The city state of Singapore populated by 5.2 million people and boasting tight living conditions has a highly diverse Basketball infrastructure in place.
In this ongoing segment called “Where We Play”, the 2015/2016 players of Entourage BBall Inc. introduce their favourite courts and facilities around the Island. Enjoy.
Daniel, Center.
Teban Gardens Rd, Block 44.
Why play here? Daniel explains. “I play here the most because i live nearby. The court has sligthly lower rims with plexi glass backboards and night lighting. I also made new friends here when i moved into the neighbourhood.”
Pros:
Decent competition level
Full court games nearly always available
Convenience stores nearby.
Post-game hunger? Zi Char (Chinese cuisine) stores nearby, open till 11 pm (Ever the local foodie, Dani recommends the XO fish head meat Bee Hoon at Blk 39 🙂
Cons:
Court surface gets dirty at times; sandy surroundings
Occasional lull in activity
More “Where We Play” entries to follow. Stay tuned. 29/10/15
Embedded below is a highlight clip of last season’s best game, a semifinal thriller against 2013 champs, WGSonics. Watch till the end for the Hollywood-style scripted finish.
(Tip: click on ‘HD’ tab for high quality stream)
Thanks to team captain Evan for putting this together.
Entourage Basketball Inc. was invited by Jammers league to participate in a pre-season friendly last weekend. It was a welcome opportunity to get some needed playing time amidst the ongoing haze saga in S’pore. The league still has not set a start date for Season 12, scheduling problems have been steadily increasing in scope the last few seasons, the friendly was a good compromise to get things rolling.
Unable to field a full roster, 7 players were available at such short notice, Entourage faced Team Kelekonas, a japanese expat team known for excellent shooting and feisty man-to-man defense.
Team Kelekonas: never contend yet never an easy opponent
Though pysically imposing compared to their opponents, Entourage Bbball’s players showed heavy signs of rust, missing easy layups and turning the ball over multiple times.
Kelekonas moved the ball well, and made shots at their usual high percentage clip.
One bright spot for the the green & orange was the play of “T-Rex” Terrence who shot 3-4 from beyond the arc and had multiple successful drives to the basket. Other players on the team seemed sluggish and also had to contend with a very slippery floor at the Queensway SC venue.
T-Rex going hard to the hoop
The 12 point loss was a good indicator of the team’s current preseason form: a work in progress.
Team Entourage went through a rough transition before the Jammers International Weekend League (Season 11) began early 2015. Coming off a disappointing playoff quarterfinal loss to the IFS Vikings, a low point in the team’s season; only 6 players were available to play, former coach Sergei decided to leave for greener pastures. He had led the team to 2 playoff finals and 6 consecutive winning seasons, highlighted by an unbeaten record (14-0) in 2012, but the title stayed just out of reach.
Coach Sergei: Jammers League Nov. 2014
The league also had to deal with the start of ProAm – SBL’s sophomore season, an exciting semi-pro league drawing the best local and expat players in. This led to only 7 teams committing to Season 11 of the Jammers International weekend league.
Entourage Basketball was in danger of not fielding a team, but player/coach Dave, pulling double duty as a player in ProAm-SBL and coaching Entourage’s team, managed to keep the team together.
Team founder and Point Guard Evan returned to the roster and veteran forwards Tolga and JJ plus long-time injured center Eric all committed to the team. Shooting Guard Mark also found his way back after recovering from knee surgery. A pleasant surprise was 2012 teammate Ronnie making his comeback. Returning from the previous season were big man Tony, combo guards Terrence and Sam and young forward Alex.
On paper, the team was stacked, intelligent, experienced players at all positions. As always in amateur basketball, players kept recruiting and inviting players to try out for the team. Guards Sinan and Sujith joined shortly before the season kicked off.
Team Entourage lost the first game of the season against White Heat, a new addition to the league, then proceeded to stumble through the early part of the season. Player availability was lacking, the team had not prepared in the pre-season.By April, Entourage had pulled off a 4 game winning streak, beating old rivals Jammers, WG Sonics, Kelekonas and newcomers SlamJam.
Changes were made in the roster, Sam left for the Sonics, Tolga and Sinan were unavailable for long stretches. Additional players joined to supplement the roster; big man Daniel and SG Andrew, who had played for the team in 2014.
Jammers League had trouble with court availability resulting in multiple week-long hiatus for the team, the longest lasting 5 weeks. Coach Dave insisted on weekly practice sessions to keep the team in rhythm; this proved crucial for team chemistry. A win against team White Heat secured a playoff position, the team then lost a nail-biter to WG Sonics to end the regular season with a 7 – 5 record. (Jammers League Regular Season standings June ’15)
4 teams qualified for the playoffs (Jammers, Victoria’s Secret, WG Sonics and Entourage BBall), the format was 1 game, instant elimination. Entourage in 4th position faced the league leading Sonics in the semifinals: it turned into a classic.
Séb challenging Tuan of the Sonics
In a highly contested, fiery game, both teams (regular season head-to-head matchup, 1:1) had multiple lead changes. The Sonics had a few national team players on their side but Entourage Basketball also had a full roster, JJ fresh off his championship run with the Falcons in the ProAM-SBL and Dave back in uniform. Entourage won the game on a halfcourt buzzer beating 3 by Evan: culmination of a fantastic individual game by the team’s captain and main ballhandler.
Another 2 week break resulted in the Finals being postponed then re-scheduled multiple times. Sadly the opposing team, VS, could or would not accept the league’s proposed finals date and lost the Championship by forfeit.
An unsatisfactory ending to the season led to the team’s first trophy after joining the Jammers league 3 years ago. Entourage Basketball overcame a rocky start, came together as a team and as a result, played attractive basketball. It remains to be seen if the squad can catch lightning in a bottle two seasons in a row as they prepare for season 12, beginning September ’15.
Left to right: JJ, Sébastien, Ronnie, Sujith, Eric, Evan (and Teddy :-), Daniel, Dave, Terrence, Mark.
Rest of the team: Alex, Tolga, Sinan, Andrew and Tony
Designed by Junko Ueno, the Logos will be part of the Spring-2015 champs identity, appearing on the brand new uniforms and on all team-related publications.
ENTOURAGE BASKETBALL INC. 