Basketball in DKIT and nationally

Blanchardstown IT 53 - 71 DKIT

2011-02-02T16:53:00.000Z

The DKIT squad completed a great away win against a good ITB team. DKIT welcomed in Z. Zelnys for his first start of the year and contributed well in the first quarter with some great drives and assists. Kev Lacey opened the scoring for DKIT with two free throws, which were a common occurence from this game for the DCU Saints player. A big three from John Rafferty put six points between the teams before Blanch IT opened their account. Great rebounding by K Norwak and set up some easy fastbreak scores for the Ravens which led to a 12 - 6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter started again brightly for DKIT with scores coming from Lacey, Rafferty and Zelnys. Though DKIT were dealt a blow when Ravens guard AJ O'Neil picked up his third foul early in the second quarter which meant the coach took him out to make sure he was good to play in the second half. This didn't halt DKIT one bit with strong play coming from E Ryan and C Martin who were able replacements. At half time the Dundalk lads led 26- 18.

DKIT had alot to do in the third quarter to make sure the win was theirs and they went score for score with ITB. Kev Lacey carried the bulk of the scoring in this quarter hitting 10 of his 30 points to help put the DKIT team up 42-34 going into the final quarter.

The final quarter was almost easy for DKIT as they scored 29 points in this quarter alone, helpped with big threes from E Ryan who hit two and A O'Maolagain. Z Zelnys also contributed with some great fast break points and was well assisted by AJ O'Neil.

The win sets up a big game away to top of the table Dublin Business School. With a couple of scholarship players and a well coached team this will prove a great test to see how far the DKIT basketball team have come this year.

Top Scorers

K Lacey 30
Z Zelnys 11
J Rafferty 8

Freshers Tournament 2010

2010-11-29T09:59:00.002Z

Freshers Tournament 2010
Pool Game 1
DKIT 42 - 37 Carlow IT
After a gruelling five hour journey to the University of Limerick on a very dangerous morning for travel due to the cold snap DKIT got off to a great start by winning their first pool game in a competitive encounter. Carlow IT where coming off the back of a defeat to the much fancied UL team so it was vital for DKIT to get of to a good start early in the first quarter and that was due to some great defense and excellent shooting from outside by Dundalk Ravens John Rafferty. DKIT strugged to maintain Carlow IT’s Kevin Donogue who was in fantastic form. Big rebounding by Steven Byatt and Conor Martin lead to good scores by AJ O’Neill. The third quarter was the quarter that sealed the win for the freshers with big threes by J Rafferty and AJ O’Neill. Also the defense played its part by holding Carlow to low scores thanks to David Cuddan and Artjouri Morozov. With four minutes to go DKIT where up 11 points. But Carlows impressive pressure defense quickly cut the lead to five. But the DKIT young lads managed to hold on for the excellant win.
Top Scorers
J Rafferty 19
AJ O’Neill 13
Pool Game 2
DKIT 19 - 49 UL
Next up was the tournament favourites and host University of Limerick. Boasting Irish internationals and superleague players this game was always going to be very much fancied. DKIT started well with two threes from J Rafferty and AJ O’Neill but these good scores soon dried up as UL’s defense was very impressive. DKIT coach decided very early in the game to not concentrate on winning the game but to use it as a training exercise to get others involved and the team responded. Eugen Martens and Eoghan Ryan where excellant on defense from the bench and well run offenses made sure that DKIT would know what to do later against Trinity College. One point i will mention in this game was in the third quarter when John Rafferty got dunked on!
Top Scorers
J Rafferty 6
AJ O’Neill 5
Pool Game 3
DKIT 50 – 38 Trinity
In the third game of the day DKIT beat Trinity to go into the A semi final while the losers went into the Plate semi final. An impressive start saw DKIT go up six in the fist quarter through some impressive shooting by point guard AJ O’Neill. The full panel played their part in the win with scores coming from a great team performance overall. A Morozov finally got into a game offensively getting 8 points on the forth quarter and Steven Byatt hit some nice shots also in the win. This secured a semi final spot agianst DCU the following day.
Top Scorers
AJ O’Neill 16
J Rafferty 13
Freshers Semi Final
DKIT 32 – 54 DCU
After the celebrations of the night before DKIT got back to business with their first cup final in the freshers history. At the beginning of the game DKIT would have to deal with an excellant DCU individual team. Big threes from D O Keeffe and Kevin O Hanlon pulled DCU into a comanding first quarter lead but the DKIT lads never stopped fighting. DKIT switched from zone defense to man to man to stop the three point shooting by DCU and this helped DKIT get back into the game. Great scores by Rafferty and Morozov with great assists by O’Neill kept DKIT within touching distance. Though a very good DCU team where too much for DKIT in the end with DCU running out easy winners in the end. But this tournament was an excellant example of the progress DKIT can make with this freshers team for the Varsities in 2011.
Top Scorers
J Rafferty 12
AJ O’Neill 11

