Pre-Tournament:

Adelaide uni had put together a guy’s and a girl’s basketball team, thanks to Jeremy Cotterill (Unigames organiser/recruitment officer/bad-ass player). Unfortunately with some past players having graduated both teams had not played together however with the players we did have, we were confident we could compete.

Training sessions consisted of 3 Sunday sessions where there was more talk of how awesome unigames is, rather than actual basketball (see write-ups for 2009 and 2010).

To prepare for CUG appropriately and to uphold Adelaide Uni’s reputation 5 of our players went on a ‘bonding’ (pronounced boozing) trip to the Pt Augusta Races the day before the tournament started. A 6am wakeup ensured Alex, Chris, Jeremy, Kate & Henry (and Chloe AUG2010)made it to the tournament on time despite the 3 hour drive!

In a boost for AU morale the Griffin’s own Kelly Penn was selected out of hundreds of applicants to be the competition manager. In his acceptance speech Mr Penn indicated that he would bring the same structure and control to CUG basketball as he does in his classroom.

Game Time…

Women AU vs UniSA

Because only 2 teams entered the women’s side of the tournament AU and USA were to play a best of 3 series for a spot at AUG. UniSA fielded a side boosted with some sharp shooters whereas AU went for a combination of size, skill, good looks, and personality!

Game 1:

The first half was a tough battle but the USA shooters blew the game open. At half time the Griffins were faced with a 24 point deficit. This however did not faze the girls as they started their comeback in the 3^rd. Stifling defence by Lara, Hajnal and Morgan locked down the keyway allowing Grace and Claire & Alex to run.

The Griffins continued to get better as they became more comfortable playing together. The comeback continued with some power drives from Jackie who kept the scoreboard ticking and got USA in foul trouble.

Unfortunately the comeback fell just short with the girls going down by 6.
Game 2:

Playing on the second day of a tournament means you know how to get to the stadium and you know something about the team you are playing…However it does not prepare you for a truck, backhoe and 5 council workers digging a hole in the middle of the Main North and Montague intersection! Needless to say some of the girls had to hurry into the stadium – Jackie was especially hurried because she also had to deal with a cop who insisted that her car stereo was too loud.

In the best of 3 series this game was a must win for the girls. Unfortunately UniSA came out with the same touch that got them up in the first game. The Griffins struggled to score in the first half but their effort and desperation paid off in the way of USA fouls.

The girls had the tough task of making up 16 points in the second half. The Griffins continued to take good shots but the tight UniSA rings gave us no love. Desperation from past unigamer’s Kate, Alex and Lara indicated how much this game meant to the girls…however it was not
meant to be… despite 3 UniSA players fouling out again our comeback was too late as UniSA took out the Women’s competition consequently qualifying for the Gold Coast.

In a post match interview assistant coach Mindy Vink summed up the game, “Bugger…I guess I’m playing women’s footy then.”

Game 3:

Although the comp was a dead rubber game 3 gave the girls a chance to enjoy themselves and get their money’s worth (sort-of) from the tournament (for $55 we should at least get some complementary bandaids).

Memorable moments included:

• Kate Richard’s tomahawk dunk off a Hajnal Nagy full court ally-oop lob.
• Alex Glen’s sudden change in skin colour (actually happened)
• Blind half-court hook shots from Claire Kerr & Jackie Mac(left handed)
• Lara McCarthy and Morgan Tolly intimidating the Flinders Uni Men so much that they wet themselves (actually happened)
• Grace Morcom not being everywhere on the court at the same time (Jumper anyone???)

AU Men

Unfortunately gun recruit Adrian had been admitted to hospital over the weekend with a cyst in his calf. This meant that 2010 unigamer Henry Tieman was recalled to the side. Henry had single-handedly sunk the Griffins U23 team 2 weeks previous.

Game 1 vs Flinders Uni

Flinders Uni was a last minute addition to the men’s comp. Fortunately they did not bring the same team that played SA Challenge in 2010. Game one gave the Griffins a chance to play together. Playing together is very valuable and possibly is what hurt the girls.

Unlike USA the Griffins did not press Flinders for the whole game rather played a respectable 2-3 zone but still won 100+ to<30
Brad Burgan possibly set a AU Unigames scoring record (Will correct this if it is wrong) with ~50 points in the game including 18 points in the last quarter.

Game 2 vs UniSA

UniSA was our main competitor for the tournament. The results of our two games were irrelevant as there was a grand-final to be played between our two teams. However beating the Maverick and his Merry Men in an Intervarsity comp is always a beautiful thing!

UniSA had put together a quality team and the Griffins would have to play very well to beat them. The Griffin’s game plan was to try and tire the USA starters as much as possible while using our full 9 man rotation. The Griffins got an early lead thanks to Toby’s sharp shooting, powerful post work from Tyson and Alford O-Boards. The game was a series of runs by both teams. The game was even at 3 quarter time but UniSA took the last quarter by 7.

Game 3 vs Flinders Uni

This game ended in a similar way to game 1 however this game was Michael’s. Another Griffin’s ~50 point haul indicated why
Michael should not only be playing social ball…hint-hint…

Interesting facts:

1. Michael’s sister played on the USA women’s team and shot with the same accuracy – surely you could have left her at home or something mate!
2. Tyson’s girlfriend is a USA Unigames veteran – we won’t hold that against him though.
3. The AU Men’s team has; 1 PhD, 2 Masters Degrees, and 5 Engineers

Game 4 vs USA

The depth of the AU team showed in this game. The 9 player AU rotation was too much for UniSA when their bench was brought into the game. Good shooting by Mockford was important for the Griffins, Jeremy showed his suspended form is as good as ever (beating up on the USA point guard) and Chris McMichael made a jump shot!!!!!!

