Hey guys,

Like wat Ryan said, i noe that we have faced numerous problems up till now; like ryan's injury, chander's injury, wei xuan's injury, ding's illness and now coach's chicken pox. From day 1 of Nationals to now, we have been going downhill. The hill ends here. This is the foot of the hill. And the only way to get back onto the track up is by beating Jurong on Monday.

I noe that u guys will be thinking of wat happens if we lose right, but do u guys really think we'll lose? come on guys! we have the super fast lawerence!! The super-jumper Chander. Trey-chopping Ryan. Pick-pocket Wei Xuan. And our darling point guard Ravins. And look at the bence guys. We have the Brandon Yap, who can kill xiao hei with his size! Ding, who will hit all the underbaskets and shots. Justin (Chua, our justin), who will out-dribble randy and own them with cross-overs. Jordaan (with double a), who will chop shots like siao. The superly-huge Zijian. Soft-shot Greg. And me, who will scare them away with hair. Not to mention coach and muscleman (who will take off his shirt that day) Look at us. This is our squad. After training for so long. so many hours, so many days guys. It doesn't end here. We won't allow it.

Guys, i think the only way that we will beat them is to forget about elimination. i dunno if the coaches will think of it this way, but i feel that the only way to beat them it by enjoying the game. Think about the last time u really enjoyed it. Doing your stuff on court. Showing the world wat you can do. This is the joy of basketball. The reason you have joined the squad. Yes, winning is great. But so is your friends, the happiness and the joy of playing.

We can do it guys, seriously. Its time we stop thinking about injuries and all that. stop thinking that we'll screw up. Stop thinking that we'll lose. Coz we won't. Remember todae, when the whole team huddled together and prayed? Prayed for coach, prayed for the match. The unity between us is unbreakable, regardless of wat happens b4 the game. Once we step onto the court, we are one unit, one team. We might not be able to do it by ourselves, but together, no one can stop us. No one. Never.

So let's jus go out and enjoy it. Jus relax. think abt the the feeling u had when we were leading against cat high. after wei xuan hit the three and chander made the layup! When everyone was cheering. Coz we were leading? no. Coz we were playing our hearts out, giving our 100% as we fight for glory; for sch, for ourselves, and for the coaches. Let's jus have tat feeling against jurong. We can do it!

Dream. Team. Fight. Win.

Championships 2007. Its ours

Peter
5:27 AM

13th August.
Redemption time.

RyAn
6:29 AM

RyAn
8:01 AM

Hello juniors,

I don't know what to say so I'm just typing as I'm thinking and vice versa. Well, guys, you'll have come very far. No, its not the National Finals YET, but you'll have come so far, from what I see. The sec 1s, you all are fantastic (since the day I first saw you all), the best batch of sec 1 in the country no doubt. The sec 2s, all of you have improved - the difference between the finals today and last year shows how much you'll have grown, every single on of you, on the court, on the bench.

I saw all of you really fight, great job. We as supporters fought very hard too. Its a joy to see all of you run on the court, and when I think back and reflect, I just am amazed that you'll are in the SZ finals. I mean, we are Raffles, 'only good in studies', 'cannot play ball', utmost underdogs right? Yeah but I'm proud of the way you'll handled Catholic High. You all went in as underdogs, and you almost turned the tide and overcome the odds. It was definitely in your capacity. The fight is already there, every hustle, every sprint, every rebound, you all can do it. One thing I can say is, play more smartly, read the game better as you all progress in the Nationals. Trust me, you all can do it. No stupid turnovers, no cheap fouls, just solid overwhelming play.

Well I shouldn't say too much. Don't dwell in your misery. We cheered our hearts out, not for our juniors to lose and drown in despair. We want you all to know that we are with you all the way, like I said today.

We are going to beat Catholic High the next time. We are going to overcome Jurong. We are going to avenge the loss against Presbyterian High. We are going to the National Finals. Zone finals, so what NOW? REMEMBER: DREAM TEAM FIGHT WIN. REMEMBER: NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. (I'll only write for those who played okay, cause its the first time I've seen you'll play a real game)

WEIXUAN You are good, I don't care if you fouled out, just don't do it again, because you are so good that we need you for 40 mins. Knock them all down !