Video of RCSI game

2010-11-27T11:51:00.003Z

So for the first time we have a recording of a game. It is our most recent game against RCSI.
Not sure if I'll be able to snag sombody to film another game but for now, enjoy.
http://vimeo.com/channels/dkitbasketball

DKIT 63-57 RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons)

2010-11-27T11:47:00.000Z

Dundalk IT got their first win of the season over a tough RCSI team. DKIT welcomed back DCU Saints superleague player Kevin Lacey. The first quarter started off well for the home side with point guard AJ O'Neill and Lacey getting good scores on the board. Dundalk Ravens players John Rafferty and Ciaran Murray played some great defense to put DKIT up 5 at the end of the first quarter.DKIT struggled in the second quarter only scoring eleven points to the fifteen of the Surgeons. Some good outside shooting by the Surgeons and some very poor defense from DKIT was the cause of the Surgeons getting back into the game. Two big threes from Lex and Rafferty helped fend off a RSCI attack. At half time it was 27-26 to DKIT and with the locals playing poorly this was positive as the Dundalk team knew they could play alot better!The third quarter belonged to Kevin Lacey. He showed younger DKIT team how to score from every possible position. He scored 11 in all in the quarter and didn't forget any of his defensive duties in the mean time. Karl and C. Martin rebounded the ball well in this quarter to put the locals up 7 going into the final quarter.The forth was not an impressive performance by the DKIT lads but they managed to battle it out to make sure they where in the driving seat. Lacey, O'Neill and Rafferty put in some great scores to help put the game out of reach from the Surgeons to finish 63-57Coach Darren McGovern mentioned to the lads at the end of the game that their is alot more to come off this team and that has to start with training harder and making better decisions. After using ten players in the game DKIT will become better after this hard fought game. Next week the freshers travel to play in the colleges freshers tournament in UL and we wish them all the best in the tournament.Top ScorersDKITKevin Lacey 27, Aj O'Neill 15, John Rafferty 9RCSIBrendan C. 20, Adam B. 17, Shanil S. 7

DkIT 33-55 Tallaght IT

2010-11-27T11:44:00.000Z

DkIT Mens basketball team started the season off with a poor home loss to Tallaght IT. The DkIT home squad had some new freshers starting for the club. Templeogue under age star AJ O’Neill starting at point guard and two Dundalk Ravens teammates Ciaran Murray and John Rafferty. They where complimented with two players from last years team in Kevin from China and Karl.
DkIT started off very poorly on the offense side and this translated into some poor defense at the other end. Quickly the team looked for a player who could score against a well organised Tallaght defense. AJ O’Neill hit a big three to kick start the team followed by another later from John Rafferty. Some great rebounding by Ciaran Murray kept the smaller in height DkIT team in the game in the first quater. Not to mention Kevin’s big three on the buzzer for the end of the quarter. Though the team struggled to maintain a strong Tallaght offense.
In the second quarter DkIT again struggled on the offensive side of things only scoring four points in the quarter. Tallaght raced out to a 25- 18 lead at half time. The DkIT had the feeling that they where still well in the game as they never started to play yet. The third quarter started brightly for the Dundalk club. Scores from Rafferty and O’Neill kept the team in touch. Though where things went wrong was when influencial defender Ciaran Murray had to leave from Fresher GAA duties.
The Tallaght team capitalised on this and raced to over a 20 point lead until Ciaran returned due to his other game being cancelled! Subsititutes Conor Martin and Lex played well on the defensive end but the story of the game was the poor offensive showing by the team who have been showing great promise in training the last few weeks.
In the forth quarter and the game already escaped the coach decide to run the bench to finish out the game. The team put in great effort but it was not to be.
Scorers
DkIT Tallaght IT
Aj O’Neill 12 Kirk 19
John Rafferty 8 Barry 11
Karl 4 Gavin J 9

