ReboundGH: hoops

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Osofo in cape Coast Hoops days

Yesterday's win against Holy Family could probably be his last game in the Accra league. Late yesternight, Police forward Fred Yeboah (Osofo) dropped a status on his facebook that went like....
''Guys, today I announce my retirement from the Accra Basketball League,it's been great playing with all the players I came across...Just returning to full time in Ministry''.

The Accra league vet who has played for the now defunct Tudu Wizards and Hoops, Yotives and the University of Education, Winneba(as a student) was a pivotal member of every team he has been on. His peculiar skill set, leadership, passion and understanding of the game earned him a lot playing time while playing for Cape Coast Hoops in the past two seasons.

On April 13th, he grabbed a league high 21 rebounds against Warriors until Kwame Boamah shattered the record with his 30 a couple of weeks later. His stat line currently reads:

PPG
6.5

RPG
8.4

APG
3.1

FG%
31.6

In a short phone chat with him, he pointed out the need to pay more attention to his ministry at his church, some problems with a few of his current teammates during games and the lack of remuneration from the team and the league as the main issues that influenced his decision. ''The stress of having to go through practice five times a week plus all the other responsibilities I have plus not getting enough time on court... I had to make a choice'', he added.

Hate them or love them; the Cape Coast Hoops were, yes! were one of the most exciting teams to ever watch in the Greater Accra Basketball League.

After about four years of being a force to reckon with in the Accra league, the management of the Cape Coast Hoops led by Claudius Thompson have decided not to register for the 2012 season which is scheduled to start on March 14 at Lebanon House. In a discussion with him, he mentioned a few reasons for their decision.

It all boiled down to funding!

A problem that almost every team in this league has to deal with. With the league remaining amateur; with no sponsorship / reward system whatsoever ever since its been running, it's becoming continuously difficult to participate in it taking into consideration the hustle and bustle of Accra and then game schedules.

It is quite plain that CCH is not in this plight alone. But then it's always a big deal when somebody walks away somewhat from the game of basketball and especially if that person or in this case an organization was a relevant piece in the league.

Memories of the excitement this team brought are countless; dunks upon dunks, good play after good play and talent after talent was displayed for free to us every week.

Like many of the things that happen in Ghana Basketball, this is just one more reason somebody has to do their jobs right!

The Runhose-Hoops project might be having its most successful year so far since it started about three years ago with the successful export of Daniel Armah to Casper College. Fresh news on runhouse.net today read:

The 8th student/athlete on the Runhouse-Hoops Project has officially arrived in Wichita, Kansas today. Lawrence Fejokwu will be prepping for college at one of the top programs in the country. This poised 6′ 9″ forward is ready for a big year and is willing to put in the work to ready himself for college.

We know Fejokwu is an excellent shot blocker and rebounder. He also has proven to be a very good low post player on the offensive side with a good array of moves and shots.

During a short two month stay in Ghana, Lawrence featured for Cap Coast Hoops in a couple of pre-season games before going back to Nigeria;his home country. He was mainly known for his rebounding and shot blocking abilities mostly makes use of the height advantage he had over other kids.

Another Hoops player abroad. It was just 20 days ago that news of "Air Odi" was made known to RGH by Hoops manager Claudius Thompson. Another kid has made it to the States to be a student athlete. This time to Haverford school in Haverford, Pennsylvania. The school is one of the prestigious all boys' schools in the States which provide a superior liberal arts education in a challenging and supportive environment that emphasizes scholarship, leadership, citizenship, and high standards of character and conduct. According to the school's website, they strive to prepare each student for life by developing his full intellectual, moral, social, artistic, athletic and creative potential.

6'8'' Benjamin Bentil featured for Hoops' junior side(Hoopers) in this year's edition of the Junior GABL. He was by all standards the best kid on the team, with some fair abilities in the low post and always making use of his length on defense for rebounds and blocks. Bentil still has more room for improvement and we at RGH are very sure with all the training he will receive, he will soon be a force to reckon with.

Bentil(no. 14) with teammates before a match

Again, www.runhouse.net released news of the kid's arrival after Hoops Cape Coast gave out information about his departure from Kotoka via their facebook account. According to the news release, four more players are meant to make it to various schools in the States before the end of this year.

Cape Coast Hoops released this information via their facebook page yesterday afternoon. The news which was actually released by http://www.runhouse.net (the official web page of Runhouse Recruiting Sports, who handled the deal) read:

6′ 8″ Air Odi lands in Florida

Posted by Jack Whitehead on August 17, 2010
For immediate release:
August 17th, 2010, Sarasota, Fl
The Runhouse-Hoops team is pleased to announce that 6′ 8″ star forward Odi Onyeka has arrived in Sarasota, Florida and will be a member of Coach Reginald Bellamy’s State College of Florida’s junior college team this upcoming season. “Air Oidi” was one of the best players on Coach Claude Thompson’s Cape Coast Hoops team this past season averaging 25ppg and 14 rpg. Having a wide range of skills enabled the very mobile player to play multiple positions (3/4/5).
Everyone involved is excited about seeing Oneyka play this season and he is already gaining interest from mid-majors.

