'Easy' win on coach's birthday

Yee Chun Leong

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

(photo: The national basketball team, under the banner of Soon Lee-Easyway 'A', celebrate with Kevin Reece, the national basketball coach, after their 113-53 triumph over Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd in the final of the 2010 Goh Hock Kee Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat. Picture: BT/Yee Chun Leong)

The national basketball team couldn't have given national basketball coach Kevin Reece a better birthday present.

Playing under the banner of Soon Lee-Easyway 'A', they were crowned the champions of the 2010 Goh Hock Kee Cup after a sound victory over Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd 113-53 in last night's final, contested at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

It was the team's first gold medal and they even bought a cake for the
American in celebration of his 50th birthday with the candles to be blown out after the victory.

"It was really unexpected to say the least. It was the manager's (Wira
Pori) idea and it summed up the good day. It also plays a significance
especially that I hit the 5-0. I'll probably remember this championship
more than the others," Reece told The Brunei Times after the triumph.

Three players hit double figures for Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' with Yap Chun
Ping leading the way with 21 points. Choo Yung Jian poured in 20 points
and Ben Sim added an additional 18 points to the victory.

Tony Bong topscored for Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd with 13 points and Nicholas Boey contributed 12 in the losing effort.

Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' got off to a hot start with a 12-0 run before Loo
Zhi Hung hit a layup to put Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd on the scoreboard on
the seventh minute mark.

The national side were pressing their opponents early on and managed to pick up steals which they took advantage of to score easy points on the break.

They were also dominating the boards and Choo summed up the first period with a three-point buzzer taking a 33-11 lead into the second quarter.

Hata Rekajaya Sdn Bhd couldn't get things going at the offensive end with their opponents putting up a watertight defence. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times

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Easyway at war: The A Team they are not

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Monday, July 26, 2010

When the cat's away the mouse will play.

The absence of national coach Kevin Reece proved decisive in last night's Goh Hock Kee Cup 2010 match between Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' and Soon Lee-Easyway 'C'.

Filled to the brim with players from the national team but without the
American on the bench to hold their hands, Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' lacked direction and lost to their 'C' counterparts 87-75.

Reece could not be at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat because of 'personal reasons', and it was a good thing he wasn't because he would have been even more animated than usual had he seen his players' half-hearted performance.

"Without coach Reece there was less pressure on them. That also meant they were less focused," explained Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' assistant coach Maxim Yap of the loss. "They had the lead but they lost focus.

"Shooting guard Yap Chun Ping and point guard Poh Yung Hui were injured, and Muiz Abdul Ghani had a groin problem so we had to depend on our bench.

"It's not really an excuse but the result wouldn't have any consequence since we are already through (to the semi-finals). We could afford to run our subs out.

"We wanted to run our subs out but as you can see, they can't make it."

Yap spoke too soon.

After checking with the organisers, he found out the result meant Soon
Lee-Easyway 'A' finish as runners-up in Group A while Soon Lee-Easyway 'C' pip them for top spot. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times

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SH benefit in unfinished business

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Sunday, July 25, 2010

IT was an unbefitting ending to a final which could have been so much more.

SH were crowned the champions of the 23 years old and below Brunei Youth Basketball Tournament in a game that was marked by controversy.

SH were leading 76-61 against Jia Hua Enterprise with more than three
minutes to play before the game was put to a halt due to downpour.

"Actually the organisers wanted to postpone the match but we couldn't accept that because some of the players on the team will be playing in the upcoming Sultan Cup and also the Borneo Cup too. It would be a waste for the players to make their way from Bandar just to play three minutes," SH forward Lim Liang Wei told The Brunei Times after the win.

"We were willing to give the match to them (Jia Hua Enterprise) but they
came to the conclusion to just give it to us since we were leading at
that point," he said.

Foo Gwen Tong was the topscorer for SH with 22 points while Soon Kian Leong and Lim poured in 17 and 11 points respectively in the win.

Hung Jiunn Nan scored a game-high 24 points to pace Jia Hua Enterprise while Choo Yung Kang contributed 12 points and Hii Wei chipped in another 11 to the losing cause. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times

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Why isn't Tan on the national team

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, July 24, 2010

ESMOND TAN has revealed to The Brunei Times that the chances of him to make it into Brunei's new national squad were already slim from
the start, due to his personal commitments.