Dundalk IT 70- Blanchardstown IT 60

2009-12-03T19:03:00.000Z

DkIT basketball won their second game in succession on home court on Wednesday thanks to a great team performance led by star player Kevin Lacey. DkIT started the game strong with big baskets coming from Lacey and Chinese guard Kevin. Hustle on the defensive end caused panic in the Blanchardstown attack which meant DkIT took the lead by six at the end of the first quarter. Big three pointers from Adam O Maolagain and Lacey moved DkIT further in front. The front court of Karpinski, Henry and Karl got some great rebounds that helped set up the offensive attacks. At half time the home lads had a lead of 30-23. Though they knew themselves that it
should be more and the game was not out of reach from the Blanchardstown IT team.
The beginning of the third quarter was difficult for the DkIT lads as Eanna Rusthe hit two big three pointers. Coach Darren McGovern was sure that the lads would weather the storm though called a time out just to settle the team and set up a new strategy. The lads seemed to listen and came out storming and was up eight going into the final quarter.
DkIT star Kevin Lacey managed to use his international experience to keep his team in a winning position in crunch time of the game. Some great plays set up for some great scores and the home lads managed to win 70-60. Another great win and now hopefully the team can carry the momentum through to the new year.
Top Scorers: Kevin Lacey 32
Mathieu Rouart 13
Ning Xie (Kevin) 7

Dundalk IT 57- Tallaght IT 42

2009-10-28T22:48:00.002Z

DKIT and Tallaght IT squared of in DKIT's first league game of the season. Both teams came out strong in the first quarter but it was quite a low scoring quarter with DKIT ahead by 5. By the end of the second quarter with strong defence and good offensive plays by Kev Lacey and Mathieu Rouart as well as fantastic boards by Mateusz Karpinsky DKIT began to pull ahead and were up by 9.
Tallaght never really got back in to the game and Dundalk continued in the second half to push the advantage. The man to man defence on Kev Lacey wasn't working for the Tallaght lads and they were completely out matched on the boards as Mateusz continued to crash the boards and dominate the rebounds.
In the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter Tallaght decided to give some of their new players a run and DKIT coach Darren decided to do the same. The DKIT bench managed to contain the Tallaght players and sailed to a 15 point win.
A great beginning to the season and the first time in 3 years that DKIT have beaten Tallaght in the league and I believe the first time in 5/6 years that DKIT have won their first game of the season.
So with cautious optimism I look forward to the rest of the season.

Dundalk IT 50- Dundalk Ravens 51

2009-10-21T22:09:00.002+01:00

The season opened today with the now traditional game between Dundalk Ravens U18 men's and the DKIT squad. Both teams started off well with Ravens leading at the half by 9. Good play from Kevin Lacey Mateusz Karpinski and Mathieu Rouart kept DKIT in with a shout.
With good work in the third quarter DKIT finished ahead by 9 points going into the final quarter.
Some sloppy play by DKIT and good team work from the Ravens brought the lead down to 3 with a minute to go. The ravens got a fast break and made it a one point game with 30 seconds to go. DKIT failed to make the most of their offence and Ravens were again off on a fast break with seconds going down. Just as the buzzer went Irish international Aaron Lawless made a two point jump shot.
The victory by one point was sealed. This year the bragging rights go to the Dundalk Ravens.

09/10 season

2009-10-10T15:38:00.002+01:00

Well this year looks set to be an interesting one with more games and a better team then last year. This year we will have the surgeons Tallaght and Maynooth as before and the additions of Letterkenny and Blanchardstown. More games and more travelling. Hopefully it goes better then last year did but time will tell.
We once again have Darren McGovern as coach and Adam O'Maolagain, Kevin Lacey, Matheus, Henry and Neo from last years squad. There are some new additions with Edward, Kobe, Liam, Lex and Alex as well as some other players whose names currently escape me at the moment.
The team is looking a lot stronger with a new point guard but time will tell to see how well it gels.
First game I think is next week so expect an update after training next week hopefully and details on the game.

