Essington Basketball Trip – Day 4 and 5

Day 4 – Tuesday

Firstly – apologies for the delay – internet in our accommodation has been off for the last few days. I am sending this from the girls hotel. You will already have the story, this is to make sure we capture the story…

Today the boys and girls played again and are yet to secure victory… that said – the girls game was a tough fought battle – no other way to describe it – To channel Dorothy from the wizard of oz – “you ain’t in Kansas anymore” or words to that effect. All teams are playing for keeps…

The boys and girls now know what they are up against.

https://picasaweb.google.com/112030085864269577929/Day4Game220141125?authkey=Gv1sRgCOyPtLm3p8HAygE

Being a basketball neophyte I will again let the professionals speak about the game…

After the game we all headed to a local mall for some non-basketball activity which included for some taking in a movie and shopping.

https://picasaweb.google.com/112030085864269577929/Day4AfterTheGamesANightAtTheMovies20141125?authkey=Gv1sRgCIW1osX167bwhwE

Games are later today and tonight in the boys’ case.

All are well with a few minor battle scars (I use that metaphorically) – I do need to make note that the first strapping requirement of the tournament was performed off the court on a parent who fell victim to oncoming traffic on stairs. Giovanna, bounced back wonderfully and led the shopping charge demonstrating negotiating skills that impressed me so much I am thinking of using her as a case study in shopping skills…

There is a “Wet Market” located close to where we are staying. Ralph, Joe and I walked there this morning to see if it would make for a suitable breakfast excursion tomorrow – depending on how the draw unfolds for both teams. Those of you used to wet markets will know, but for those who don’t here are a few pictures from this morning. Classic Malay breakfast dishes are on offer like Roti Telur and Kuay Teow.

We had to venture back to look for whiteboard markers and while strolling through the market were offered to sample a brand of coffee. After chatting for a bit I suggested to the people promoting their coffee that we should say that before I tasted this coffee sample, I couldn’t speak Malay and now I can – to which there was much laughter. We all took a few good natured pictures and chatted some more. At every opportunity I explain that our team is here from Darwin Australia for the first time and we hope to return next year to play. I also make the point of saying that as we are all in Asia, it is great to learn each other’s languages, because that increases knowledge, friendship and removes doubt and misunderstanding.

I was able to ask where the whiteboard markers were and the first gentleman indicated a shop some way away, but another who heard me chimed to say that store x just 30 metres away sold them. Of course we were introduced to the other store holders along the way and I can assure you if the team follows us tomorrow morning there will be keen interest at a local level in our team.

Day 5 – A visit to the local wet market and eatery – 2014-11-26

Mitch, one of the team members is setting a great example using his language skills to order meals and Joe is doing the same in Chinese. This is more than a basketball trip. Arabella,one of our youngest players confidently ordered 4 roti canai in Bahasa Melayu and was easily understood by the staff.

On a more basketball related level, the teams up here memorise “plays” or sequence of moves, much like chess. I have heard the term “playbook” before, but now I have seen it in action and observed that probably our players in Darwin are not yet accustomed to memorising plays, sets, sequences – call them what you will – of moves aimed to attack and score or defend against offence.

It has given me the idea for a game based app presenting the play sequences our teams need to memorise. I haven’t checked, but I am sure there is an app out there that already does that. We might be able to use this to get our players to learn these sequences off by heart using a custom app on the phones and tablets that are in their hands when a basketball isn’t.

I will also try to map some of the videos I have shot into “Coaches Eye” a product from Camtasia that does just that. Of course it will be Coach John, Ralph and Delean who will casting their real “Coaches Eye” over how the tool works and making suggestions on the videos.

Our third games were played tonight and although victory eludes both teams, we are all learning many things about not only the playing but the ceremony surrounding each of the matches.

At the start of the match, all teams line up and face each other and in most cases exchange a small gift. We are just getting into the swing of getting that organised in among making sure our players are ready to go. Then there is the respect paid to the coaches and the referee and scoring personnel before and after the game in the form of either handshakes or bows.

There is the same type of almost ceremonial respect paid at the end of the game above and beyond what we see in Darwin.

One of the wonderful things to occur is that the team from the Philippines has joined our already boisterous cheer squad and tonight when the boys game was on there was a festive atmosphere in the stands as the Philippine boys team who had beaten us in the first match were cheering us along and during the breaks taking joint photos with our girls team.

Day 5 – Boys game 3 – 2014-11-27

I think Erik is definitely a favourite with the Philippines team who were keen to get a photo with him and cheered loudly when he took to the court.

It looks like we will be playing at 8am which means our trip to the market will have to be postponed.