National basketball coach Kevin Reece has assembled the team to represent Brunei at the 2010 Borneo Cup, which the Sultanate will host from Aug 13-15, but the new national side will not feature Tan, arguably the best cager in the country, in the line-up.

Reece had called out to all potential players in the country to step forward and attend tryouts to be part of the national team last month and Tan had failed to attend any sessions.

"I couldn't make myself available for training because of work commitments. I just came back from a holiday and there was no way I
could have made it to the selection," said Tan, when met at the Brunei
International Airport in Berakas yesterday.

"I haven't been playing as much as well. All I could do was shoot a couple of hoops during my free time," added the former Barracudas player.

Tan had been on a sabbathical for the past month with a getaway to Australia and only returned yesterday.

The 26-year-old, who is working for Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP), will not be available from July 29 - August 13 since he will be offshore.

"I just wish the team all the best in the upcoming tournament to do the
country proud." The new team comprise of a slightly different line-up
compared to Reece's previous selection, back in March, as players were
selected based on their performances during the 9th National Sports
Festival (PSK) which concluded late last month.

Ben Sim, Lim Liang Wei and Choo Yung Jian are the players that represented the Belait district while Pg Md Faizuladzmi Pg Tajuddin is the sole cager from the Tutong district. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times

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No place for Tan in 'new' team

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Friday, July 23, 2010

National basketball coach Kevin Reece has finally assembled a team that will represent Brunei at the 2010 Borneo Cup, which the Sultanate
will host from Aug 13-15, but the 'new' national side will not feature
Esmond Tan in the line-up.

Reece had called out to all potential players in the country to attend tryouts to be a part of the national team last month and Tan, who is arguably the best cager in the country, had failed to comply.

The new team comprise of a slightly different line-up compared to his previous selection, back in March, as players have been selected based on their performances during the 9th National Sports Festival (PSK) which concluded late last month.

Benjamin Norman Sim, Lim Liang Wei and Choo Yung Jian are the players that represented the Belait district while Pg Md Faizuladzmi Pg Tajuddin is the sole cager from the Tutong district.

The duo of Soon Kian Leong and Lim Aik Hock represented Temburong while the rest of the team Hj Md Badri Hj Suhaili, Yap Chun Ping, Muhd Zainul Ashyraf Hj Hussin, Po Yung Hui, Tan Ye Wei and Muiz Hj Abdul Ghani laced up for the Brunei-Muara district.

"We've chosen some of the players that have been impressive. These will also be the ones to compete at the upcoming Sultan's Cup at the end of the month. The players on the list are all deserving as everyone has got an equal opportunity to be there, "Reece told The Brunei Times yesterday.

"Some of them didn't step forward and so we just had to fill in the spots. If they didn't want to play then we couldn't force them but I've no regret with the decision," he added.

Reece felt that the squad have plenty of youth and athleticism including added height with the addition of the 6ft 5in frame of Muhd Zainul into the line-up.

"The team needed height and he will help us tremendously making the side more all-around. He'll be given a chance to make the team better in the future," said the American coach.

Asked about their training sessions especially in the fasting month of Ramadan, Reece replied: "I'll use my past experience as a player. The players will need to eat proper food to get them through.

"But it would surely help if fasting month occurred a week earlier. But there's nothing we can do about it and we'll go through it," concluded the Los Angeles native.

There will be three categories contested for the three-day competition: Men's Open, Men's Veteran (40 years old and above) and Women's Open. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times

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Agel hand Jia Hua 1st defeat

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Friday, July 23, 2010

Agel extended their unbeaten streak to four games with a 64-49 victory over Jia Hua Enterprise in Group B of the 23 years old and below of the Brunei Youth Basketball Tournament at the Kampung Baru basketball court in Seria last night.

Liew Ming Yang and Darren Wong each poured in 10 points to pace Agel.

Choo Yung Kang and Hung Jiunn Nan each had matching game-highs of 16 points to a losing cause.

Both teams got off to equal starts and they were finding it hard to get it
going at the offensive end. It remained close and the game was deadlocked at 13-13 heading into the second quarter.

Agel were not playing their usual game and were not passing the ball much. They were rushing their shots but somehow managed to open up a 31-21 advantage at halftime.

Agel regrouped in the third quarter and started knocking down shots from both the inside and outside.