Carlow IT 73----Dundalk IT 52

2008-11-13T15:03:00.003Z

Yesterday the team traveled to Carlow IT to play against the local team. Things started off badly as DKITs coach was held up due to unforeseen circumstances and coaching duties were passed to one of the players.
The team started off positively taking an early lead and at the end of the 1st quarter both teams were level at 18 points all. 2nd quarter was more tit for tat with excellent displays from Kevin Lacey, Big John, Eugeneo Sam and Neo. Dundalk went in to the half time down only by a point. Confidence was high in the dressing room at half time and Dundalk took the court again.
Things started to go a bit wrong as fatigue started to set in. Good work in the third quarter from Mason, Richie Ojo and Matthias kept the deficit at the end of the 3rd quarter to 8 points. At the beginning of the fourth quarter it became clear that Carlow wanted it more as the shots they had been threatening the entire game started to go in. As their lead increased the Dundalk heads went down and the Carlow IT came out deserved winners.
Overall though, it was Dundalk heads going that ultimately cost the game. The game was their to be one but slowly the self belief went out the window.
I don't think Carlow won the game, I think it was more a case that DKIT lost the game. That is something we can't allow to happen again.

So lets get you up to speed then

2008-11-10T20:10:00.002Z

First of all apologies. Due to my schedule I havn't been able to keep this as up to date as I'd have liked but hopefully that will change.
We have had two league games and one friendly so far since the begining of the year and to be honest things haven't been going well.
The team lost the first game to Tallaght IT by 40 points and to RCSI by 25. We also had a friendly against another local team which we lost by 30.
However things are slowly but surely looking up. The team are starting to play like a team and we have three or four key players that have been getting better and better as the training has gone on. There have also been a number of players that had been on the sidelines for a year or so and are coming good. The new coach has made a few mistakes but thankfully is learning quickly from them.All and all as I've said we're getting there but time will tell.
Our next game is against carlow IT on wedsday and we will be able to see how things are looking then and I will give a full report on thursday morning.

And so it begins.....

2008-10-22T19:05:00.002+01:00

The 08/09 season begins tomorrow. Our first game is away to last years champions Tallaght IT away. This gives Tallaght the home court advantage and in theory should be seen as the toughest game of the season.
Our team this year is very different from the team we had last year. In certain ways we are lacking compared to last year however in other ways we have improved.
We have a new coach, Twelve players as opposed to traveling with 15- 20 so we're much more organised are a lot more dedicated to the task at hand. Hopefully we'll get the right start we're looking for and we'll see where we go from there.
We'll find out tomorrow.

Season 2008/2009

2008-09-07T13:24:00.002+01:00

Well here we are again at the begining of a new college year and the begining of a new basketball season. This is just a quick post to make you all, whoever you are, aware that all the basketball news regarding dkit will be posted here including who the new players are, how training is going along with information on friendly and league matches.So check in every now and then to see whats going on.

The end of the year

2008-05-29T13:37:00.003+01:00

So the basketball season 07/08 ended in mediocrity. We finished mid table in the league. We got knocked out at the group stage of the Varsities and we came runner up in the plate in the freshers tournement.
Also we have a lost a number of key players as they have finished their studies and at my count we have four of the twelve players that went to the varsities last year left along with three maybe four players that were not at the varsities but will more then likely feature next season. So what does next seaon hold. Well we need new players which we will inevitably get with the new batch of first years. There are also number of players who if worked on could be somthing special. The club itself in my opinion needs an overhaul. The players got along well but I felt it would have been good to have a meet and greet night or somthing in a pub or else a day trip to carlingford adventure centre for a bit of team building. Its clichéd but from experiance I know it works for most players. Then there is the small matter of the coach. Again just like everything else above I'm giving my opinion and what I believe the opinion of the other players is which is that we need a new coach. It was at the varsities tournement that it really showed. A great guy a decent trainer but not a leader which is what we desperatley needed. I look forward to next year but what I'd like to see in place is a commitee, a girls team, a strong mens team and a new coach. Roll on season 08-09

Varsities

2008-03-10T15:10:00.001Z

The DKIT basketball team took part in the 56th all Ireland Varsities last
week. The tournament began on Wednesday the fourth of march and went on in
to the weekend. The team were playing in the B division and had four other
teams in their group with Griffith College, Letterkenny IT, NUIM and UUC.

