Oxford Hoops

Blazers taste victory

Sunday 11.10.09
By Coach Louis Burford

Travelling to Aylesbury for the first time is always a daunting prospect, but their hospitality and demeanour once again proved this is one of the most well behaved fixtures in the calendar. Blazers were coming off the back of a heavy defeat to league newcomer...s Abingdon who have some experienced players. It took a lot to pick themselves up and prove to the rest of the League that they belonged.

The game started with some strong offence and good ball movement from Blazers. An early 3 pointer from Romualdas put Blazers into a 9-4 lead. Aylesbury came back strong though and finished the quarter with a spell of basketball that exposed the defensive frailties of the young Blazers team. Aylesbury led at the end of the quarter 18-14.

A stern talking to at the break brought the Blazers out with renewed vigour. Better defensive work through a 1-2-1 zone tightened the holes at the back while 12 points in the quarter from Romualdas took Blazers to the half with a 35-32 lead.

The 3rd quarter revealed a lack of defensive training by the Blazers again with poor help defence and a distinct lack of fitness as players failed to run back to defend. Despite this, Blazers managed to extend their lead by another point thanks to 9 points from Milos, including 2 huge 3 pointers.

The 4th quarter was a tense affair and Aylesbury reduced the lead quickly to only 2 points. Blazers showed some inexperience toward the close of the game with silly mistakes and careless fouls that led to Milos and Romualdas fouling out in the dying seconds. Once Blazers finally got control of the ball, a vital 3 pointer from Romualdas was the nail in the coffin for Aylesbury and Rick was able to control the ball and the game to run the clock down for Blazers to take their first victory of the campaign 69-65!

Game MVP:
Romualdas Sostakas29 Pts, (including 5 x 3-pointers!) 3 Stl, 3 Ass, 6 Rbs, 6 TORead More

SONICS TAKE TIGERS APART IN 101-49 SHOCK!
Fri. 9-Oct-09
St. Gregory the Great School
9.15PM



OXHOOPS SONICS vs THAME TIGERS


The SONICS started their campaign against a team that on paper should give them a run for their money, but it transpired that Thame were missing 3 important players from last season, there was Damien Hu...ghes (SG), Pav (PF) and Alex (PF)and of course multi-talented Will who became together with Steve Dutton (C) their main scoring threats.

SONICS on the other hand were missing "Big Pre", Preye Ozeke (PF), Desta Rudder-Smith(G/F), Tenzin Dakar(PG) and Nilton Li(G) in their roster, but they have added some great up and coming players with Josh Mortimer(F), Sam Dunbar(F), Elliott Poore(G/F) and Mason Poore(G) as well as NBL Ex-Braves veteran Ayo Toye(PF) and Amir Boucenna(PG) who has been playing in Spain for the last 2 seasons.



SONICS starting 5: #4 David Emsden & #10 Patrice Mulowaye at Forwards, #5 Louis Burford & #8 James Edwards at Guard and #7 Amir Allam at Point. SONICS won the tip and made the first shot within seconds, their D was tough and consistent throughout, denying Thame the ball and offering them difficult shots, in fact Thame's first basket came on the 10th minute from a free throw by #14 C. Skidmore. At the end of the first quarter teh score was 26-4 Sonics.



The 2nd Quarter saw action from the younger SONICS, who were outscored by Thame 8 to 5, as substitutions were made and the balanced tipped in SONICS favour once again Thame finished the half trailing 52-22, a great comeback with contribution from all Tigers.



The game continued very much in the same fashion with SONICS outscoring Thame in every quarter and adding great pressure defensively. Final Score 101-49 to Sonics who secured their first win in teh 2009-10 Season.



Game MVPs:

#7 Amir Allam (18 Pts, 7 Rebs, 10 Stls, 10 Assts, 3 Defl & 5 Turnovers

#5 Louis Burford (24 Pts, 5 Rebs, 4 Stls, 3 Assts, 5 Defl & 1 Turnover



Referees on the Night: Peter Tubb & Gary Thomas

Scoring Table: Tom Carter & Coach PeteRead More

Amir Allam ... Best of the Best PG at Nike Midnight Madness 2009 September 7, 2009 --


NIKE MIDNIGHT MADNESS 2009 ... THE BIRTH OF AN OXFORD STAR



One of the most awaited annual tournaments in the last 10 years has increased its popularity no end in the past 3 years becoming the "X FACTOR" of UK Basketball. If you have... the dream and feel you can make it if only you were discovered, then this is the place to go, play and be seen.



