Round 2 results: United keeps the good run going

Round 2 is in the books! Men U14 win in overtime, Men U16 pick up a nice road win, and Men 1 and Women 1 both stay unbeaten. Here are all of the weekend’s results.

Men U14 win in overtime against MBCA A’veen 2

Men U14 grind out an overtime win against MBCA A’veen 2: 72-64.

Head coach Matthew van Tongeren looks back on the game:

On Saturday our U14 faced MBCA 2 from Amstelveen with a small squad of just nine players. Despite the limited numbers, it turned into a tense game that could have gone either way through all four quarters.

We saw some nice teamwork in this game. With several give-and-goes we found each other well, and the ball was also moved around well on a regular basis. That shows the boys are increasingly understanding that we’re stronger as a team when we play together.

An important point to work on this week is moving without the ball. By staying active after a pass and creating space for each other, we can create even more chances — for ourselves and for our teammates.

The fourth quarter got extra tense. Three players were sidelined with five personal fouls, and on top of that a player couldn’t continue after a hard fall. That meant we had to play the last four minutes with just five players on the floor.

That’s exactly when the boys showed what kind of team they are. They kept fighting, helped each other, and held their ground together. With a lot of effort and perseverance, they eventually dragged the win over the line.

Great to see how the team played this game out together. Not giving up, keep working for each other, keep helping each other — that’s what we stand for as a team.

“Play for each other!”

Men U16 pick up a nice road win at Rotterdam Basketbal

Men U16 pick up a nice away win at Rotterdam Basketbal: 98-106.

Head coach Matthew van Tongeren looks back on the game:

The boys didn’t need much motivation for this one. In preseason we’d already played Rotterdam Basketbal and lost that game. That made the team determined to get a different result today.

We started with a lot of energy from the first whistle. That immediately paid off with nice points in transition. We were also strong defensively, and Rotterdam struggled to get to good shots against our defense.

In the third quarter we probably showed our best basketball. We let the ball do the work, played together, and kept finding each other. By moving the ball quickly we created good chances and stayed in control of the game.

In the fourth quarter we made things difficult for ourselves for a bit. Rotterdam put on a strong full-court press, and unfortunately we too often tried to dribble our way out of it. That brought some unrest into our game. But that’s exactly when the team showed it has resilience. The boys kept working together, regrouped, and pulled the game back their way.

What’s great to see is that every player on this team can score. And that should be our strength. Not every game needs the same player to stand out — any game, it can be someone else. If we keep playing together and helping each other, we’re at our best as a team.

“Play together, help each other, and pass it forward!”

Men U19-2: game against BV Groningen postponed

Men U19-2’s game against BV Groningen has been postponed to April. We’ll share a new date as soon as it’s known.

Men U19-1 have to give best at home to Landslake Lions

Men U19-1 had to give best at home to Landslake Lions: 60-90.

This article will be updated with input from the coaching staff.

Women U21 lose their first game away at High Five

Women U21 lost the first game of their season away at High Five: 74-47.

Head coach Twan Berkers looks back:

The first game is done. Straight away a strong opponent to kick things off with. Now it’s about setting the road upward and continuing to build together.

Men 1 stay unbeaten with a fine win over Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden 2

Team manager Wieger Kamies looks back on the game:

Anyone who was in the Kooi on time on Saturday and saw Diego Rueda walk in knew it: this player is on a mission. Focused, and locked in early.

It turned out to be the sign of his best game so far, and Olaf Janssen rode right along with him. Olaf dominated inside on offense and was found blindly by guard Diego time and again. No defense could handle it, and Olaf finished with a tidy 19 points. Diego disrupted with his passing but also found the basket himself: he finished with 21, and his focus never wavered until the final whistle. In this game he was undisputedly GET’s leader.

He then handed the reins to Marijn Morsch, who led GET to victory just last week. Plenty of options for coach Kaas, then, who kept hammering home that his team needed to dominate the rebound. Opponent Zorg en Zekerheid showed there’s still room for improvement there.

The third quarter made clear there was only one team with a claim on the win: GET. A near-perfect quarter, in which Zorg en Zekerheid was put on a lead of more than 20 points, shows there’s still plenty of room for this team to grow. Keime Helrich showed his talent with 13 points and a lot of energy on defense.

Eventually every player got minutes off the bench, and Raienne Dorbeck deserves a mention. In a short spell, cold off the bench, he hit two three-pointers in a row — alongside his specialty: a lot of energy on and off the court.

Next week the men travel to Groningen. De Groene Uilen and Attacus are, along with GET, the three teams that still have a perfect record. Reason enough to keep following the men next week.

Women 1 stay unbeaten and beat TopKip Lions

Head coach Gregory Tjin-A-Koeng looks back on the game:

Saturday night, our first league game of the season. There was healthy tension in the air: last week a fine win over the reigning national champion for the Supercup, now the game against last season’s runner-up, TopKip Lions.

We knew they’d gone through a transformation too, but we’d been warned by their thrashing of Apollo (90-40) and a draw against, in my eyes, title contender Den Helder Suns.

We start the game well, and really it’s the team from Landsmeer that has to keep chasing us. The one thing we don’t manage is to deliver the knockout blow. Even so, we lead 44-34 at halftime.

We start the second half well and extend our lead further — pleasant for the coaching staff, as it let us get every player on the floor and give a bit less time to the players who normally have to play a lot of minutes. This team’s strength is also that we can rotate 10, 11, 12 players deep at times without losing too much. It also keeps everyone sharp, because everybody has to fight and compete for their playing time.

Everything is earned, not given.

In the end we win fairly comfortably, 86-66.

Fixtures next week

Saturday 26 September

• 12:00 — EBV Baros vs. Women U21
• 13:00 — Men U16 vs. Heroes Den Bosch
• 15:30 — Men U19-1 vs. Lokomotief
• 16:30 — BS Leiden vs. Men U19-2
• 17:45 — De Groene Uilen vs. Men 1
• 20:30 — BC Triple ThreaT vs. Women 1

Sunday 27 September

• 12:45 — BC Triple ThreaT vs. Men U14

The team photo on this page was taken by Maarten Groot.