The first game was against Griffith College on the Wednesday and Dundalk
took full advantage of fact that this was the Dublin team's first ever
varsities by winning 31-15. The second game was played on Thursday morning
against UUC. Although Dundalk went on to win the game by six points 44-38
this game was most note worthy for the loss of one of D Kit's star players
Darren McGovern who went out with a torn calf which sidelined him for the
rest of the tournament. NUIM were the next team and buoyant on the
previous two victories DKIT again put in a brave display and came away
with the points running out 48-44 winners. It had been a close game but
with hard work from Gerard Cunningham Stephen Nolan,Brian O'Donnell and
Zhang Chen Dundalk got the win they deserved.
Dundalk were now 3-0 and standing at the top of the group with Letterkenny
IT left to play. Confidence was high even if The players were a bit tired
and on Thursday evening the game began. Dundalk went in to an early lead
and by half time were 13 points up. But the men from Letterkenny came back
in the third quarter to level the game. Lack of concentration on defence
eventually cost Dundalk the game with Letterkenny winning 62-50. At this
time three teams were 3-1, DKIT, LYIT and UUC. It now came down to points
to see which team would progress to the semi-finals.
Friday morning the team got the word. DKIT had finished third due to point
difference. The loss to LYIT had been too great so UUC and LYIT progressed
and Dundalk were left to play the garda college in a standings match.
After a tough game the garda college managed to break the DKIT defence and
come our the winners by four points.
Overall a better result then last years one win however every player from
the team knew that the final was well within their grasp but it was not to
be Dundalk's year. So all that is now left to do is to prepare for next
years and to learn from mistakes made.

The schedule

2008-03-02T14:00:00.002Z

So here is the schedule. We are leaving at 15:30 I think and heading down to Dublin checking in to the hotel that night.
The fixtures are as follows
Wednesday
20:30 DKIT Vs Griffith

Thursday
09:00 UUC Vs DKIT
16:30 DKIT Vs NUIM
19:30 DKIT Vs LYIT

Then depending on how those results go will decide if and where we are playing on the Friday and then if we win we play on the saturday.It should be fun. It will be hard.

Training Day!!!!

2008-03-01T15:15:00.002Z

So we had a proper training game on Thursday. One team was coached by Peter our coach and the other team was coached by Darren. The teams were as follows
Team 1:
Tim
Tommy
Big John
Brian
Gonzo
Mason
Sam
Peter

The A-Team:
Darren
Adam
Andy
Stephen
Neo
Henry
Brian
Gerry

Team one had three possibly four players from the starting five for the varsities. and for the first quarter they led 16-11. This lead however was very short lived. The A-team decided that we were going to give up the idea of a man-to-man defence and move to a two-one-two zone defence. This as expected was the turning point. By the end of the first half thanks to fast breaks and some great steals the A-Team led by the end of the second quater 35-21. Some great link up plays between the Darren Andy and Gerry ground down the moral on team 1 and thanks to some great link up play between Henry and Stephen even more points were taken.
Team 1 grew more and more frustrated and this was visible from the sounds coming from their bench which only made the A-Team more confident. Thanks to a great defence, excellent team work and sheer balls to the walls determination with a work rate A-Team went out eventual winners 78-61.
Bragging rights have well and truly being gained.
Everybody is in good spirits leading up to the tournement now and there is an air of cautious optimism about the team. We look forward to wednesday and the begining of the Varisities.

Varsities training

2008-02-19T19:19:00.000Z

Training has been going well. We've started up a third training session this week so now we're playing mondays wednesdays and thursdays and training is up to two hours a week and added to that most of the team are still playing and scrimiging in their free time.
The biggest surprise has come from the lads that havn't made the team. They have been willing to play hard in training and many of them have come on in huge leaps and bounds. So much so that the players on the panel have had to play and work even harder to keep their positions in check. One way or another the selectors have a lot to think about and are going to need to be careful that they pick the right players for the job down in Dublin soon.