AU won by 15 thus finishing top after the minor rounds. This did not matter however because the final was coming up next.

Grand Final vs USA

As expected both teams came out hard and scrappy basketball was played for the first quarter. A late run by UniSA put them up going into the second.

UniSA dropped back into a very tight zone defence however AU could not take advantage of this because nothing was going in. Tight defence kept AU within reach. The Griffins finished the half having run hard at UniSA who had only made one substitution and had picked up fouls on
important players. Despite this the griffins were down 40-25.

The Griffins continued to run at UniSA and picked up the defensive pressure in the hope that they would tire. Whenever AU made a run so would USA shortly after. The 3^rd quarter ended without the Griff’s getting any closer…

In the final term AU left everything out on the court. Henry’s hustle, strong rebounding by undersized players and flat-out defe….

…wait…

was that a bird…

a plane…

no it was BRAD BURGAN with the MOST EPIC REJECTION EVER WITNESSED!!!!!!

The Griffins unfortunately lost the game BUT OMG…THAT BLOCK!!!!!!!!!!

The UniSA point guard (Southern ABA) came back on the court after sitting due to his 3 fouls. A UniSA intercept resulted in what looked like a certain layup to him… Not if Super Brad had anything to do with it.

With UniSA running in numbers to the basket everything went slow motion (except for Brad).

The ball was picked up (Brad took 3 steps in this time) and the layup steps were started.

As the ball was released SuperBrad took off and off and off. With the ball hanging in the air on the right side of the basket Brad wound up his best volleyball spike.

As the score bench went to put down 2 more USA points Brad smiled, winked at the cheerleaders (now sitting 3 meters below him) and then EXPLODED THE BALL WITH HIS HAND.

The ball hit the back wall at the height of the ring and had so much force behind it that Structural Engineer Henry Tieman had to check if it was still safe to play in the stadium.

First hand Witness Accounts:

UniSA Captain: I think Brad just took my virginity… and I was on the bench…

Tom Alford: He actually jumped over me to block that!

Lebron James: I wish I could do that in the last quarter…

Kelly Penn: OUCH

Brad “Block” Burgan: Who’s your Daddy ???

Chris McMichael could not be interviewed because he KO’s himself on the roof after involuntary jumping from the bench.

On a serious note;

We are all very disappointed that there will be not AU team represented in the basketball this year. We will try harder to put together an even better team next year and we would like to see you all out again.

Thankyou everyone who was part of the CUG teams. I ensure you that you will have an awesome time at Unigames no matter what sport you play and it is something you have to do before you leave Uni (what will you remember once uni is over???)

We wish UniSA the best of luck at Gold Coast AUG and congratulate them on qualifying.

Go Griffins

After extensive research the AUBC historians have found that
AUBC rookie Josiah Elms is a direct descendent of King Josiah of Judah; (ironic
seeing that he plays for the Lutheran football club…?)

Wednesday May 24^th was the date of the much
anticipated third matchup between the Woodville Warriors and the AUBC Griffins
Div 3 youth league teams. Woodville was the only team to have beaten the
griffins twice. Although always in the games the Griffins had never put 4
quarters together to get a win.

This time they would be playing for top spot and for
revenge. The Griffs fielded a team of 9 in order to qualify players for finals
and would need them all to keep up with the hectic pace of U23 games.

Pregame:

Although supposedly 9:15 start division 2 youth league was apparently
more important and resulted in the Griffins starting their warm-up at 9:40… The
YL boys strengthened their case for being the most athletic AUBC team with josh
hopps, Stu Renigers and Rich Medhurst all getting up and throwing down (in the warm-ups…)

Continuing the Bible references:

“Book of (few) Numbers” (First Quarter)

In typical youth league fashion the first quarter was played
at break neck speed with little effect on the scoreboard… In a frustrating and
uneventful quarter the griffins ended 2 points up with scores being 5-7.

“Book of King (Josiah)” (Second Quarter)

In their previous 2 encounters the Warriors had troubled the
Griffs with backcourt pressure and a 1-2-2 trap not this time though! The
patient backcourt play by The Megastar and Appleyard and aware movement by
Alfie Alford and Stu Renigers enabled the King of Judah to hurt the Warriors on
the scoreboard.

Layups and good passing made the ‘Worriers’ drop back to a
zone defense. This however did not phase the Griffins. Josiah continued to
attack gaps and stifling defense lead to fast break offence.

After a rainbow layup from the King off a C-Money dime the AUBC
took the second quarter by 6 and were primed to pull away.

“The Book of the Twelve (point lead)” (Third Quarter)

The Griffins extended rotation proved to be useful in
continuing the offensive pace and hustle defense. Jez Cotterill was getting no
love from the refs, called for a charging foul as he bulldozed his opponent who
was standing in the restricted area. Although the Griffins did not dominate the
quarter they did manage to get out to a 12 point lead at one stage before the Warriors
started their fight back. The Griffins went into the last quarter with an 8
point lead.

