Feeling Like a Celeb

Damn. So many months without a post and that's how I start, huh? Oh well.
Anyways, I'm going to write about basketball. KLNC's started. UBSA's two games in and is currently at 1-1. They lost to Swoosh earlier today despite holding their own in the first half. I think UBSA lost mainly because of three things:

1. The Swoosh coaching staff sekolahkan UBSA's coaching volunteers in the second half. Bad player rotation and set-play recognition by the coach(es) screwed UBSA over. Damn.
   
2. Stamina is an issue. UBSA looked deflated in the second half. Or maybe it was because they were essentially playing 8 players (against Swoosh's 12), with two missing the game and another two playing limited minutes.
3. Baaad refs? During the third quarter, Swoosh players were getting fouls called their way like nobody's business. This basically set them up for the win as they coasted to a 20pt lead or something during that stretch. (Maybe it's not the referees' fault, and the Swoosh players are just good at getting fouls. Who knows?) I wish I can find out the exact number of fouls committed by both teams in the quarter. I bet UBSA had, like, double the amount of fouls or something. Anybody else want to wager on this?
   

Here's three things I liked about the game:

1. Mr. X is an anchor on defense, and a graceful beast on offense. He managed to keep Zaril from getting boards even though Zaril has a good 25kgs on him. And his post-moves, although slow, are actually good enough to send great interior defenders (such as Panje and Zaril) flying in all the wrong directions. (If only we could get him the ball more. The team's mindset in executing the set-plays is too perimeter-oriented, and often this results in the post players not getting the ball enough. This just screws up the balance in the ball-rotation) Mr. X is definitely a building block for UBSA.
2. Alip had a hot streak in the game, and it looked amazing. He was hitting jumpers, getting and-ones, shooting threes, and basically had a beautiful offensive game. Too bad he got screwed by the refs into foul trouble.
   
3. UBSA is good offensively, and they can get scoring opportunities whenever they are disciplined enough in executing their set-plays. However, people seem to not see the real reason why UBSA is a good team. It's actually because their starting 5 is a good defensive team. In the first half, when the starting 5 was still mostly intact, Swoosh 1 did not get many open shots in the first tries, but mainly scored after getting offensive rebounds. Of course this shows that UBSA is crap at rebounding, but it also shows that UBSA has the ability to keep Swoosh from scoring more than 70 (which is no easy feat).

Other random notes:

1. Abang Syed kept on joking with me about NCBL jerseys. Yasier joked about me having too much gaya on the court. Jokes aside, bila Swoosh BC nak offer aku jadi coach ni? Hakhak..
   
2. I'm glad I have friends who shout and scream not just for UBSA but for me. Felt good to hear people scream "NICE!" after making hustle plays. You guys make me feel like a celebrity. Thanks guys. Korang memang terbabow.
   
3. The organizers started all the games about an hour early, but I was not informed until I got to the stadium. Lucky (almost) the whole team came more than an hour early.