Quick browsing
- The Context, p1
- The Rules, p1
- Day one, p1
- Day two, p1
- Day three, p2
- Day four, p2
- Conclusion, p2
- Appendix, p3
The Context
Central is a reknown basket-ball club here in Tahiti, where it had fetched several local titles over the years.
It’s been a tradition for this club to organize a "friendly" tournament during each Christmas break and this year we’re attending the event.
Our team is made of, dare I say, amateurs but I guess we just want to gather with friends and spend some good time altogether.
The Rules
Each match is divided in 2 periods of 7 minutes
You have one timeout for each period
One player can only have 3 fouls before leaving the court
One team can only have 4 fouls overall before giving free throws
Each team is composed of 7 players maximum
Day one
First match against La Relève
They have one tall guy and two short but fast guys and we’re crushed under the physical strain. We’re not used to run back and forth on all the length of the playground and we don’t find the moments to catch our breath. Plus, our zone defense doesn’t seem to hold against the pressure they keep shoving on us and here goes our first loss, 4 - 28
Second match against Central All Stars
I guess we just don’t play the same game. They put an individual defense on us and begin blocking our progression to their part of the field. We lose a lot of balls and they keep scoring. Nothing much to say, Arn scores our only and one : 2 - 31
Day two
First match against Central B
This team is made of youngsters. I get all heated up when their leading player rushes into me, giving me a blow in the abdomen. As he passes through me I push him out of my flank so he knows who he’s messing with...Then he screams out loud to the referee demanding a foul... The paint was full of players so the referee didn’t grant his wish but I hear him say "I’m getting you next time". I reply out loud "you want a piece of me boy ?" Luckily enough (for him in my POV) the bell rings the half-time.
I get heads-up with our Captain Billy for a man-to-man explanation on my behaviour and I plead my cause. He quickly dismisses my case saying I was the one who was wrong and that I over-reacted...
Nonetheless, I grab some rebounds and we get our first win : 11 - 7
Side note : you’ll see that I’m not through with pushing and stuff...
Here comes a break with the Dunk Smash Contest
I’ve paid 500XPF to enter this though I’m not really sure why again... We’re 5 contestants total with a very tall guy that actually jumps so high... Everyone tried an auto Haley Hoop and only that tall guy managed to perform one. The other ones missed but not by much. I grab 2nd place with a reversed one handed dunk and I’m qualified for the final who’s being held on Friday night.
Rant : Who is that announcer that doesn’t even know my name when I registered and clearly put my name in black on their white paper ??
I’m just hoping the chinese community got a little more respect now since only tahitian guys entered the contest...
Second match is against Nike Shop
Their players are all employees from the entitled shop and we’ve seen them performing not so well before so we’re quite delighted take our second win here, even if it’s not by a large difference : 16 - 12
I must give credits Tarona to our new forward/center who joined us and scored a lot this day.
Third match against Les Mouches
We get trampled over yet again by this team of regular players of some club : 4 - 32