“The Book of (Alfie the) Ruth(less)” (Fourth Quarter)

In past encounters the Warriors had run over the Griffins in
the last through consecutive 3 point plays…

Although the Griffins started well we could not halt the inevitable.
With 5 minutes to go Woodville came alive with threes and frustrating layups. Before
long the scores were level…and remained level for a number of possessions.

Eventually with 47 seconds to play and scored tied at 33
each Tom Alford was set two staggered picks from C-Money and Brad (the
enforcer) Pitman and took the ball to the rack. Three collapsing Woodville defenders
could not stop the left handed finger roll as Alfie put AUBC up by 2 points. 21
seconds of intense defense ended with Chris McMichael in a Warrior headlock and
the ball locked to his chest. The ball was inbounded and time expired giving
the Griffins victory and top spot on the ladder.

The Forestville GM was overheard complaining
to his Scouts; “damn if we knew that Josiah Elms had such good lineage we would
have traded something for his clearance… I hear the Griffins have access to
lots of Judo mats and thongs…?”

Tom alford; “Well that makes up for that 3 i made in the last derby to go up by one… f***ing Kel and his circus shot”

Arguably the best performance from the Under 23’s team ended in a good win. With
8 wins and 2 losses the Griffs are top of the ladder and have the best defense
in the comp. With some easier teams coming up the boys should stay on top for a
while.

Woodville Warriors 33 def by Adelaide University Griffins 35
Josiah Elms 14, Chris McMichael 10, Tom Alford 2
****The New Griffins players need nicknames! With Tanunda coming
up we need some thoughts for:

Luke Wensley (Can’t just be ‘Wens’ – Watt has that tied up…)?????????

Josh Hopps (‘Hopps’ is very apt)??????????????

Hamish Appleyard (‘david’ not afraid to get in the face of ‘goliaths’)??????????

Josiah Elms (something biblical)????????????

James Watson (Megastars Entourage)???????

A good turnout of 35 new players were involved with 30 AUBC members in games of mixed 4on4, bump-championship and 3-Point shootouts. Food and drinks were on offer with those heading to Soundwave making the most of the $2 beers.

Men’s

Bump Champion – Luke Wensley

3 Point Champion – Kelly Penn

Women’s

Bump Champion – Kirah-Lee Thomas

3 Point Champion – Kate Richards

First Quarter:

With the first quarter about to start Toby and Chris arrived, Toby gave his bags to Chris and immediately took his position ready for the jump…

The extra warm up time and the home court advantage helped United Districts as they got out to a fast 12-2 start against the Adelaide University 2-3 zone. Unfortunately things did not improve much from there. Simple errors and an inability to score resulted in a 28-12 first quarter belting

Second Quarter:

Due to United’s impressive 3 point shooting (10 for the half) the Griffins were forced to switch to man-to-man defense which did disrupt the United offence however they continued to score. The steroid enhanced United players provided problems for our undersized backcourt and short bench.  Due to our inability to defend the perimeter/offensive rebounding and United’s fast break the Griffins again lost the quarter badly. However there was a glimmer of hope. The Griffins scored 7 straight points to finish the half down 57-28

Third Quarter:

Now that the Griffins had had time to warm up and become accustomed to playing basketball at Morphetvale things started to turn around…

The Griffins offence started to get looks that hadn’t been there all night, Tough defense dried up United’s 3’s and cheap points. Some free flowing basketball brought Tuz and Toby into the game.

It wasn’t until Jason Siebert was bulldozed in the post that the Griffins took off. The resulting injured elbow and a typical no call from the ref got Ian Baxter going. Ian became a rebounding force in the second half. This opened up Toby to drop a casual 13 points in the third quarter.

The Griffins were on the comeback winning the quarter by 5. Score: 75-51

Fourth Quarter: Welcome to the Toby, Tuz and Ghost show!!!

The third quarter win triggered something in the Griffins and they came out ready to play in the fourth. Despite having played almost all the game the boys stuck to the man defense and simple offence. However no one could have predicted what would happen during the next 10 fully timed minutes.

Adelaide Uni suddenly remembered how to play D and how to shoot. The first 2 minutes resulted in 10 unanswered points to the Griffins! And so it continued; Silky assists from Tuz, sharp shooting from the Ghost, circus shots from Toby all complimented by strong rebounding from Money and Baxter. Suddenly with 2:30 to go in the game the Griffins were within 6.

The Eastern Mavericks Div 2 side was cheering on the sidelines, United were shaken and the Griffins were looking sharp. Another score from Toby brought the deficit to 4. A late call in the next play from the ref resulted in Ian fouling out. This brought in a sore Jason Siebert. United’s bonus free throws put it out to 6 again.

Unfortunately the Griffins and United went basket for basket after that and the game ended 86-80 despite the Griffins valiant effort.

Postgame:

Tuz’ sharp passing and decision making was the catalyst for Toby’s 34 point second half (19 point last quarter) and the Ghost coming out to play. Those three combined for all 30 last quarter points compared to United’s 11. Jason and Baxter had huge games in the paint and C-Money will be remembered for not fouling out and almost missing two free throws.

An incredible fight back from the Griffins shows that the Div 2 side can match it with the competition however having a full team would have made all the difference!

TL 34, Ghost 18, Tuz 12, Jase 6, Bax 4, Money 1

The week after the Griffins beat Sturt’s second side who we beat (but forfeited to) in last years D3 finals. This time it was us who put them out of finals… ‘aint payback a bitch !!!

The Reserve men finished the summer season 6^th out of 13

7wins

5losses

116%

2 games clear of 7^th place

One week after O-Week we will welcome all our new members with a club 3on3 competiton, 3 point shootout and a ‘Bump-off’.

