BASKETBALL
Catholic High – Taiwan Training Tour
Catholic High vs Neng Ren Jia Shang
Sunday, 18 November in Taipei, Taiwan
Story by Red Sports reader Ian Chew, a teacher of Catholic High.
Khaw Yeong Wooi managed a game-high 25 points in the loss. Here he dribbled past the Nan Shan defenders for an acrobatic lay up. (Photo © Ian Chew)
Another game, another loss.
Catholic High were handed another humbling lesson in basketball basics 101 when they were beaten 85-57 by Neng Ren Jia Shang at a spanking new basketball stadium in Taipei, Taiwan on Sunday.
Superior in almost every category and boasting an average team height of 1.89m, the senior high school team from Taiwan executed lightning quick ball distribution and swift off the ball running to lead 13-2 at the start. The Catholic High senior team were left bewildered by the quick flurry of attacks and had to call a time out to regroup.
Although Khaw Yeong Wooi (#12, CH) and Yap Ching Poh (#13, CH) scored four points each subsequently in the first quarter, the Catholic High could not stem the tide as Neng Ren made it look easy with a 23-13 lead after the first quarter.
The Taiwanese high school team, which earlier made it into the top 4 of the senior high school competition in Taiwan this year, then romped home with accurate shooting and quick fast breaks to build on their early lead. Their aggressive and well coordinated full-court zonal defense also contained the Catholic High offensive build up play to great effect.
Reflected Chester Leow after the game:
"Although the Taiwanese teams are on another plane on almost every skills department, it is their approach to sports that shine out the most. They treat basketball almost in a sacred way while we play it for leisure. I guess that probably just sums up the difference."
The Catholic High B Division team meanwhile managed to improve on their previous disastrous showing by limiting the Neng Ren juniors to a 67-55 win. The narrow loss came at a price, however, as key forward Wong Kam Seng (#13) suffered an ankle sprain while quite a few players came down with cramps late in the game.
Catholic High will next travel to another Taiwan district for a four-team inter-school tournament.
Neng Ren’s #8 flies high to block an attempt by Catholic High’s Wong Kam Seng. The Taiwanese school team won 67-55. (Photo © Ian Chew)
The Neng Ren team, with an average height of 1.89m, receiving some instructions. (Photo © Ian Chew)
[…] gave all of us a hard time defending them and getting through their defenses in matches. Basically, they were really good, yet very humble. Although they were literally trashing us, they still gave their best til the end. […]
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hmm the basketball standard here is very high and we were no match for them. however i am proud i did my best against them
This is my second time to taiwan!The taiwanese are very strong and skillful!I injured my ankle during the friendly match againts NENG REN,so that i could not help my teammates play in the match! I felt sad as I could only sit at the side and cheer for my team!
[…] this is the second time i am here in Taiwan, every time is a new experience for me. During the match against Neng Ren, i finally have an experience of total domination by the other team. The opponent were superior in […]
we played 5 games in total while in taiwan for this 7 days. Unfortunately,i only played 12 mins out of 400 mins of game time because i seriously cramped up.
this is my second to visit taiwan. it is as cold as last year and it is hard for me to adapt to the weather. we had a very hard time this year because we need to play at least 2 matches in a day.because of the continuous tough matches, i was too tired and i cramped and injured myself. the worst is that i actually cut my head and i have to sitch it back. i hope that we can come back here again.
In this sport tour we have to play 4 game.In the 4 games, we won 1 game and lost the others. In Taiwan all the high school teams are very strong and we played with the taiwan champion team which is nanshan high school and we lost by 20++ points.We also play with other top 4 teams and they easily beat us. They let’s me know what is skillful. Lastly i feel very happy because we have chances to play with the taiwan top 4 teams and i learnt a lot of things from them.
This is my second time to Taiwan. Taiwanese are extremely skilled and have a great will and focus when they’re in the game and thus it was a challenge to match up to their vigour. Also it is a great experience and hope to return again when the chance arises.
This is my first time to Taiwan and even though to adapt to the cold weather here, it has been a good experience and I can come back again.
I am happy to be here again. It has been a tough journey for me and my team because we lost to practically every team last year, this year was no exception. I have learnt alot of things and gained alot of experience and felt the bitter taste of defeat. I hope I will be here again. I will always miss TAIWAN!!!
Even though this is the second time i am here in Taiwan, every time is a new experience for me. During the match against Neng Ren, i finally have an experience of total domination by the other team. The opponent were superior in every way, even the centers of the team could outrun and outjump our forwards, however, they were humble and were willing to learn from us. I had learnt a lot from them and look forward to playing against them next year!
I envy the Neng Ren basketball players very much, especially their attitude towards the sport. They are always humble and are willing to learn. Whoever the opponent, they give their best and I have learnt much from them.