Sharks crush Hope

Yee Chun Leong

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Monday, November 8, 2010

A THIRD quarter eruption by Sharks helped them get crowned the champions of 38-year-old and below category of the Syarikat MK Jazmar Cup and defeat Hope 93-88 in the final at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat last night.

Aries Castro, who is dubbed the scoring machine of Sharks, had a game-high of 27 points after a slow start with only four first half points. Don Mordeno added 26 points in the winning effort.

Hope played well as a team with five of their players notching double figures. Marcelino Magaan topscord for Hope with 20 points and Benjo Ramos added 16. Danny Felicilda, Marjomar Aying and Mike Nuguid added 14, 13 and 12 points respectively to a losing cause.

Both teams came out ready for battle and they played with caution. Sharks were doing a great job at the defensive end with a box-one strategy putting Daris Alnajer on Aying.

However, Hope played to their strengths by taking it inside the paint with their height advantage to score easily.

Sharks failed to box out which resulted in Hope cleaning the glass in the opening period as they opened up a 20-15 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Hope continued their form and were making the extra pass inside to score. Read More…

Source: The Brunei Times

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Is there any Hope for Sharks' final rivals?

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Sunday, November 7, 2010

IT doesn't get any better than this for basketball fans in Brunei.

The final of the 38-year-old and below category of the Syarikat MK Jazmar Cup between Sharks and Hope will be contested today at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

Sharks had defeated Hope 83-80 in a nail-biting finish which was decided by freethrows in the group stages. However, today's championship match is a different ball game and Sharks hope to pick up their second straight title after winning the 2010 Sultan's Cup in August.

"I'm playing against one of my best friends (Marjomar Aying) and we'll just treat it as another ordinary game with no pressure," said Don Mordeno, in an interview with The Brunei Times, yesterday.

"We have a good chance of winning if we are able to stop their big men (Marcelino Magaan and Allan Caringal) and, of course, we plan to stop Aying as well," he added. Read More…

Source: The Brunei Times

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Patriots lose 100pc record

Yee Chun Leong

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Barracudas hand champs their 1st defeat of season.

THE Brunei Barracudas avoided a triple whammy at the hands of defending champions, the Philippine Patriots, with a 71-56 upset in their Asean Basketball League (ABL) match at the Indoor Stadium of the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex in Berakas last night.

It was Ramsey Williams that stepped up with a game-high of 23 points for the Barracudas and Chris Commons poured in 20.

On the other hand, the Patriots were missing the presence of their second import as their bench failed to step up in the encounter.

It seemed like only Ernesto Billones came out to play as he notched 19 points while the Patriots lone import Donald Little had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds to a losing cause.

It was not the way the Patriots would like to start the match picking up only two points in the first quarter.

Nothing was going for them at the offensive end with the Filipinos trailing 16-2 at the end of the opening period. Read More…

Source: The Brunei Times

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Exclusive interview with coach Ozell Wells. His unbelievable World Record: his career has taken him over 47 countries, from China to Brunei!!

Ozell Wells is the coach of the Brunei Barracudas playing the ASEAN Basketball League (aka ABL). But the story of the Detroit native is unbelievable! He grew up on the North-East side of the city (Ozell also holds a Dominican passport though) and spent a considerable portion of his youth involved in competitive sports. Ozell's high school years were spent at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Michigan. As a direct result of Ozell's academic interests, and proficiency, he was offered academic scholarships to nearly every school in the United States: Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, University of Michigan, UCLA and North Carolina. During Ozell's freshman year, he met and befriended Charles Turner, Head men's basketball coach at University of Michigan-Dearborn. After close discussion with former Michigan and NBA player Mark Hughes, Ozell decided to assist the Grand Rapids Hoops of the CBA, where Hughes was coaching the team. It was with the experience gained there, and after receiving his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in 1999, he embarked on what soon became a professional basketball coach. Ozell Wells career has taken him over 47 countries to date, ranging from China to Yemen, from Estonia to Brunei.

Ozell, your story is amazing. Maybe you have a world record that it's worth to be told. Tell our readers how was it possible you have visited and worked in 47 countries so far as a basketball coach. 

Not sure if they have such a record. I do however know of a few other coaches who would rank higher on the totem pole if there was such a record in existence. Terry Layton, Scott Fields and Rajko Toroman are a few of them. My last stop is with Barracudas in Brunei, where I am one of the coaches and I am really comfortable over here experiencing the competitive ASEAN Basketball League. Read More…

Source: BasketballTelegraph

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'2 Barracuda players didn't get doctor's nod'

From Yee Chun Leong
IN KUALA LUMPUR

Monday, November 1, 2010

IT WAS an outing to forget, for the Brunei Barracudas at least.

The Brunei team were hammered 87-48 by the KL Dragons in their Asean Basketball League (ABL) battle at the Maba Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday in a match that never reached the final buzzer.

Brunei's first professional team were without the services of head coach Bong Ramos and two key players Chris Commons and Chester Tolomia due to conjunctivitis.

The match proceeded as scheduled but was it a fair decision by the ABL considering how important it would be at the end of the season?

"The Barracudas flew into KL on Thursday with six or seven of their players getting red eye on the plane. So we had them sent to the clinic to get the clear from the doctor," said Kuhan Foo, the ABL CEO, in an interview with The Brunei Times, yesterday. Read More…

Source: The Brunei Times

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