The 2011 AGM will be held at 1:00pm where new commitee positions will be awarded. It is important for all current members to attend the AGM.

But the festivities do not finish there… in true AUBC style a post-AGM ‘pub-sit’ will occur at one of our sponsors insitiutions.

We hope to see you out supporting your club on Saturday March 5

Where?

Thebarton Training gym

Building 5 Winwood st Thebarton

***Soundwave Festival is happening that day in Bonython park so be prepared for a few delays.

The team was entered into the division 2 competition; because the griffins do not have a state league team we could not enter division 1. The boys were playing in the North Pool, Group C. Thus we were expecting some very easy competition….

Game 1 vs. North Adelaide Rockets 5

The griffins turned up with a group who had all played a season of men’s basketball were ready to smash some kids… unfortunately our first game did not go the way we had hoped. North Adelaide was small, fast and supported by many parents who clearly had to drive their kids to basketball because they didn’t have their license yet….

The griffins were surprised by the difference in boys and men’s basketball. Having previously played in comps where we were the speedy ones being annoying. Suddenly it was the reverse and the Griffin’s were being out hustled. It did not help that in the first 2 possessions Chris received 2 offensive fouls by backing down his opponent. The ease with which the griffins could push around our opponents surprised us and the umpires were hot on it…

Both teams got on runs and the Griffins were consistently within 5 points despite playing terrible basketball. Stu Renigers showed how important he would be for the team pulling down big boards and running hard.

There were moments where the griffins showed how tight their defense could be and how well they could run. Star recruit Jeremy Cotterill finished well on the break. However for every good defense stop the Griffin’s would turn the ball over and have to do it all again.

The game ended poorly with the griffins having players foul out and North Adelaide running and being bailed out with free throws every offence.

In a disappointing game the griffins went down 55-44

It could only get better from there (or so we thought)

Jeremy Cotteril 14 pts

Game 2 v Norwood Flames 3

Jeremy, Brad and Chris were at the game ready to avenge our first week loss…. Unfortunately they were the only ones ready come game time. The rest of the team turning up 2 hours later did not help the result and the Griffin’s forfeited their second game. Griffins 0 – Norwood 20

Surely it only gets better from here….

Game 3 vs. West Adelaide 3

The youth league boys ready for a win came out and were all over West from the beginning. 25 points in the first quarter to West’s 5 set the tone for the match. Layups and easy offensive buckets resulted in a game which was over before it began. Griffins win easily in a non fully timed game

26-80

Chris McMichael 22, Jeremy Cotterill 20, Brad Pitman 11, Stuart Renigers 10

Game 4 vs. Central Districts Lions 3

In much the same way as in game 3 the griffins were just far too good for Centrals making layups and short jump shots to blow out the game winning by 60. Stu was within one point of outscoring the whole Lions team…

28-88

Stu 27, Chris 19, Richard Medhurst 19, Brad Pitt 12

Game 5 vs. UniSA 2

By now the griffins were getting bored, another opponent where the griffins could have finished playing in the first quarter. To add to the embarrassment almost our whole team was in double figures. (Adam Robinson’s points looked the best though!). Rich’s almost double handed jam walking through the key was almost awesome too.

Unfortunately due to our first two losses the Griffins would stay in Group C despite being the best team in the comp by quite a margin.

31-92

Rich 20, J-Cott 16, Stu 15, Tom Alford 12, Chris 11, Brad 11, Robbo 7

The youth league is a competition where the Griffins can compete with the best teams and will continue to improve. After playing more games together the Griffins will be a tough opponent

Just some stats for the Fantasy Manager:

Griffins had 4 of the top 8 scorers in the phase

3 Wins

1 Loss

1 Forfeit

 Percentage of 190%

Finished the phase 3^rd.

Await phase 3 when we will be in group B

Go Griffins

THE TEAMS

(Origins of nicknames stay in Perth)

PRE-TOURNAMENT

To aid the financial situation of the Unigames Basketballers fundraising events were organised. A hugely successful and generous night was held at Nando’s (Kurralta park, off ANZAC highway) and a number of barbeques contributed to the trip.

After the Adelaide Unigames team dinner the basketballers started their team bonding at the Elephant. Stories were told, excitement was enhanced and beers were consumed all in the name of Unigames Basketball 2010.

SUNDAY              SEP 26^TH

Sunday was the official start of Unigames with the opening ceremony that evening. Toby arrived and was greeted appropriately by a few hangovers! To fill the time Chris and Jeremy made devious plans while others visited the Perth Mint, the movies, Target and Cottesloe beach

Sunday’s dinner coincided with a highly organized game of Kings Cup. Chris’ first call home was not to say hi to the folks rather to get drinking game rules… Aiming to catch the opening ceremony at 7:30 the Griffins made it in fashionably late at 9:00 but everyone was gone… that was ok because Zac the black power-ranger was there and the Griff’s made their own fun!

• Destroyed the Nova Blowup man
• Climbed over Perth’s statues
• Scared little kids
• Made unwanted sexual approaches
• Changed tires
• Got kicked out of the club (mainly the black power-rangers fault…)

A midnight snack at Nando’s prepared us for the walk back. The Griff’s were greeted home by the UWA rugby boys pissing off their balcony… they weren’t staying with us Monday…

MONDAY            SEP 27^TH

GAME TIME BABY… YEA!