Midnight Madness attracts Coaches and Scouts from all over as it is a great place to see the best of teh best battling it out just to hold court and to be given a ticket! The "Ticket" is the passport to potentially explode and expand your basketball career ... however, the Visa and Work Permit only become a reality if you make the Finals and Win it!!!



This year we had 2 players from Oxford in the FInals winning team, but one of them started his dream at Oxford Hoops when he was just 9 years old, Amir Allam , the BEST POINT GUARD in Midnight Madness 2009 is only 19, is 6-feet tall, weighs about 70Kg is now preparing to move up in the basketball ranks faster than anybody we know. Amir is living the dream, the one that kept us playing late at night day in and day out, the one that made us smile and shout aloud regularly, the one that made us cry when we realised we could not make it, the one that makes us rejoyce when we hear of another kid making it (secrety wishing it was us), you know what I'm talking about!



Amir Allam has been preparing himself for this moment for the last 3 or 4 years, he travelled all over the UK searching for new challenges, always inquisitive and thirsty for knowledge, always listening and making the best of every criticism, always learning from every mistake and in a non-stop quest for perfection. He played bigger, stronger and faster players, he took regular beatings at the Oxford School court every weekend, but he kept coming back for more, with that big smile of his, always ready to take it to the next level. But, it wasn't just Amir's dedication, focus and talent that did it ... Amir's secret weapon is called Mohammed, his father, his dad, his biggest fan. I can tell you that this man has made sacrifices that would move mountains and all because of the tremendous love he has for his son and secretly the game of basketball.



Amir's journey is just beginning. On Friday 4th September he was Crowned the Best PG of the Tournament. He went to the Premiere of Lebron James' new film ... red carpet and all! Rubbed shoulders with all the Celebrities as he (unknown to him) becomes one slowly. He attended the after parties. But that is just the BS that comes with it all, if you talk to him, he'll throw a list of who is who in European basketball and even hit you with a few NBA talent scouts and Coaches ... because the boy was working on his future. He wasted little time in makingh the right contacts and connections in order to continue his Pro-Dream.



Regardless of his level of professionalism and his maturity, I just can't forget how excited he was to see Lebron James and the way he described LJ's overall size, "...and his thighs were the size of my trunk, my trunk Coach!", but quickly woudl get back to analysing Lebron's game and the Cavs with the eye of a Coach and the heart of a player.



The Coaching Staff as Oxford HOOPS are just very proud to have seen him grow over the past 10 years and although we only guided him a little bit, we know he's part of this family now and forever. http://www.oxfordhoops.co.ukRead More

HOOPS Players Moving On ...




Rumour has it that we have some of our players heading abroad... where DREAMS are fulfilled, ankles broken and players get posterised every minute of the day!



Devon Powell who played with Braves and Sonics us heading to Florida State, yep, you heard it right the man with the big smile will be ...heading to Florida in September.

Amir Allam, after he was Crowned best U23 PG at Midnight Madness he has decided to stay in the UK for 1 more year, play with Westminster at Div2 NBL and with Hoops in the Local League ... Sonics / Blazers???

Mathew Sofiyani, Has gone to France to a Basketball Academy for the next 9 months ... we know he'll be causing some chaos with that floater of his over there.

Mica Paget Coleman , Has also gone to a Basketball Academy in France and will be killing it over the next 9 months. Mica is chasing that dream hard!



Joseph Ifill, who left the UK for the warmer waters of Trinidad is also ready to take that big step into College-land, the 6'9" Jo has been training hard to perfect all aspects of his game and as long as he carries on working hard he could go all the way! http://www.oxfordhoops.co.ukRead More

Hi All,

Finally our Coaches got together and agreed the teams for the 2009-10 season.

Want to know which team you made?
Want to know your team mates and when you train?
Want to know more?

Check out: www.oxfordhoops.co.uk now and explore!

Want to add information on your own "Bio Page" ?
No problem, just email oxfordhoop...sbc@googlemail.com with it and next thing ... it'll be there!

Have fun. Have a great season.

OxHoops http://www.oxfordhoops.co.ukRead More