Jia Hua Enterprise were left flat-footed for much of the period but didn't
let their opponents run away with the scoreboard reading 45-33 going into the final stanza.

With both teams having already booked their berths in the semi-finals, the game was kept close but it was not enough to prevent Jia Hua Enterprise from falling to their first defeat of the tournament.

"We didn't play well in the first half as everyone was too excited to get on the scoresheet since both teams had already made it into the semi-finals. We didn't play with any teamwork while our rivals played pretty well," said Yeo Chun Kiat, a forward of Agel, in an interview with The Brunei Times, after the win.

"We had a team talk at halftime and adjusted at both ends of the floor. We executed well on offence and did everything needed on defence by boxing out for rebounds too," added Yeo.

Agel will now face SH, who easily disposed of Kode-Name 60-26 in Group A in the second game, in the semi-finals today at 8.15pm.

Asked about their encounter against SH, Yeo replied: "We have good confidence to play against them as we have met them in previous tournaments before. We know their style of play and we know what we have to do. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times

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Reece-ky play but still an Easy win

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Friday, July 23, 2010

It was an interesting match to watch but what most would take away
from yesterday's match up between Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' and Propel
Services is a series of bizzare incidents which resulted in the send off
of Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' coach Kevin Reece.

With approximately one minute to go in the third stanza, Reece was given a straight ejection from two technical fouls, a result of arguing a call with a referee.

It, however, did not end there as the referee decided to leave the game as well to put the match at a standstill for some 20 minutes.

"It was a miscommunication on both sides that went awry but fortunately didn't escalate further," said Reece.

When everything was said and done, it was Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' that
prevailed against Propel Services 99-81 in Group A of the Goh Hock Kee
Cup 2010 last night at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu
Bersurat.

Four players hit double figures for Soon Lee-Easyway 'A' with Ben Sim picking up 20 points. Lim Liang Wei contributed 18 points and Po Yung Hui added 17 points to his name. Yap Chun Ping also scored 10 points in the victory.

Pheng Shen Fu topscored for Propel Services with 20 points and Kenny Lim poured in 14. Lim How and Tan Kah Boon chipped in 13 and 10 points respectively in the losing effort.

Soon Lee-Easyway got it going in the opening period as they employed a man-to-man pressure defence in hopes of wearing down their opponents.

They were also executing well and knocking down their jumpshots on the other side of the court. Read More...

Source: The Brunei Times

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Brunei To Host Borneo City Basketball Tournament

Written by James Kon

Friday, 23 July 2010 08:50

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei Darussalam will play host to the 11th
Borneo City Basketball Invitational Tournament from Aug 13-15.

Teams from Miri, Kota Kinabalu and Labuan as well as Brunei are scheduled to take part in the tournament.

The event is split into three categories namely Men's Open, Female
and Veteran. The opening ceremony will be held on Friday (Aug 13) at the Batu Bersurat Basketball Court.

The third meeting in preparation of the tournament was held yesterday. The meeting was chaired by Wong Ming Ching, the chairman of the organising committee. Also present was Khoo Eng Cheong, the deputy chairman.

Brunei will be taking part in all three categories. The main focus will be the Men's Open whereby local basketball star will parade their skills.

The name list of the Brunei men basketball team was finalized. They are Mohammad Badri, Benjamin Norman Sim, Yap Chun Ping, Mohammad bin Pengiram Tajuddin, Muhd Zainal Ashyraf bin Hj Hussin, Lim Liang Wei, Choo Yung Hui, Tan Ye Wei, Muhd Nu' iz bin Hj Abdul Ghani, Soon Kian Leong and Lim Aik Hock.

National coach Kebin Reece is the team coach and is assisted by Maxin Yap. The team manager is Wira Pori.

In an interview, Reece on the diverse Brunei team said: "When I took
up the job as the national coach, I wanted to change and build up the
national Learn.

"The team comprised a mixture of young and experienced players. They are all good players but not the best team yet."

"In two years time, Brunei will have the best team ever. My motto is emphasis on development.

We have players of 15 to 17 years old who will be groomed to be great
players and can be featured in regional and international tournaments,"
Reece added.

During the meeting, Ang Swee Hoo was elected as the director of referees together with Tan Mei Ling.

Source: Borneo Bulletin

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