The girl’s 8:30 game was a struggle for everyone but after busing and bush-bashing to the stadium. We were stunned by the amazing facility. The WA Basketball center had been finished this year and was the best facility anyone had played in. 10 clean and well lit courts with working score clocks!!! Listen up BSA!

Girls Game 1 vs University of Notre Dame (Fremantle Uni)

The girls were doing really well working as a team matching UNDA basket for basket… until they decided to trap. The fast pace game of UNDA did not suit the AU girls. Even Coach power-ranger couldn’t do anything. Our lack of point guards and team experience showed as we were run out of the game 28-45.

Boys Game 1 vs Edith Cowen University (Perth Universtiy)

Unfortunately desire, team cohesion and effort don’t always get you wins… this was one of those times. ECU fielded a team of ABA basketballers WHO COULD SHOOT!!! The Griffins tried everything; trapping, zone, man-to-man, pants down, up-side-down, inside out etc. Despite this ECU showed why they should have been playing div 1 winning 33-75. The Griffins did look good at times and only lost the 3^rd quarter by 1 point.

Girls Game 2 vs University of Balarat

The AU Girls, angry at their first loss, came out and kicked ass. They were up by 15 until UBAL realized our weakness. They too began running and trapping at every possibility. It didn’t help that Chloe Lim went down with a knee injury which would put her out of the tournament.

(It is still under debate whether she faked the injury so that Stu Renigers could carry her off the court in his arms).

Despite great running by Alex Glen and good inside work by Lara McCarthy, AU went down again 25-48.

Boys Game 2 vs Australian University of Physical Education

The boys had more good moments in their second game; Mark Proctor sending bodies flying inside, Ryan Bassman running the lanes and Chris McMichael sinking his favorite foul line jump shot. However we couldn’t link it all up. It didn’t help that the game was paused to clean up Chris’ blood he spread over the court after cutting his chin taking a charge.

The Griff’s were right in the game down by 6 with 5 min to play…then suddenly they were down by 14…After the timeout we cut the lead back to 5 in one minute. But it wasn’t enough some unlucky calls and shots gave AUPC the win 47-43

It was a disappointing day but a few drinking games and Beauty and the Geek night saw that change. Maybe the mood changed a little too much because two separate cases of team incest were recorded….!

TUESDAY             SEP 28^TH

Girls Game 3 vs University of Wollongong

In a game we were not expecting to win – mainly because Chris was coaching in a full power-ranger suit mask and all – the girls played really hard. Wollongong didn’t give us anything as they played tight man-to-man defense. No matter how hung-over UoW told us they were, AU made them work for their baskets. Despite our 2^nd best score of the tournament UoW were too tall and skilled making the final result 65-37

Boys Game 3 vs Bond University

In an interesting twist to the tournament the AU boys could finish second in their pool by winning this (their last) pool game. ACPE and Bond had split games both by 4 points. Therefore if the Griffins won by 5 or more they would finish second.

The boys lay everything on the court. Unfortunately we just couldn’t shake Bond off. The score got out to as many as 9 but they clawed their way back after a few 3s. Toby Lightheart was ice cold from the free throw line keeping us that 4 point buffer. Mark Proctor was forced to sit due to a bleeding nose and Chris McMichael was sent to the stripe with 1 minute to play. Chris did what he does best… miss his first free throw… but luckily the second rattled in.

Griffins up by 5 with 1 minute to play, the last minute of defense was so intense there is no memory of it… but it doesn’t matter because we won by 5! The Griffins get second spot in the pool by 1 point!

Shopping had to be done for our curry dinner, shopping also included 144 beers and 50 packets of Mi Goreng!

Due to the alleged actions of Monday night AUG basketball held its first ‘court’ session in 2 years. Henry Tieman as the defendants’ lawyer (and the best dressed) failed at representing his clients. Not for lack of effort but mainly because the judges, jury and prosecutors were all the same people

Punishments were given, everyone dressed in their retro sport attire and AU basketball hit the town. Memorable moments included Mark Proctor’s cement mixer shot as punishment as worst dressed and Toby showing that he can ‘kill-it’ off the court too!

WEDNESDAY     SEP 29^TH

Girls Game 4 vs La Trobe University

 Chloe didn’t make it to the game because she was in hospital getting her knee checked. The results are that she has to get a knee reconstruction putting her out for 9 months. She still partied like a superstar though!

The AU girls with 5 players, an idiot coach, music and a porno doll mascot came up against a coach who thought she was a bit better than she actually was. La Trobe did not like being matched basket for basket so they played full court defense after quarter time. Even when the game was over they continued to be shits so we decided to have a bit of fun. The boys got their heckle on, Ruby Flynn got some minutes on Lara’s shoulders, Emma Westhorp knocked down 3’s and Alex (after showing off her new tattoos) blocked the shit out of some layups! Our 3^rd loss (29-75) put the girls at the bottom of a very strong pool in which the two top teams made it to the semifinals.

Boys Game 4 vs University of South Australia

The boys had to wait until 3:30 for a chance to beat USA for a spot in the top 8. To say the boys were pumped for this game was an understatement! Tom Alford tore through the USA defense drawing fouls and dropping points. The Griffins first complete game saw a big win 62-27 and a spot in the top 8. The game was summed up well by Mark as he spoke for the team in the all South Australian 2 team huddle!