And then there were 12

2008-02-10T10:30:00.000Z

So the team for the varsities has been chosen and thankfully I've been picked so really happy to get the call up on my first year. Here is the team that will be traveling to the tournemant-
1. Darren McGovern
2. Brian O'Donnell
3. Stephen Nolan
4. Gerard Cunningham
5. Tommy Contremoulin
6. Tim Breutnar
7. Zhang Chen (Big John)
8. Andy O'Brien
9. Adhamh O'Maolagain
10. Lu Hao Han
11. Samual Svosve
12. John Loughlin

It's a strong team. We've trained hard since getting back and I think everybody has a very strong appetite for this tournement. I'ts a last chance at glory for a few of the guys and I know they want to go out with a bang. Training is going to continue all the way up to the competition so hopefully we can push ourselves and make a real impact. The big thing we've heard is that Tallaght IT will be playing in the division 1 competition and they would have been our main concern. Hopefully we don't f!$&*k it up.

So Lets get you up to speed

2008-02-04T09:25:00.000Z

Hello ladys and gents.Hope you all had a good time over the christmas and new year period. I always found that Christmas is a good time to look back and to look forward.
Looking back, lets be honest we had a piss poor seasoon for a team as good as I believe we are. I believe we finished mid table which for the talent we have should never have happened. But no point dwelling on that.
We have had a fair fallout since christmas with a few of our better known players not joining us again. Fran, Jay, Adas and a few others have been almost non existence. I'd just like to say guys you were awesome and I hope you come back to the fold.
Looking forward, VARSITIES!!!! Yes boys and girls its the time of the year when league form counts for nothing and one long weekend of basketball is on the cards where teams like ourselves get to put up or shut up!!!
I'll be honest I'm very loud and I like that so I'm not really in the mood for shuting up.
We currently are waiting patiently to see who is chosen for the team as only a lucky 12 can go. Hunger in training has been very visible but over this weekend the fates of the players will be in the balance.
We wait........

Leagues Finals

2007-12-04T23:10:00.000Z

I just found out today that there is an outside shot that we may make it to the league semi finals. If we manage to beat RCSI on thursday this should hopefully leave us on second place and my understanding from that is that we can then go in to the semi-finals.
So hopefully the DKIT basketball team make it in to an all Ireland league semi- finals. But lets see how we get on against RCSI first.

Tolka Rovers Vs Ballina

2007-12-04T15:15:00.000Z

At the weekend myself an a few of the players went down to Dublin to watch a non-college basketball game. It was a national league game between these two and it was the first time any of the guys had seen a match.
The match itself was poor with both teams playing badly. Ballina because they only brought seven players and Tolka because when they saw they were playing a seven man team and they got sloppy. Tolka still went on to win by 30 points but from a spectator's point of view it wasn't the most interesting.
It was a good look though at a very athletic and skill full team. Although Tolka were sloppy their intensity couldn't be questioned.
If we can incorporate a bit of that in to our games we should be able to finish the season quite strongly.

DKIT Vs Carlow IT

2007-12-01T13:38:00.000Z

This was DKIT's first game after the moderate success They had at the freshers tournament. They were still on a high but things didn't start off well.
A number of DKIT's key players were not present when the ball went up at half court. Carlow were fit and looking forward to the game and came out playing hard.
The visitors went out to take an early lead which they kept up until the final quarter.
With four minutes to go in the final quarter DKIT had managed to cut the deficit to four points. A time out was called and stock was taken of what had to be done.
Dundalk IT went back on to the court with purpose and played hard with another outstanding display by DKIT's resident french basketball player Tommy who scored a number of three pointers and made a few openings for others.
Dundalk began to plow ahead and managed to kill of the game. This was Dundalk's first league win and hopefully the beginning of many more. Roll on the Surgeons next week as Dundalk will be out for revenge for the loss they suffered down in Dublin at the beginning of the season.

Felipe Buedo Gallardo R.I.P.

2007-11-28T23:26:00.000Z

I'm not sure if this is appropriate but I felt that I should give my respects and condolences to the family team mates and friends of Felipe at Athlone IT.
For those of you that didn't hear about it Felipe died suddenly of a heart failure while playing a local team. It was another instance of Sudden adult death syndrome that seems to be affecting more and more people.
Anyway there isn't much more to add so once again condolences to those who knew Felipe Buedo Gallardo.

