A bit of anything basketball that is recent….
High School ball, Pretoria style…
In Pretoria high school news, the league seems to be a bit confusing this year with a new system of home and away introduced instead of the use of central venues. With the cost of petrol on the increase, it is only a matter of time before the schools realize that the old system was more cost effective. As far as games are concerned, the league kicked off in earnest during the week of 5th may after the long weekend rest. Schools are playing up to 3 games a week to try and finish their fixtures before the start of the June exams. In results received so far, Pretoria Boys High School lost their first game of the season against Rosina, Pretoria High School for Girls seem to be steam rolling their opponents in most age groups, Willowridge are getting some mixed results but most are positive,Prestige seem to be out of their depth but only time will tell…
As far as Senior basketball is concerned…
TUKS ladies seem to be starting a streak unheard of before and it’s not the 22 games winning streak that the Houston Rockets were on during the regular NBA season but more the kind of streak associated with the Miami Heat; they have lost their last 2 games.. They were recently beaten by UJ during the fight for 1st spot in the SASSU qualifiers and on Sunday 11 May they were narrowly beaten by the Raptors ladies team in the GBL competition. The TUKS boys are riding a wave, they lose one then win one; On sunday they beat Wits at Wits after losing to UJ in the SASSU qualifiers, they need to find some consistency if they are going to compete for top honours in the GBL and SASSU tournament at the end of the month.
In LOP (yes they are still alive and well), Egoli Magic clashed with Wits Alumni, the two unbeaten teams in the men’s division. In what was an anticipated game, with a crowd and the usual basketball faces in attendance… The game was entertaining all round with some fast paced game and both teams trading blows early on. Wits Alumni came to play, they had an aggressive, up-tempo attitude, taking the ball to the rim instead of settling for jumpers and this was emphasized by a monster dunk by Quentin Denyssen on an unnamed Egoli player (We will keep it that way); But the direction of the game was turned on its head when the referee gave the Wits Alumni bench double technicals for contesting a call. This call meant that along with the Free Throws for the foul, Egoli had 4 more free throws and possession. Overall, Egoli were balanced with Joseph Mazibuko leading the offence while Alaska guarded the house with some good blocks and overall defence to deal with the Wits Alumni threat. Despite a late rally by Wits Alumni on the back of Thabo Letsebe performance, Egoli Magic won the game.
In professional basketball Eurobasketball and NBA,
In Eurobasketball, CSKA Moscow won the title after a hectic but interesting European season. They won on the back of some accurate shooting and great defence.
In the NBA, The Lakers vs Jazz series is evenly poised at 2-2; the Lakers led by regular season MVP Kobe Bryant game out of the blocks like a house on fire by taking a 2-0 home lead before going to Utah for what many believe is shock defeats. But in all honesty the 2 games that the Jazz won were close affairs with Boozer and Williams stepping it up in Game 3 while Game 4 went into overtime but Utah came through with the victory. Game 5 will go a long way in telling us where the championship will go, especially with Kobe nursing a lower back injury. I expect a huge game from Gasol, Odom and the rest of the supporting cast on the back of the home crowd.
The Celtics vs Caveliers series is also tied at 2-2; when the playoffs started, Celtics had the best away record in the regular season but pressure on the road means that they still can’t find that elusive away victory. In the latest installment of Lebron James dry spell as far as shooting is concerned, the Cavs beat the Celtics 88-77. The big 3 from the Celtics couldn’t handle the pressure in the fourth quarter and with James posterizing Kevin Garnett, the Cavs made a statement that they won’t go down easily. In Lebron James they are capable of winning away from home so watch out if you support the Celtics.
The Spurs vs Hornets series is tied at 2 games apiece. All I can say is never write off the defending champions, they might play boring basketball compared to the other teams but with Duncan, Ginobli and Parker in your team you can’t go wrong, just ask the Suns that were swept 4-0. After being taken to the cleaners in the 2 games at New Orleans everyone was on some Hornets are going to take the series tip but Tim and Co. had other ideas. Chris Paul has been magnificent in the playoffs so far but it feels a bit like it’s an unfair fight of 1 against 3. If the Hornets are to defeat the Spurs they will need massive contributions from the support cast i.e. West, Chandler…
The Magic vs Pistons series is 1-3 in favour of the Pistons. Dwight Howard has been guarded so tightly that he can’t seem to put up the same numbers he had in the 1st round of the playoffs. Hamilton and Billups run the show for the Pistons but with Billups a doubt for game 5, it might be a close game. The pistons have been there before and know how to close out a series so if the Magic are to make a comeback then Howard must get out of his slump in form and produce the goods in Detroit. But with Lewis and Turkoglu, the Orlando Magic team has been trying to keep us interested in this series but only a miracle will save them from the knock out blow.
The school’s basketball is very tricky because you have to take into consideration that the basketball is not isolated in this instance.
The reason we,Pta school’s bball ass, started a new format was that schools felt like they never got yo play any home matches because we always used St Mary’s and PBHS.
My vision is to have each and every school to have all divisions in the next two years that way the school doesnt have to travel to to ten different schools in a season. It does not make sense for a school to have an Open boys team only but not have U14 or U16. That unfortunately is the way school sport is being run, we cant blame the teachers for their lack of interest they dont get paid to primarily make sure that basketball runs smooth.
I was speaking to Lucky Stilianos of Kaizer chiefs two weeks ago and he mentioned that the only way we can develop basketball is to have professionals volunteering to run programs. Only a person with the right knowledge of the sport will understand why you need to be doing programs on a Saturday. Sibo raised a valid point when we spoke, she said “Recreation will always be needed” that means that if you wanna run sport programs you must be willing to work long after everyone has knocked.
Case study, Johnny has a 9-5 job and his deadlines are upon him. Everytime Johnny feels like he is getting stressed what does he do? First thing he will say “I need to go ball so I can relieve my stress” he can only do that after work around 6 in the evening. In order for him to relieve his stress a sport manager will have to facilitate his need, he will have to be there make sure that Johnny gets what he wants and at the end of the day he is satisfied.
Just like in any other profession you need the expertise and know how of how things work. PATIENCE and LOVE for sport are the only things that can make you succeed in this business.
Shu!!! I strayed a bit there, but if you a teacher and doubling up as a sport co-ordinator make sure that the small amount of time that get to do soprt you do it as if your salary depends on it.
MATRIX