Emergency services night was also initiation night. The AUG virgins (including injured Chloe and Ryan) passed with flying colors. The organization however wasn’t great with the virgins running away at one stage…

Those who went out took over the Dean! Except sober Alex Glen, who wasn’t allowed in on her first try (this turned out to become a recurring theme). That night 3 of us saw people sleeping on their balcony after being locked outside, however Ryan Bassman (even with a hurt ankle) stole the show with his crutches dance.

THURSDAY         SEP 30^TH

Boys Game 5 Quarter Final vs University of Western Sydney

Despite the 9:00 start the boys were pumped and showed it on the court. UWS rocked up just before start time and were not ready for the fire the Griffins would bring! UWS made their runs but we always had an answer. Henry Tieman cleaning up the scraps, Jeremy banging in big 3s and team defense shutting down their top players! A win of 44-26 gave the Griffins a spot in the top 4!

Not bad considering that all other teams in the top 8 had state league players (our best play div3!) and we were 1 point off playing off for 14^th!

Girls Game 5 vs Australian Catholic University

The girls were in need of a win and ACU gave them just that. This game was played in great spirit and the AU girls showed how good they could have been with more players and some luck. Lara spent some time at the point after jumping off against 2 girls on each other’s shoulders and Kate Richards showed off her post moves! 40-24 gave the Girly-Griffins their first win.

Girls Game 6 vs Edith Cowen University

The girls were buzzing after their first win but their legs were about to fall off after playing almost 5 games without a break…

The game against ECU gave the girls a unique chance to play a WNBL player. The girls did themselves proud with some excellent (and loud) team defense and efficient offence forcing ECU to play man against us. Despite our winning start and good play we were sooooooo tired. Jess Westthorp’s shooting seemed to improve as she got more tired??? ECU’s shooting eventually put us out of the game.  33-49 was a commendable way to finish the tournament.

Congratulations girls for trying so hard over the week! You did yourselves proud and our 10^th place finish could have been very different if some things went our way.

Boys Game 6 Semi Final vs Victoria University

Playing for a spot in the gold medal match the boys tried as hard as they could and were right in the game up until half time. In what was a very physical match the Griffins were eventually overrun by a quality VU team. The final score does not show the intensity of the match. If we had had someone shooting well, some consistent referee calls or not spent the last 4 days playing and partying it could have been much closer. The Griffins go into the bronze medal match after losing 38-61.

The second semifinal was between two WA universities; ECU and Curtin University. They were as good as any of the division 1 sides and they played some of the best basketball any of us had seen. The game should have been the gold medal match but it finished with Curtin winning by 3. This put the boys against ECU again who had previously beaten us by 42…

Top 4 for boys and a win to the girls = PARTY TIME!

In celebration the team ate out and had one of the tournament referees as our waiter! Gender bender night was a little too exciting for the team… nobody seemed to care about standing in drag outside the hotel waiting for the CFS (Somebody had broken the hotel water supply pipe after doing chin-ups on it…)

Chris’ sugar-tits brought the boys to the yard, Tom Alford flirted with the bouncer, Henry Tieman found uses for his handbag (proving that Charlotte does have him on a ball and chain) and the girls were loving life in jeans and t-shirts!

FRIDAY                                 OCT 1^ST

A top 4 finish gave everyone a sleep-in, followed with a waffle breakfast and Gatorade – perfect preparation for a final!

Boys Game 7 Bronze Medal Match vs ECU

The crew was clearly struggling when they arrived however everyone was pumped to show ECU that we were now a much better team. The Griff’s aim was to hold them to 100 with us scoring more than 60 in the fully timed final …We would do much better than that!

In true Unigames spirit AU started with our favorite drinking sing-a-long and a wounded team;

• Chris still had his eye shadow on from last night and a husky tramp voice
•  Toby had a cut eye
• Tom’s back was ruined
• Ryan played with rolled ankle
• Henry still had ball and chain around neck
• Mark was just fucked
• Jeremy is invincible
• Stuart was fine but wouldn’t be soon…

The boys came out and gave it everything going head to head with their state league opposition. The Griff’s were up after 6 minutes and were still fighting hard. This frustrated ECU to no end. Toby was unstoppable! At times he was triple teamed by ECU’s tired defense but nothing could stop him…except a rolled ankle…this put him out after only 2 quarters. Mark was having his best game of the tournament (see stats) cleaning glass and handing out old fashioned punishment at both ends. This unfortunately did not last long either as he too had to sit after fouling out in the 3^rd quarter. The face on marks defender was priceless! (mix between believing that god exists, exhaustion and accepting defeat). Stu Renigers, after knocking down his 3^rd mid-range jumper, then copped an elbow to the throat putting him out as well. 5 Griffins left and game on!

It was now up to our guards to defend ECUs scoring run. When they got hot there wasn’t much to do except watch as 3s rained down. This inevitable burst put ECU up by 25. We knew it would happen at some stage so we kept running and attacking! It worked as we ran ECU off their feet bringing the score back to a respectable 12 points.  74-86 was the closest losing score against ECU in the tournament.

Bronze Medal Match Stats vs ECU

Despite a slow start the boys really came together as a team and played some quality team basketball. The cohesiveness of the group showed and

helped us get through the tournament. We finished the tournament still as friends after staying, playing and partyi

ng together for a week and we were 12 points off a medal!