The Freshers Tournement

2007-11-27T15:08:00.000Z

Sorry for the lack of posts but as you can see above I was busy. We had the freshers basketball tournament down in Limerick over the weekend.The team consisted of 3 starting 5 and three off the normal team. We also had three other lads with us who don't normally play. So the nine of us set off on Saturday morning.
It was an early morning wake up for us as we were on the road at eight. Thankfully everybody managed to make it there with time to spare. After a three hour drive we arrived down in Limerick. We got a quick breakfast and then got ready for our first game against limerick.
This was the home team and they definitely made us feel unwelcome. The referees were home grown lads and within the first quarter which was only seven minutes long one of our players was on four fouls. For those of you that aren't familiar that means one more and he was off as you can only have a maximum of five fouls. The crowd as well were that special breed of deathly silence when we scored but raise the roof volume when UL scored. But we persevered with a 10 point win over the home team. This was our first win of the freshers competition and the first win DKIT had in any competition so far this season.
We then went and checked in to the hotel. Rooms were allocated and we were all in good spirts when we went back for our second game against DIT. We lined out but were slow off the mark and DIT were off to the better start. Due to those two slow quarters we were simply playing catch up and went on to lose by 12 points.At the end the group stood like this;
DIT-4
DKIT-4
UL-4
We found out that we were going through to the plate semi-finals against Cork IT. UL had also gone through as they had beaten DIT in their first game so went through as best third place team in the three groups.

*****SCENE MISSING*****

We woke up Sunday morning and then went to the arena. We all decided against a breakfast and got ready for the game we took our team photo.
We started the match against CIT and by the end of the first quarter it was Dundalk IT 20 Cork IT 2. Some awesome three point shooting from one of our newest recruits stunned the opposition. We went on to win the match by roughly 30 points.
Then we heard we were playing UL in the final.
We got some breakfast and went back over. We walked on to the court. For the next 40 minutes what followed was a game that had some terrible defence by us some mis-allocation of points by the table/third official and some of the most awesome 3 pointers I have seen in a long time. Our point guard Tommy made 6 3 pointers within two quarters. No matter what UL tried no matter how many players put on him he couldn't be stopped but unfortunately the game was still lost by 4 points. for the second time in two days a slow start is what lost the match for us. The fact that the incorrect score was put up on the score board shouldn't have mattered.Even if it may have given the opposition a psychological advantage, we should have beaten them.
We then sat down and watched the cup final between DCU who looked like the favourites and NUI Galway. NUI went on to win the game. They weren't better on any kind of technical level. They were definitely not as physical as the opposition but they won it. This was down to a group of players who new how to play as a team. Our team have very talented individuals and player for player we were one of the strongest teams there but we still don't know how to play like a team.
We got some food and most of us then slept for the journey back. Got back to dundalk about half eight.
On reflection we did well. It was the first time Dundalk had entered a team in the freshers tournament and also we were the first Dundalk IT team to ever make it in to a basketball final. That is somthing to be proud of but we knew we should have won it.
So now our attention turns back to the league. With the taste of a win in our mouths it's time to make them more frequent.Role on Carlow IT!!!!

Tallaght IT Vs DKIT

2007-11-23T07:56:00.000Z

So last night we had our re-match against the tallaght side which beat us last week. For those of you that read the last one you'll remember that one of the issues with the game was the fact that the refereeing was shi.....sub standard. However that was nothing on last nights match.
We went down to the national basketball arena of Ireland in Tallaght to play the game. For a national arena though the floor could do with a bit of a rub down as we were able to skate in the dust. The game started and from the outset tallaght it made there intentions known with a few quick baskets. We were on the backfoot from that point on. It was at this stage that we started to realise that the ref was not working on any kind of impartial level. There were multiple fouls all of which were audible from the bench as the sound of slaps could be heard yet for some reason the ref who was much closer to the action couldn't hear a thing. The heads started to go down but slowly dundalk started to come in to their own with some nice drives from Tim,Brian and Darren.
Some more unfair calls later and some frustration from the players which led to us giving away some fouls and we were 18 behind going in to the last quarter. The team couldn't be faulted for lack of hunger but a few silly mistakes and letting the heads go down on a few occasions are what ultimatley led to us loosing this game.
A lot of positives can be taken from it though.The team are working well together and starting to gel which is great. We've developed a style and now are starting to have a sixth sense where to find other players on the court.
From now on we have no excuses. We know how to play and we know what we're good at. No more bulshit,no more excuses!!!

and then later that same night......

