Ex-UM v 5th College Friendly Match

Results : Ex-UM won 62-38

Score by Quarters (Ex-UM - 5th College)
Q1 : 20-9
Q2 : 16-13
Q3 : 9-10
Q4 : 17-6
Final : 62-38

This was an interesting game as both Ex-UM and 5th College (RC5) ran the "Read & React" (R&R) offense. Both started out in man-to-man defense.

Ex-UM has traditionally always struggled against man-to-man defenses. This time, the R&R handled the man-to-man defense in stride and we could just continue running the R&R offense according to its principles.

RC5 had a severe size disadvantage and had trouble matching up against our 4s (Sem / Pin) and 5s (Ming Lip) in the low post. Additionally, with all the off the ball movement created by the R&R, there was little opportunity for RC5 to help defend the low post.

However, not all our scoring came from the low post. I had Jensen guarding me and both Pin and Sem was telling me that I have a size advantage and should post up. In the past, I would have been tempted to start forcing the offense through isolation and post ups. But with all the good movement, I decided not to post up despite the size mis-match and executed the R&R to maintain spacing. As a result, I had an easy dribble penetration and uncontested lay up (as all other defenders were "too busy" to help) and an open 3 point shot created off Pin's drive and my circle move.

Sem and Juin Haur particularly also had several high percentage "under-basket" shots created off my or other's dribble penetration and their circle move along the baseline. Add those to the low post scores by Sem, Pin, Ming Lip ... we had a commanding 20-9 first quarter.

On the other end, RC5 were mainly in "pass and cut" without enough dribble penetration but their players, especially non-varsity players were easily "bumped" off their ideal lane cut and/or gave up on their cuts too early (turning their heads away before finishing their cut).

By the 2nd quarter, RC5 went to a zone defense. We just continued running our R&R and I promptly got an easy under-basket lay up off a give-and-go with Pin. Offensively, we continued to do well but defensively, especially our 2nd unit, started to have mental lapses and allowed RC5 to get some easy scores too. This allowed RC5 to close within 8 points before the 1st unit re-entered and managed to go on a modest 10-4 run to end the half, up by 14 points (36-22).

In the 3rd quarter, we started our 2nd unit and again, they made several mistakes enabling RC5 to go on an 8-2 run to close within 8 points again (38-30). The 1st unit re-enetered and quietly went into a zone defense (whilst pretending to play man-to-man by shouting match up assignments). RC5 never realised we had gone to a zone and continue to play in the same way. This enabled us to save a lot of energy on defense and still be able to cover their players as RC5 never tried any long or skip passes against us (which is critical against any zone). We then went on a 7-2 run to close the quarter and re-pad our lead up to 13 points (45-32). We ended up losing the 3rd quarter by 1 point!

In the 4th quarter, we again started our 2nd unit. Finally, our 2nd unit of Ben, Sun, Yee Seng and Leong together with Ming Lip found their rhythm and started executing the R&R almost to perfection whilst maintaining their focus on defense (made easier by the fact that they were now playing zone defense) and getting several steals and fast break lay ups. Our 2nd unit went on a 17-2 run and blew the game open, going up by as many as 28 points! That run even featured a made 3-point shot by Leong!!

Since they were playing so well, the 2nd unit played almost the whole 4th quarter.

We finally settled for a good, 62-38 (24 point margin) victory.

The R&R has really shown great promise. With the "high basketball IQ" that most Ex-UM players have, the R&R has allowed us to be flexible and creative and yet able to maintain spacing and not get in each other's way. The R&R is certainly not a "magic" offense that will guarantee a win every time (no offense can do that) but it certainly allows us to maximise our strengths and helps us in overcoming our weaknesses.