Goma Bulls Rematch
So today was another Sunday and another game. We had another match against the Goma Bulls, the same team that we played two weeks ago. This week was a good opportunity for us though because they had their whole team this time. They had reloaded with all their best players. There were 4 new starters this week. I also found out that this team that we are playing is one of the top 10 teams in all of Congo, so we were facing a pretty big challenge today.
Tip off was scheduled for 7:30 AM, but being on African time it didn’t start until closer to 8:15. It didn’t really matter though because I am at the basketball court every Sunday morning at 6:00 anyway officiating a league that we set up with all the kids in our program. We like to get going early here in Goma.
The game was very different than the last one. We spent most of the game down, but we were also doing a lot more things right then the last game. Right from the very beginning we showed that we would play defense and rebound, unlike last game where all of their points were on fast breaks and offensive rebounds. To start the game I told the guys two things. 1st and foremost was that we only send two guys to the offensive glass and three guys get back on D. This was nothing against us, but they are just more athletic than us so we shouldn’t really expect to get many offensive rebounds, and their guards leak out real well so we need guys back if we aren’t going to get the offensive board. So that was my first emphasis, getting back! My second emphasis was that dribble should only be used to better a shot or passing angle. There is no other use for a dribble. We dribble way to much, but that is because the understanding of the kids here is very limited. We must get the ball moving “muzungarookai” (if that’s how you spell it). That means we need to get it going from side to side.
Those were my two emphasis’ and for the most part I think we did a good job of it. Of course there were lapses where we dribbled too much, or lost a guy leaking out, but we did a good job listening and learning as a team. The first quarter was close, but we were down by about four after the first quarter and probably about 5 or 6 at the end of the first half. The 3rd quarter was bad for us as three of our starters got into foul trouble so we played with the lineups a little bit. At the end of the 3rd we were down by ten. The fourth quarter was more of the same as the 3rd but we kept it to a 9 or 10 point deficit. With three minutes to go we took a timeout and really just focused. We had to tell the guys to be patient and take their time, because that is when we would score. With about a minute 30 to go we were down 7 and hit back to back threes to cut the lead to one, then got a big stop on defense and with about 28 seconds left were shooting two free-throws down by 1. Dario, the founder of PJB was on the line. He missed his first and the other team’s coach called a timeout to try and ice the free-throw shooter. It worked, Dario also missed his second, but came up with a spectacular hustle play to run down his own rebound in the left corner. He then kicked it out to Jospan, our 17 year old point guard and he cold-bloodedly knocked down a three from the left wing. This put us up two. Best part is is that it was the first three I have ever seen Jospan hit. Anyway, that really sealed it for us. They drew a foul next time down with about 10 seconds left, but only made one free throw, and then the game kind of went from there. The last 10 seconds took like 5 minutes as any close basketball game does, but we ended up winning by about 5.
It was a great and exciting game. Very emotional game, many of the Goma Bulls players were in tears after the game. PJB turned the page in Goma basketball. The Bulls are used to dominating but PJB is on the rise. No disrespect to them, they are a good team, and many of their players are my friends and great guys, but PJB is going to give it to whoever we go against. PJB! DEFENSE!
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