3 on 3 Tournament Recap

Warning: Uber long post

BCIT Burnaby BC - If there was a worst day to hold a 3 on 3 basketball tournament, this has got to be it. It was not drizzling but pouring! Yet all games continued on as scheduled. My team didn't advance to the next round and we also lost Aljerau in the first 5 minutes of our first game with a third degree ankle sprain. He was supposed to be one of our key players in our team. Our record for today was 1 Win 3 Losses.

A 1 -3 record would seem like we didn't have a chance but not in this case. Our first game was an aberration as we lost 16-4 (more on that later). 2 of our losses were one point losses, however, losing it on a FT in the 3rd game and a winning shot on the last game.

Rules were pretty much typical 3 on 3 scrimmage games except possession alternates on every made shot. No "make it you take it". Also there are free throws. 1 free throw awarded after 7 fouls and a free throw plus possession awarded after 12 fouls.

Here are the individual recap of the games:

Game 1 = Loss 16-4
We lost Aljerau on the first 2-3 minutes of the game when he went down on a railing and twisted his ankle. He was done for the day and we had to take him to the hospital. He is ok, albeit in a lot of pain.

We lost 16-4 as we were overplayed. Not overmatched, however. We played lackadaisical defense and missed open shots we would normally make. We also made some bad decisions that led to bad turnovers.

Game 2 = Win 16-12
Having Jin play in our next 3 games helped a ton! He wasn't sure if the 3 on 3 tournament was continuing on since it was pouring out so he didn't make it to our first game. Jin is so effective because he is a pest for the opposing team. On top of all that, he has a good medium range game with good speed and quickness to penetrate inside. He was invaluable in Aljerau's absence and played great!!!

In this game, Carlo and Jason were making the shots we missed in the first game. We were leading early but then they caught up towards the end of the game. With our team leading 12-11, I made a crucial 2 pointer that gave us a 3 point cushion. Carlo finished it off with a few free throws plus the winning runner at the end of the game.

Game 3 = Loss 17-16 (OT sudden death)
The team we played against here hadn't lost a game yet at this point so we knew this would be a hard game. Honestly, they weren't as great as I thought they would be, considering the scores of their previous games.

It was a game of runs, and I was the "goat" at the end of the game. We already had 15 fouls at this point and was one of the key reasons why we lost. The opponent made their FT to win the sudden death OT.

What made this loss hard to take was that we had 3 chances of finishing the game. Carlo and Jason missed FTs to end the game in regulation. Come overtime, I was the goat. I was open at the corner for a 2 pointer when Carlo found me after his drive, then the ball slipped out of my hands and went out of bounds. They got possession, I got called for the foul on the block and the opponent made the FT to win the game. I felt there was not a foul and it was a legitimate block. i hurt my back in the process of going for the block :p

Game 4 = Loss 16-15
This was a showboat team. They all thought they were playing for an And1 mixtape it seems, but they werent that great. Jin and Carlo made great penetrations in the lane to make life tough on them. I wasn't much of a factor in this game and so, Jason, Carlo and Jin finished the game off.

Highlight of the day though. With us down 14-13, Carlo made a 2 point heave with a hand in his face from LOOOOOONG distance and made it! That gave us the lead at 15-14. Carlo had a chance to win it but his runner rimmed out. This would have been similar to our Game 2 win had he made it. On the next possession, they got fouled, made the FT to tie it. Then they made the winning shot at the end of the game.. :(

Even though we didn't do as well as we wanted to, I felt that this was actually the first time where we played hard and good enough to win every game but came out short this time. Jin, Aljerau, were good additions to our team from last year's competitions, and we are definitely giving Jin an "extension" next year :)

Now pay up boys ;)