RYAN: You are really good too, play with exceptional special intelligence beyond others cause your fight and your toughness is already here. Your match focus must increase and intensity must be more focused and chanelled to the right aspects.

BRANDON YAP: You know how well you can play and you play, so do not be mentally limited by the amount of time on the bench. Dominate.

RAVINS: You are awesome, thats why, we need you to be fit and stay on the court. You are going to be the best PG for RI ever. Dare to be that? Singapore #1 for your age.

LAWRENCE: You are exceptional. Height doesn't matter, because you're Lawrence. Keep up the hustling !

JORDAAN: You're an offensive powerhouse. Play smart, and keep up the work ethic. Many years to come, success is imminent, but this is the year to win the championship.

CHANDER: You're really good at rebounding. So make it your forte, and grab every rebound. Challenge your play time and give 100%.

JUSTIN: You're a natural at the playmaking position. Remember what coach said, and transit to the secondary school game, you can split defenses and all, work hard.

JIANHAN: You've improved alot, stay focused, and fight hard. You're an underdog, so continue working hard to become a starter. Give your all for it.

THE REST OF YOU: Must cheer and fight on the bench too ! Small little things like filling water, giving towels and stuff all count. Fight hard in the best of your abilities. Coach didn't choose you to be benched, there's a reason for everything, you are in this team, you're in for the Championship, show it more ! Good job today guys.

Keep the heads up knights, Raffles Dream goes on. You all are like my own team, as though I'm in it. So I'm aiming for the National Championship.. WHO'S WITH ME?

RyAn
7:24 AM

finally after 9 matches, we find ourselves at our first check point, the south zone finals.

only the match that is 3 days away from now counts, all those that we had won before are just records and results. what we are going for now is the gold medal, just between cat high and us, only one of us will walk out of the match with that precious gold to keep in our cabinet of trophies. once, is enough, we will not lose to any team for the second time and that applies to jurong as well but we will slowly make our way there. i believe you all would want the ones to be walking out of the match with a shitty feeling to be cat high. we are, definitely going for the win, no excuses, no matter what we are definitely going for the gold.

are you, going to cross this check point with a 10-0 score or a 9-1 score, the choice is yours. i would definitey go for the 10-0, lets make this one hell of a match for cat high and this season, a beautiful one for us.

the choice is yours, which one will you go for?

RaVinS
3:36 AM

Okay the game against peirce was tough, but these will be the kind of teams we will face in nationals 1st round. So we have to be prepared.

BUT WE'RE IN SZ FINAL '07. FIRST CHECKPOINT, HALFWAY THERE.
Nobody's gonna give us a chance against cat high. We cant expect any favours from them. Nobody thinks we can win, but we have to believe in ourselves. Lost one final already, let's make this second one a victory.
It isn't so easy by just saying we can win, we have to win. It's OUR final. Everyone has to be cheering each other on. The toughest game of our season as of date definitely, nobody likes losing a final, but if we dont talk on court, if we dont rebound with all our might, who knows what may happen.
It's time to give our all. No sitting back. No rushed shots. Helping on the tall posts. Covering the high post. We have to get ready for the game of our lives. Remember when we lost to them by 20 back in june? Remember that sucky feeling after the game? I bet nobody wants that to happen again. Out there everyone thinks it will be a clear victory for cathigh, so let's prove them WRONG. We will have to fight like never before. Our seniors will be watching and cheering us on, we have to reciprocate and fight HARDER on court. No matter what, we have to stay together during the game.

Come on guys, let's make it happen. Everyone doing his part, nobody can stand in our way.

SZ FINAL '07. Will we rewrite history?

RyAn
1:09 AM

Outram got ramout-ed, against queensway we were the kings.

Monday, tomorrow. Last game of second round. The outcome of the game's inconsequential anyway, so no matter what, let's go out there, do our thing, enjoy ourselves. Leave the court with a great great feeling.

Yuying up next baby.

7 games down. 2 games to SZ final. Let's stay focused.

SAMBALLZ!

RyAn
4:46 AM