Brunei Veteran Cagers For Asean Challenge

The Brunei veteran basketball team for the Asean Veteran Basketball Tournament

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Brunei veteran basketball team will be flying off to Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia to take part in the 19th Asean Veteran Basketball Tournament from Sept 5-10.

The team who will be playing in the 50-year-old category comprised Goh Kok Ann, Thomas Wong Pak Lay Born, Ong Tze Keu, Tiah Eng Jee, Ang Eng Kee, Tan San Chok, Wong Peng Yen, Kong Ka Ing, Khoo Eng Chong, Lim Kah Hoe, Ken Kho and Robert Cheng On Fah.

Brunei are placed in Group C with Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta while in Group A are Philippines (FCUBA), Indonesia Pontianak and Negeri Sembilan. In Group B are Philippines (PCFBL), Sarawak, Haiyat, Thailand and Kingsar of Miri.

"This year the Brunei team will be trying to gain experience in the competition since our team have just started training," Ang Eng Kee said.

"In the last tournament held in the Philippines, Brunei was defeated by the host," Ang added.

He also revealed that Brunei would host the Asean Veteran Basketball Tournament in 2012. --

Source: Borneo Bulletin

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Barracudas have hill to climb

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

It's the 11th hour and Brunei basketball fans want to know what is going on with the Barracudas. What are their plans for this year's ABL campaign? Hopefully, they will come to light before the weekends.

Firstly, I want to thank those basketball fans in Brunei who think I would be a great fit for the vacant Barracudas coaching position. But, I don't think that is going to happen the time is just not right for me.

Some may ask: "Why wouldn't you want to be a part of the ABL and coach the Barracudas?"

To answer that question, I would ask myself: "Do I really want to hop back into the pro game and put myself through the things that go with it?"

The answer is no.

First of all I'm the national basketball coach of Brunei that is and has always been my priority. That is also why I'm here.

My job is not easy and, as a coach, I work very hard in trying to meet our goals. So I can't afford to lose focus.

My job as a coach is to develop the national team, not a professional basketball club.

FACTORS TAKEN IN MAKING THE DECISION

THE Barracudas and their management are very young and are still learning to properly run a professional basketball club (and by saying this I don't mean to disrespect anybody in the organisation). Read More…

Source: The Brunei Times

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No second season in Brunei for Bong Ramos

Yee Chun Leong

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Fans of the Brunei Barracudas who are waiting to hear who will be the 'chosen one' at the helm this season can cross out Bong Ramos's (pic) name for the Filipino coach will definitely not be making a second appearance to coach the team next season.

Appointed as head coach for Brunei's first professional basketball team last season, Ramos led the side to a 6-9 record in the inaugural season of the Asean Basketball League (ABL) which saw the Bruneians fall short of making the playoffs in the six-team competition.

"My experience with the Barracudas is one of the hardest ever in my career. But because of (team owner) Nadzaty (Azma Azeez) giving her 200 per cent support together with the management, I was able to overcome the odds and limitations in Brunei," said Ramos, in an interview with The Brunei Times, yesterday.

"I think we actually overachieved last season winning six games, beating the (KL) Dragons and (Thailand) Tigers twice as well as taming (ABL champions) the (Philippine) Patriots and Satria Muda BritAma of Indonesia. I'm proud to have been able to coach in Brunei," added the 49-year-old coach.

"When you play in professional league you are ready to play, but in Brunei the local players were not that ready when I arrived. So off season should be the training period," said Ramos.

"But it is very expensive to do that ... unless, of course, there are other people who want to sponsor the off season training," added the ex-Indonesia national coach during the interview.

The Filipino urged fans to be thankful to the management for putting the team together. Read More…

Source: The Brunei Times

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Brunei Veteran Cagers For Asean Challenge

Bandar Seri Begawan - The Brunei veteran basketball team will be flying off to Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia to take part in the 19th Asean Veteran Basketball Tournament from Sept 5-10.

The team who will be playing in the 50-year-old category comprised Goh Kok Ann, Thomas Wong Pak Lay Born, Ong Tze Keu, Tiah Eng Jee, Ang Eng Kee, Tan San Chok, Wong Peng Yen, Kong Ka Ing, Khoo Eng Chong, Lim Kah Hoe, Ken Kho and Robert Cheng On Fah.

Brunei are placed in Group C with Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta while in Group A are Philippines (FCUBA), Indonesia Pontianak and Negeri Sembilan. In Group B are Philippines (PCFBL), Sarawak, Haiyat, Thailand and Kingsar of Miri.

"This year the Brunei team will be trying to gain experience in the competition since our team have just started training," Ang Eng Kee said.

"In the last tournament held in the Philippines, Brunei was defeated by the host," Ang added.

He also revealed that Brunei would host the Asean Veteran Basketball Tournament in 2012.

Source: Borneo Bulletin

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To be prepared is half the victory

Yee Chun Leong

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Sunday, August 29, 2010

GOOD coaches know what makes a good basketball team getting the players to gel as a unit.
Last season, the Barracudas hired Coach Bong Ramos from the Philippines to guide the team and he led them to a 6-9 record but they fell short of reaching the playoffs in the inaugural season.

Ramos joined the team a month before the start of the 2009/10 season but only managed to complete his roster one week before their first game.

It was impossible for him to perform a miracle in this case getting his players to understand each other's style of play in just SEVEN days.

Besides this, the team also played with only a six- to seven- man rotation throughout the season as the local players were not up to the task yet. With all the weight on the shoulders of the imports, they eventually ran out of gas.

And now the new Asean Basketball League season is back. The Barracudas have just more than a month to get their team together before their campaign starts in October.

Will they learn from history or let it repeat itself?

Bruneians are great fans of world sports. So let us look at the NBA and World Cup as references.

When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Hall-of-Fame Wilt Chamberlain, who was the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player at that time, in 1968, everyone thought it was a sure win formula especially since the squad also featured fellow Hall-of-Fames forward Elgin Baylor and guard Jerry West.

Despite the all-star cast, it took them four years to really gel and only in 1972 did that Lakers squad lift their first championship trophy by beating the New York Knicks in five.

And then there was this year's World Cup. Argentina were one of the favourites to lift the trophy with Lionel Messi, the Fifa Footballer of the Year, on the squad.

But with his players coming from various clubs, then Argentina coach Diego Maradona had little time to gel his players and make them play as a unit.

The result: despite having very talented inviduals on his roster El Diego's men were humiliated 4-0 by Germany in the quarterfinals.

These examples show us that just as Rome was not built in a day, a good team also could not be built in a week.

To be realistic, what are the chances for the Brunei representatives to win their first title in the sophomore season in the ABL?

The other teams such as Satria Muda BritAma (Indonesia), Singapore Slingers and KL Dragons (Malaysia) almost have a year round schedule to get their gelling done.

The Southeast Asian powerhouses, the Philippines, are definitely the favourites once again. Basketball is the biggest sport in the country and even if they were to pull out a whole new roster to form the Patriots, they wouldn't have any problems. Read More…

Source: The Brunei Times

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