2007-11-20T15:35:00.000Z

So after a bad loss in a game we felt could be won some of the team went on to amber. The night passed well but my highlight had to be Tim's bald German friend who kept saying that bacardi wasn't a womans drink. Also that German people are awesome and that German ladies at least the ones that hang around with the guys from the team clear six foot quite easily.
German lads seem to be also fond of slap fights as I found myself surrounded by three who were trying to bitch slap me in to submission. For my country and my pride I had to lay the pain out!!!
So lots of drinking bulshi*?ing and shots later we also went our seperate ways...I went home, some people went to a house party and one individual for reasons known only to himself went to the casino....Germans, they're CRAZY!!!!

Dundalk IT Vs Tallght IT

2007-11-20T15:14:00.000Z

Dundalk IT played they're second game last thursday against Tallaght IT here in Dundalk. The anticipation leading up to the game was that this was going to be one of the tough games as we lined out against the league favourites.
The team were up beat though and looking forward to a good game. Things started going a bit sour though when the two coaches were left to referee the game. This caused the usual issue of the coaches being worried about making calls in their teams favour and this lead to some bad referee calls on both sides but if I'm honest mainly by ours.
It was a tough and high paced game but due to some bad free throw taking and a few great performances from some Tallaght players DKIT started to lag behind. At the begining of the second half the referee turned up for the game so things got a bit better.
Going in to the fourth quarter though Dundalk were down by 12 points and through some great team work Dundalk got the score down to a four point deficit with a minute to go. But DKIT unfortunatley let their eye off the ball for the second game in a row and Tallaght went on to score a three point shot and another two point shot to bring the gap to ten.
The end scoreline didn't really show the effort and work that the home team put in but cest la vie.Again Steven played his heart out and was awesome when it came to rebounds and such. Tommy also played well if not overwhelmed by the fast hands of the Tallaght IT point guard.
I can't help but feel that if DKIT don't learn to kill off a game and unless we learn as a team how to keep the foot down until the final whistle we're going to end up with a very mediocre season and I hate mediocrity especially when I know the team is a lot more capeable then that!!!

Royal college of surgeons-65, DKIT-62

2007-11-15T09:13:00.000Z

Well our first game has come and gone. I have to say for our first league game we didn't do too badly although if I'm honest we should have killed them off at the begining of the fourth quarter.
We were down by 14 at the end of the first quarter. By the end of the first half we were down by 8. By the end of the third quarter we were up by four so as you can see from this trend you would think that we would kill them off. But due to a few crucial mistakes by ourselves and some good work by RCSI they won the game by three.
We lost one of our big men early on but apart from that there were just a few basic mistakes where players should have passed instead of taken a shot but there is no point looking at that now as hopefully players have learned from their own mistakes. Awesome hussel though in offence and particular great work from Tommy Tim and Aris. Great boards by Stephen and Brian.
Hopefully going in to what will probably be our toughest home game this season against tallaght we can improve on last nights performance.
Roll on Tallaght.....

Welcome one and all

2007-11-13T15:47:00.000Z

Hello sports fans.
Finally a place for me to keep people up to date with the success or failure of the forthcoming basketball season here in dkit. We're quietly confident but it remains to be seen what this team can do until we play against other teams at the same level.
So far as pre-season friendlies go we've won one and lost one. Hopefully we'll be a bit more consistent and have an awesome season. We've our first game tomorrow 13/11/2007 against Royal college of surgeons. It's an away game and our first real test as a team. Then on Thursday 14/11/2007 we have our second game against the favourites for the league Tallaght IT. Largest basketball en-catchment area in the country with several teams local to the area such as hoops, kilnamanagh and St Marks but on Thursday we'll see what they've got or if the hype was completely unjustified.
From what I keep hearing though from the coach here and from more senior players it should be a good season for us as we have the strongest squad the college has seen in years.
Time as always will tell.