Rebound Hea

d Quarters, Accra - Cape Coast Hoops will leave Accra 6am tomorrow to play the Togolese national team in a friendly encounter.

Talking to RGH in a telephone interview, Claudius Thompson (manager of hoops) said they will be taking a 14 man contingent made of 11 players and 3 officials. The match is scheduled to take off at 4pm in the newly built indoor facility in the capital, Lome. The Togolese are using this match as a test of their team in preparation for the FIBA Africa Zone III qualifiers to scheduled to start on the 6th of August.

CANTONMENT - The much talked about game was here with us. Not forgetting all the thrash talking and claims made by both sides before the game, one can say the game lived to expectation. Both sides played very appreciable defense not allowing any cheap baskets. The game was very low scoring(ending 59-57 for CEPS) comparing the fact that both teams had higher PPG's(95.2 for CEPS and 72.5 for hoops) before the game. So what really did both team do or not do right?

IN THE PAINT
CEPS had a height advantage over the hoops centre since they have the tallest centers in the L. On the other hand hoops had a more athletic front who made up for their lack of height with the leaping abilities (as was exhibited by Serge with his dunk over the CEPS defense). Reggie played very good ball for hoops making use of his quickness and post moves to dram some fouls at the low post. CEPS' Reginald Lartey was phenomenal down post( for me, he's one of the best low post players in the L ) making a lot of moves that can only be made by somebody with adequate knowledge of the game and considerable experience. Abdul Razak of hoops was his usual self, very energetic all day especially on the defensive end since he couldn't contribute much on the offense unless for tip-ins or point blank shots. Nobody can forget the two blocks on both

ends of the floor. First Robinson was blocked hoops' Osofo and then the very demoralizing block of SB as he went up for a two hand slam by CEPS' Richard Darko. Enter Hashim for CEPS. He was just all over the floor, grabbed rebounds, kept the ball on the floor and made strong moves to the baskets and created alot of scoring opportunities for CEPS' guards to shoot treys.

BACK COURTS
It was a backcourts battle all day long, from Wiston Cole's ankle breaker on Dodzie to Dodzie's treys to the scramblings for loose balls. The hoops' guards also did a good work of staying on Dodzie through out the game not allowing him uncontested shots as he was 5 of 18 from beyond the arc( a mere 27.8%).Winston and SB might have entertained the fans with fancy moves but Dodizie won the day for CEPS. He went to the charity stripe to knock down all three shoots after being fouled on a three point attempt and then hit another dagger trey with less than a minute to go on the clock. Borsah was his usual slick self, knocking down shots when he was open or driving to the hoops and dishing out dimes to his teammates for high percentage shots. His defense was also not bad on the day as he got a couple of steals(something he's known for) from the hoops guards. Nii Kwartey added he's own twist to the game for CEPS. He did such a good job guarding Cole when he came in. He and Dodzie worked together a couple of times to trap Cole which ended in mishandling of the ball by hoops guard and eventual turn overs. Kwartey didn't have a very good shooting day as he missed too many a shot from the mid range.

OFFICIATING
I think the match wasn't an easy one for the officials since almost any call they made was questioned especially by the side it went against. "The referees in Ghana attach too much personal grudges and harbor some hatred towards some people"; that is to quote one the fans around. But these allegation are not very much verified and i don't think we should create anymore of those( considering what happened after the match). The league as a whole needs to come out with very stringent rules concerning issues of player behavior and complaints about officiating during matches. To be on the referees' side for a moment, one may ask why everybody complains about officiating yet nobody is stepping up to take courses and become referees. As far as am concerned, these are the referees we have, even if they are bad we should try to bring out the best in them and stop the constant nagging during and after games.

X FACTORS
For CEPS, Robinson was their charm for the day. One way or the other, the hoops team didn't pay much attention to him and he made them pay for it. He dropped a quick 10 points before they noticed him and that was when Osofo sent him down with a block. Hoops' was Meme, showed up late for the match, entered in the fourth and knocked down a trey way beyond the arc after a scramble and a steal from the defensive end. That was his only shot for the day but it did wonders for the hoops team. They were sought of re-energized after that.

COMPOSURE
Surprises filled the day, as the hoops bench was more composed compared to the more experienced CEPS side. CEPS' nearly showed some immaturity, I think they over stood up from their bench but then you can't blame them. This is sports and tension and anxiety is the name of the game.

4TH QUARTER
There were 9 lead changes in this quarter alone after hoops drew at 43 and took their first lead of the game at 45. Hoops had found a rhythm in driving and drawing fouls, but it didn't seem to work well, why?, they weren't knocking down the free throws and that from my view was why they lost. Dodzie then then knocks down his 3 free throws and a trey and then went out after a light sprain to the ankle after slipping.

All said and done, this wasn't a match for the faint hearted because even watching it was not even easy. Adrenalin flowed in my blood streams all day....hmmm(sigh) what a day it was.

CEPS VS HOOPS

HOLY FAMILY vs TURBO JETS

CEPS vs HOOPS PREVIEW....
I just didn't know how to write this preview in words.It seemed too big a task..but then let the numbers do the talking..u can now start predicting the outcome of this all important game as no.1 meets no.2