Venue @ All Saints Sports Hall.

Madballers Vs Initial5

Today, was a turning point in my feelings towards many things in the Madballers Team.
As this was supposed to be a team meeting and only 3 team members turning up, I deeply feel that certain priorities and game reservations are not being kept up by certain members of the team.

Enough already of my moaning and begin the game interpretation.

We arrived at Inital5 Home at 1pm, knowing full well that the rest of the team will not even bother gracing themselves in the game, the turnout was Ricky, Wilfred, Shane, Tony, Susan, Peter and Jason.

Firstly we noticed we had a height disadvantge and main team members were missing, however I would not call them vital as we stood our ground and fought bravely.

First game Shane and Wilfred ran the fast break well, not as well as possible, but managed to get a few quick points, we did lack in size and rebounding resources, I resulted in playing PF/C and had a quiet offensive game.
Letting Shane, Wilfred and Peter deal with the offence of the team while I battled with Tony at the boards.
Many forced errors occured and led to Intial5 to shoot many easy baskets. The actual downfall of our game was not to lock down on the Initial5 Guards, as they were the only contributors to their team points. The result in the end of the first half was only a few points in between.

Result,Madballers Lose 10-6.

Second game, Jason taking Tony's position, if offered a new lease of life, due to Jason being a sprightly player, he manged to finish many fast breaks as we began to claw back at the deficiet. A few welcome baskets from Peter and Ricky allowed Madballers to chase back and Wilf sitting out due to a first half injury, Shane took control of the tempo of the game. However was not enough to complete the second half comeback.

Result, Madballers Lose 20-18.

Third and decisive game. After a long timeout both teams were refreshed and began the final game.
With Shane sitting out and Jason leaving early, the team was with Susan and Wilfred playing Guards and Ricky, Peter and Tony playing Forwards. Asthe game began the scores were tied at many points, a few costly errors allowed Inital5 to get a early lead. Ricky took control of the tempo and converted a few welcome points from other team members and slowly the points were levelled out again. Tony had to sub off and Shane took his place. Shane took care of the offennce, whilst I tried to battle hard at the boards and completed to stop many second attempts from the Initial5 lot. Overall playing a very quiet offensive game, I did manage to get a few scrappy points back for the team. Wilfred and Shane played hard D and Susan was left on her own to shoot her baskets. The game seemed to last a long time as both teams were neck and neck at many points. However feeling the tiredness Madballers could not complete a win and lost out in the final basket.

Result, Madballers lose 21-19.

Overall a interesting game and even missing out certain team members we played as a team and lost as a team, we did lack one thing, the most important in fact. A PF/C, someone who could also assist in rebounding as we lacked on that and perhaps could have been our downfall. But in general a good workout, and a chance to break some sweat. Hopefully the full team can be playing and will assist in the other ares we lacked in this time.

Some members stayed on to play the Philipino team and it was a very enjoyable and up tempo game, with Susan scoring some tough baskets and Peter and Shane playing well and brining welcome points. Wilfred was playing some good basketball and ran the fast break well. No shock on the player of the game, Simply Shane as his never say die attitude influenced many team members to quickly pick up the pace. Well done for his efforts and glad that Shane managed to find time to help on the lack of players that Madballers had promised the Initial5.

Although this was merely a gelling session with other team members, I would say it has been an enjoyable one and we will be looking forward in returning to play against Initial5, where I can safely say, the game will be in our favour.

2004-04-18T20:54:00.000Z

Sunday Basketball - Madballers Vs Dino5

Due to Initial5 pulling out last minute and turning down a second ass whopping I managed to call up on my good friend Dino and his multi talented Philipino team for a friendly match.

Good turnout today, Most of the team was there and we began our first game.

Team consisted of Shane, Wilfred, Gabriel, Matt and Ricky.

Game 1, Madballers Vs Dino5
We started well as Gabriel battled the boards and Wilf & Shane busy with running the fast breaks. Ricky helped to a good start and had hot hands shooting a few jump shots and a fade away three pointer. Shane and Wilf turned up the tempo with the fast breaks and Matt & Gabriel added a point apiece.
Result - Madballers Win 11-6.

As more people turned up, we created a third team consisting of the late comers and Subs of Madballers.
Team 2 consisted of Steve, Tim, Tony, Jonathan and Dino.

Game 2, Madballers Vs Team 2.
Madballers held of a rough start from Team 2, as Steve quickly took control of the team launching his trademark jumpshots with deadly accuracy. However Madballers controlled the endless attack and started its own counter attack, starting with the one two punch from the guards ever so ready to hustle down the guards from Team 2. As Gabriel and Ricky battled away at the boards, left Matt with a free roam and he added a few welcome buckets. This indeed took a very long time to play as there was endless chances to claim the game. But to both teams quickly cancelling out each other within a few minutes the result was a lengthy one. With Shane answering back the points of Steve and Co. The end result?
Result - Madballers Win 15-13

Game 3, Dino5 Vs Madballers.
Sensing a crushing blow to their pride the Dino5 quickly started off with fast breaks and sneaky steals to bring them to a 4 point lead. Madballers on the other hand were slightly thrown from their tracks as they began to build up from the quick lead and shot back to tie the points in less than two minutes and not letting Dino5 any points. Ricky and Gabriel battled the boards as Shane and Wilfred started to run amok and posted few more points to their tally. The game wasnt going to be an easy one as the Dino5 used their experience to break down the Madballers defensive wall. Dino5 team stepped up a gear and sensed the defense slowly to show cracks they attacked harder and eventually led to a win for Dino5.
Result Madballers Lose 8-11.