Everyone made it out that night (including slightly deflated mas

cot – Ruby Flynn) but not everyone made it where we were going … Yea, our last night together as a team was a little wild……………

UNIGAMES POST-MORTEM

Unigames 2010 was a week that none of the participants will forget! The group of basketballers could not have been more cohesive. This was truly obvious with everyone looking out for each other when out and Adelaide University representing well at the basketball stadium.  All team members (where possible) made it to every AU Basketball game! It is this team behavior which makes the Unigames experience that much better!

Special thanks must go to:

• Nando’s Kurralta Park for providing a very generous fundraising event
• The Sports Association (esp. Caitlin & Helen) for making the Adelaide Unigames team happen
• Jeremy Cotterill as AU Unigames Basketball organizer (and for general awesomeness)
• The AU Unigames Basketball Teams (for being awesome!)

THE TEAMS

 (Origins of nicknames stay on the Gold Coast)

Pre – Tournament

Thanks to super organization from Mel Perry and some effective fundraising run by Jeremy Coterill. The Griffins headed over to the Gold Coast fully prepared and with personalized headbands. A pre-tournament session at the Elephant after the AUG dinner ensured the teams knew each other and signified the first round of beers drunk as a team (little did we know how many more were to come).

Flights

The teams flew over together on Saturday evening. Although uneventful Mel’s fear of flying did provide comic relief and scratches on Mark Scopacasa’s hand.

Gold Coast

Adelaide Unigamers were staying 15 minute walk from Gold Coast centre. The Griffins made use of the short trek to go and scout the Gold Coast at night. Despite countless mullets, rats-tails and fuck-me-boots the teams knew that this week would become unforgettable…

Sunday

Sunday was a pre-tournament rest day allowing players to make use of the hotels pool, spa and sauna and review the 2009 AFL Grand Final. Chris McMichael however thought it would be smart to go and get tested by the AIS. Shortly after running the beep-test he realized that he then had to play basketball for the next week…shit

Sea World held the Unigames opening ceremony. This was Mel’s big moment as she was selected as female AUG team captain. Mel nailed the waiving and sign holding however most of the team missed it either because they were waiting in line for beer, on the free rides or were trying to chat up Shane Heal. The night also enabled us to fit 8 people in a telephone box and meet the world’s only basketball team shorter than we were.

Monday

Gold Coast AUG Basketball was played in two stadiums unfortunately the boys and girls had their first games at the same time but in different stadiums. Both teams won but the boy’s victory was particularly exciting. The boys came up against James Cook University (JCU). Although young and undersized the Griffins out hustled JCU and were up by 2 with a minute to go. At this time the games suddenly fell apart. Griffins missed layups, the bench did not start the clock and both teams had players foul out… Players fouling out were less of a problem for JCU because they had 12 players, a coach and a physio… compare that to the griffins who had 7 and warmed up with a purple ball…

Despite all the tension the griffins held on to win by 2 points 44-42. JCU became our mates as the tournament progressed and we saw them reach the Div 2 Grand Final only to lose to a very good Uni of WA team.

Monday game 2 again saw wins to both teams with the girls playing great team basketball and the boys beat Curtan Uni 48-35.

Monday highlights included; Chris’ face passing the ball to Scopa for a layup in game 1, Donuts to Stu and Dave, Rich making the first 8 points of game 2 and Dave busting an opponent’s lip.

Monday night the Griffins celebrated a 4 wins out of 4… Pirate theme… yea we had a party!!!

Tuesday

Tuesday also proved successful as both teams remained undefeated. The girls team despite feeling slightly dehydrated were excited by the presence of “Basketball Barbie” and got another win. The boys seemingly not unaffected by hangovers smashed New England Uni 41-28

Tuesday’s basketball finished early and allowed the teams the chance to go shopping… It is after this shopping experience that Ruby Flynn became the Griffins mascot.

Tuesday night theme: The Wiggles

Wednesday

Despite the presence of Ruby Flynn on the girl’s bench (which gave them a surprise) they could not extend their winning streak. The boys however played even harder with another girl watching them (even if she was plastic and easy). The boys played the pools bottom team a Phys Ed school that couldn’t play sport … go figure. The boys did make it hard for themselves as Chris McMichael played with a monkey mask on (racking up 2 rebounds and 2 turnovers in 2 minutes). After getting down by 10 the boys decided to play and won 60-58.

The biggest moment of the Wednesday night was that it was to be the Girls initiations…. Without giving too much away, initiations were timed and began in the girl’s penthouse apartment and finished in the boys room next to the pool…. Anna P flew through the challenges and claimed the title as the champion virgin!

Theme night: Hat & tie

Thursday

Rest day before finals – Everyone appreciated the rest !!!!!

Full of revenge from last night the girls had organized the boy’s initiation. The initiation finished in the girls room and resulted in a naked lap of the pool for the loser…

Theme Night:  Gangster

Friday

The start of the finals saw both teams lose their first round matches. It was the first time that the teams were exploited inside (pun intended).

With the Griffin boys out of the medal race that night’s festivities became high priority… unfortunately if we won our second final the game was at 8:30 the next day… if we lost it would be 10:30. Vic Uni was one of the best teams in the comp only just losing to the eventual winner. As can be imagined the game became a farce with both teams trying to score in the others hole…

Despite a last second attempt the Griffins unfortunately won by 2 points…

Dinner at Hooters that night made us forget the day’s disappointment.

Theme Night: Dress to impress

Saturday

8:30 was a struggle for the boys and the girls didn’t make it… We came up against Bond Uni. These boys were mid way through their term at uni so they were not as inhibited as the Griffins were… The Griffins lost the 3^rd final finishing the tournament in a respectable 6^th place.