Game 4, Team 2 Vs Dino5.
Dino5 fresh from victory stepped up the pace and attacked relentlessly at Team 2 and Steve lead the team answering basket for basket. However Steve couldnt handle it all alone and needed help from his fellow members, whilst mustering his team together, Dino5 saw their chance to do what they do best, and the result was a quick one. With Dino5, fellow members made consecutive points on many defensive erros. Thus bringing Dino5 to another victory.
Result Team 2 Lose 11-4

Game 6, Madballers vs Dino5.
Madballers had seen the effect that Dino5 had on Team 2 and they played patient Defence, Slowly putting up points. Even though Dino5 answered as many points as Madballers, Shane & Wilf added points almost at will, Matt and Gabriel added much needed points and Ricky added a few flashes of brilliance with his fancy passes. Once Madballers had found their groove there was no stopping them. It was simply a quick and effective offensive attack and the result was not for Dino5.
Result Madballers Win 13 - 11.

Game 7, Madballers Vs Team2
Madballers used the flow they found in the game before and quickly took control and jumped to a good lead against Team2, although causing some problem with size miss matches Team 2 slowly pulled back a few points to tie the game. Gabriel was doing what he did best, battle the boards. Shane & Wilf played good defence and constanly ran the fast breaks much to their advantage. However there was many plays in which things did not work out for both teams. Matt was having a quiet game, but managed to launch a few of his favourite 3 pointers. The luck wasnt as much with Ricky as he collided with fellow member in Team 2 Tony. The clash did look a bit scary and play stopped momentarilly to see if either was OK, seemed that Ricky came out worse and was forced out of the game for the rest of the afternoon. Dino took his place and play continued. The game was a fierce one and bitter blows came from both sides as they battled for boards and position. There seemed to be no stopping the points, as both team matched point for point. Eventually after an triple overtime Madballers lost the final play and Jonathan fired a deadly 3 Pointer from the top of the key and claimed Team 2 first win against Madballers.
Result - Team 2 Win 19 - 17.

Final two games between Team 2 , Dino5 & Madballers.
This also proved a very quick and deadly game, as Dino5 stepped up their gear once again and took over the game completly showing their experience. Scoring almost at will and leading Team 2 to a very frustrating and challenging game. They couldnt answer point for point and at the end Dino5 remained Victorious.
After casting aside Team 2, Madballers knew they had a tough game as there seemed no stopping Dino5.
The game started very quick and both teams were answering point for point, however moments of concentration cost Madballers a few costly errors allowing Dino5 to score some very easy yet frustrating points against Madballers. As the games were coming to an end Madballers used their last ounce of energy and chased back to tie the game. Shane was again proving a problem for Dino5.
Result Madballers & Dino5 Tied game.

Overall a great training session for both teams and showed a few lapses of concentration proving costly to Madballers, thus hoping to learn from the mistakes and ready themselves for their next game against Initial5 next Saturday.

Keep posted as results and views are added.

2004-04-14T23:35:00.000Z

Wednesday basketball at Victoria.

Delights of mid week ball ring bells in my ears and the yearning of a game is in hand.

Usual things, 6 teams of 5 players, 2 hours and of mixed and totally random people. Regular Madballers turned up, Me(Ricky), Wilfred, Tony, Shane and George.

It was a good training session for us, even though we were on mixed teams. I had a good game, starting my first basket with a rebound and popping outside the 3 to swish my first trey of the night. Reasonably good team, paired with George, he had a quiet night and missed various shots.
throughout the night, I managed to catch a few steals and some good assists, not to mention some deadly catch and shoot situations. I felt hot, and my layups and shots were on. No stopping me now.
Total for the night, 6 3-pointers, 7 baskets, 5 layups and 2 misses and one block, unable to count the assists and rebounds. :)

Looking forward to the pick up game with Initial5 this weekend, should be interesting as half of the team are not there. Will allow a few of us to gel with Initial5 and perhaps the beginning of a future of Madballers community.

Updates to follow on Saturday game....

2004-04-11T22:30:00.000Z

Friendly Match, Madballers Vs Initial5

Our second meeting with the East London Initial5, however they were only 4. So started off with a 4 Vs 4, lasting 20 minutes or first to 11 points.

Team consisted of Ricky, Shane, Wilfred, Matt.
Interesting game as Shane took over the defensive plays, Wilfred and Shane ran many fast breaks leading us to a healthy lead. Ricky had a more defensive game and controlled the boards. Matt had a relatively quiet game, but added to the team.
Result : Madballers Win 11-9.

Second Game was literally the same, but with Susan added onto our side. Again Shane and Wilfred took care of the offensive threat and Matt and Ricky battled the boards. Susan our special shooter added some points to the tally.
Result : Madballers Win 11-6

Third game started off with a few mishaps and lead to the opposition having a few easy baskets, once back into gear, Shane and Wilfred controlled the tempo and caught up the scores, Susan was again on fire and leveled the scores, however we had a few defensive errors resulting Initial5 to their first Win.
Result : Madballers lose 9-11.

The final game, as many players were feeling the strain after nearly two hours of non stop basketball, we managed to creep ahead, Wilfred and Shane played well together scoring almost at will. Whilst Ricky battled hard at the boards, Vincent offered great help and blocked a few shots. Susan added a few baskets and we had to finish the game abruptly.
Result Madballers Win 8-5.

Overall a great and fun experience, the team played well defensively and offensively. Work is still needed on finishing fast breaks and locking down on the opposition.

2004-04-11T21:39:00.000Z

Welcome to my weekly Blog, It's just a posting of the upcoming website Madballers.com, home of the Meteors. Its a website aimed at the Chinese community in UK who simply love to play basketball.

Im gonna put regular posts here about recent games and competitions that have happened.

So welcome and I hope that you come back to check on the updates on me, my team and the website construction process.