The girls won their 4^th final finishing 7^th. Both Adelaide Uni teams were in division 2.

6^th and 7^th were far higher than either team could have imagined. The Griffins represented off the court as well!!!

Adelaide University AUG Basketball is in safe hands for years to come!

Not since 1993 had the anticipation been so great for a basketball tournament involving students of South Australia’s premier basketball university. Fresh off the excitement of InterFaculty Activities and Recreation week at university the AUBC Griffins in association with the Sports Association brought back the IFAR Basketball Tournament.

**Bold names are those representing Adelaide Unversity Basketball at University games in Perth from 25 September.

** Results can be seen at bottom of article

Sunday 12 September saw 60 Adelaide uni students display their basketballs skills on the Prince Alfred College hardwood. Although it was a struggle for most, games started at 10:00 am. It was particularly stressful for Ryan Bassman who was out late preparing himself for Unigames! The opening games indicated that most had not played morning basketball since school days!

There were of course some pre-tournament complications as the score clock was locked in the PAC basketball cage (the only lock caretaker-extraordinaire Shane did not have!). As a result the initial game was scored on the stadium whiteboard while the bench counted time on their phones.

Due to changes in planned team numbers last minute team swaps had to be done and the draw edited. This left only 3 girls teams:

• Health science
• Humanities/Science
• EMCS (Engineering could find a full girls team but Humanities couldn’t… go figure???)

5 Boys teams still remained:

• Sciences
• EMCS (had members in most other teams too)
• Mechanical Engineering
• Professions
• Dentistry (Was Health Sciences but no one wants to be associated with med students)

The score clock arrived, the 20 minute games continued to be played, Jeremy (fuck umpires) Cotterill tried failed to do homework on the score bench and Mark (I eat pieces of shit like you for breakfast) Proctor arrived.

The tournament continued to move along with 10 boys and 5 girls games planned for the day. Tom (Tom the Swedish Chef) Alford provided sustenance to all tournament participants. The Official burger of the tournament (The NBA Chikko Burger) proved a big seller. Tom was overheard before the tournament saying; “…nobody realizes the NBA burger is just a Veggie patty. Players think that they will dunking like Dwight if they eat it. But let’s be realistic, Dwight Howard only eats steak and lost children found at Orlando’s Disney World…”

As the tournament progressed it showed that the university might want to incorporate compulsory fitness classes into student timetables.  The games were still being played at a frenetic pace however the referees were struggling to keep up… Chris (that Hansel Chris is so hot right now!) McMichael showed exactly why he doesn’t referee normally, by insisting to make (or not make) calls from ¾ court.

The true excitement began when the girls entered their finals series. Health sciences had made it through the grand final by winning both their round games. Humanities/Science and EMCS played off for a spot in the GF. This game was more serious than their previous 4-on-4 encounter.  Hum/Sci moved  on.

Kate Richards made her intentions known; “yea we are pleased with the win but I really just want to Tech-Foul Jeremy Cotterill in his next game!”

Sisters Emma and Jess Westthorp made the valid comment after their loss that they actually achieved more by bringing 5 engineering girls to the tournament than any winning team could ever achieve…

The Women’s Grand Final saw another confident game from the health science girls. Health Science’s fresh legs (minus Chloe Lim’s knee) outran the Humanities/Science combined team. Health Science winning the game …… and the title as 2010 interfaculty women’s champions!

The boy’s round-robin competition came down to the wire. 3 games were draws each requiring buzzer-beaters and a 4th game was drawn 0.3 seconds after the siren but was disallowed. Alexandra Glen was hardly surprised; “look, some people (like me) are just clutch… you get the ball, shoot, it goes in and you win… simple!”

The Men’s title came down to the last round-robin game of the tournament. Mechanical Engineering would be champs if they won their match against Science. If Science won or drew Dentistry would take the title. Even Henry Tieman could feel the excitement and he had left the stadium 3 hours before!

The game was tied 31-31 with 40 seconds remaining. Sciences sent Mech Eng to the line. Score check: 1 point, 25 second lead to Mech Eng… Dentistry were nervous… Sciences bolted down the court and their mid range shot rimmed out…. Offensive rebound Sciences (15 seconds remaining)… Sciences desperately searched fruitlessly for a gap … With time expiring the tournament result hung on Kristian (not going to unigames…) Maynes’ 3 point shot… siren sounds… Splash!!! Sciences win by 2 …!

The last shot (and the 5^th game with a margin of less than 4) of the tournament resulted in Dentistry becoming 2010 Interfaculty Basketball Men’s Champions!

Dentistry team captain Stuart Renigers was pumped with the win! ” I just have to thank Kristian for his game winner and the professions team for scoring after the buzzer in the game before. They both made this victory possible!”

Congratulations to Health Science and Dentistry for their victories! We hope that interfaculty basketball can become an annual part of the university calendar so please promote the competition where you can! Thank you for playing and we hope to see you at the Jim Beam End-of-Term Party this Friday (17^th September)

Special Mention must be given to:

•  Tournament referees (it’s a pain in the ass but someone has to do it!)
• Scorers (great button pressing!) 
• Those who ran the BBQ (and those of you who spent money there)
• The Sports Association for supporting the tournament (they coined the IFAR name)
• Jim Beam on Campus (made generous donation to the basketball Club)

And again thank you participants!

Tournament Results: