Tag Archive for 'abl'

Last game of the season for the Slingers

Published on February 21, 2010 in Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments Tags: abl, asean basketball league, basketball, satria muda britama, singapore slingers.

I was supposed to do a little write up on the final Asean Basketball League (ABL) Playoff game between the Singapore Slingers and Satria Muda BritAma early this month. But given the time constraints and not forgetting the usual bit of slacking off all mixed together in a bag that already included frustration over how our local team performed, let’s say I apologise for the tardiness. In fact, I was so late that the ABL Finals ended today with a best-of-five-games sweep over the Indonesian team (hands them the broom) by the formidable Philippine Patriots. Congratulations guys, you truly are the better team for the season.

Coming back to early February, if you don’t already know, the Slingers were sent packing and out of this year’s ABL season after the loss to the Indonesian team 86-76. I won’t go into the details of the game given that you can find out more about it here, here, here and here (by the way, did I said I was late?). But what I can do is to leave you with some photos of the final playoff game.

With a few months to regroup, rethink and perhaps restructure before the next season, I believe the Slingers have alot on their hands. This is especially after coach Frank Arsego has announced his decision on not returning to the team due to family reasons a couple of days back. Thanks to coach Frank for sticking with the team despite a number really rough experiences that transpired throughout the two years of his tenure. You will be sorely missed.

Until the next season, which I hope will be better managed (I am referring to the home team) – Gooooo Slingers!!

More photos in my Flickr album here.

Hartman broke my lens…broke my heart

Published on February 8, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 6 Comments Tags: abl, AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, asean basketball league, camera, nikon, satria muda britama, singapore slingers.

It was a double heart breaker for me yesterday afternoon at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Not only did Satria Muda Britama take the Singapore Slingers down in the third and deciding semi-final game of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), the visiting team’s star player Alex Hartman was responsible for breaking my AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens.

I have always considered the photographers’ zone at any basketball game as some sort of a war zone. With stray basketballs flying at any direction at top speed and players crashing into you (these guys are big), photographers require quick reflexes to pull their cameras away from their face and either stop what’s coming towards them or brace themselves for some heavy contact. While I have been rather quick and fortunate all these years sitting at the Slingers’ court with a fantastic view, I guess I wasn’t quick enough on Sunday.

Nevermind that I caught a number of really interesting shots during the first two quarters, it was during the middle of the third quarter when the incident happened and everything went downhill from there. It all started when Slingers’ import Marcus “Dude you are really killing me with your reckless drives and turnovers” Ng drove into the paint for a very contested layup and drew a foul. Hartman in the heat of the moment, caught the stray basketball and threw it at the photographers’ direction with his right hand in frustration. That was when the ball went straight towards me, hit my lens and sent it flying towards another photographer.

My last shot before the incident

With that, my lens was pretty much busted and all attempts to self repair was unsuccessful. A small but significant piece of the lens broke off. Hartman in an unsportsmanlike conduct pulled off one heck of a dumb-ass move. While I was able to mount my lens on the camera, it was extremely loose and the photos captured were completely dark and off. Well done Hartman…well done!! You broke my heart!! Honestly I don’t really care if that was unintentional. Everything is on tape and I’m pretty sure at least half the spectators saw what happened (does anyone have a copy?). Thankfully, a fellow media photographer passed me his fish eye lens and I continued shooting knowing that I could have gotten better results if my lens wasn’t broken.

Left: The busted area | Right: The piece that broke off

Moving on, I’m probably going to write to the ABL and Satria Muda Britama about the incident. These teams are normally insured and I hope to get the team to either replace a new lens or bear the full cost of the repair. More of that soon ~cross fingers~

Slingers one win away from ABL Finals

Published on February 1, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 3 Comments Tags: abl, asean basketball league, basketball, satria muda britama, singapore slingers.

In a series where the stakes are high and bragging rights prevalent, the Singapore Slingers edged forward and took game one of the best of three in the Asean Basketball League Playoffs against the Satria Muda BritAma, 87 – 68. Playing with confidence despite trading basket at both ends, the Slingers put up with tough defence from the visiting team before starting to pull away as the final 10 minutes began ticking.

Tip off!!

Top scorers for the home team went to our American imports #31 Kyle Jeffers and #35 Michael LeBlanc who collectively made 43 points, almost half the team’s final score. Both players also made double-double pulling down 10 rebounds each and were perfect at the charity stripe.

Left: Jeffers making a hook | Right: Jeffers hitting a buzzer beater

Left: Michael going the other way | Right: Making a trey

Our other imports also contributed significantly with Philippine sensation #19 Al Vegara together with #21 Marcus Ng contributing 10 points each. Al also made four assists and three steals while Marcus got six rebounds.

Left: Al can drive… | Right: Al can shoot

Left: Marcus going to the other side | Right: Finishing a perfect alley-oop

Local Slinger boy #10 Hong Wei Jian did us proud again putting up 11 points, two assists and three steals. While, most of his points were taken from the free throw line, he almost had a perfect night missing only just one. Most notably is his constant fearless drives to the bucket in the face of big defenders resulting in a number of clashes and hack-downs. Let’s just say not only did he really take it for the team, he made the visitors pay with his free throws.

Left: Wei Jian goes for a contested lay up | Right: Taking one for the team before going to the charity stripe

Our visitors although put up a good fight were unfortunately not able to respond to the Slingers’ arsenal. Their only main scorers were #43 Nakiea Miller and #8 Alexander Gordon Hartman who walked way with 18 and 21 points respectively. Only Miller had a double-double night with 13 rebounds. The rest of the squad were unable to respond.

Left and Right: Miller going in

Left: Hartman completes an alley-oop emphatically | Right: Heading to the rim

The two teams will meet for game two on Wednesday in Jakarta, Indonesia. I’m pretty sure Satria Muda BritAma has a score to settle and will give the Slingers a run for their money. Game three if necessary will be held in Singapore this Sunday. Honestly, as much as I would like to see the Slingers play live (with a fantastic view), I’m rooting for a sweep ~starts waving a broom~. Gooooo Slingers.

You can read more of the game at the Slingers’ website, Redsports and Len’s blog.

More photos available in my Flickr album here.

Slingers extend losing streak to two with second home defeat

Published on December 8, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 3 Comments Tags: abl, asean basketball league, basketball, philippine patriots, thailand tigers.

I was unable to attend the match up between the Singapore Slingers and Thailand Tigers due to work commitments yesterday. After checking the scores upon returning home, I was rather disheartened to learn that our home team lost again, 65-62 at home to the 5th seed visitors. However, given that they had a good run during the first few matches of their Asean Basketball League (ABL) campaign, the Slingers remain second in the league table at 5-3, but trailing further from the Philippine Patriots’ stellar performances with 7-1.

Unlike my previous posts on the Slingers matches, there are no photos and match review. With that, allow me to leave you with some write ups from various sites:

Thailand Shock Win in Singapore from the Singapore Slingers’ website
Thailand Tigers Turn Their Game Around To Deliver Shock Defeat To Singapore Slingers from the ABL website
Singapore Slingers fall to second straight home defeat with 65-62 loss to Thailand Tigers from Redsports’ website

Of course its easy for us to dig up excuses like a disruption due to a two-week break or fatigue, but let’s be honest, the Slingers do require some soul searching and a chance at redemption when they meet the Tigers again at home on 17 December, 8pm. Will the Slingers extend their drought or use the 10-day break to pick up the pieces and return to their winning ways? Tickets are available at Sistic…

Goooooo Slingers!!

Slingers torched as Dragons hands them their first home loss

Published on November 24, 2009 in Things that suck and Usual Ramblings. 8 Comments Tags: abl, asean basketball league, basketball, kl dragons, singapore slingers.

I’m pretty sure the media had field day reporting about the Singapore’s Slingers’ first loss at home to the KL Dragons with a tonne of ’sizzling’ title wordplay. There’s so much one can do with the word Dragons and anything related to burning, fire, etc. Here’s my continuation after my previous post on how Singapore Slingers and fans got owned on their own soil. But first, much thanks to Nic and Daphne for organising and scoring us fantastic passes.

If the Dragons’ performance on Sunday is any indication of how their style of play is going to be like for the rest of their ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) campaign, the other teams better watch out. With strong inside presence and a tonne of scoring options, I reckon their current 4th position in the ABL ladder would slowly climb to top seed. Yes the Dragons are hungry and they could be a force to be reckoned with.

With a full squad and the return of point guard Wei Long after his chicken pox saga (welcome back dude), the number one Singapore Slingers have absolutely no reason why they should lose sunday’s game – especially at home and to a team that seem to be heading towards the wooden spoon award. But I guess in the case of yesterday’s game, complacency could possibly be an issue as the home team were caught with their guard down totalling 16 turnovers and a shooting average of under 50%.

Len and I have always discussed about a key element missing in the Slingers squad – big inside presence. KL’s #30 Jamal Brown who was once a Slinger is the kind of guy we believed the team needed, and ironically made his ex-team pay dearly for defaulting him before the Dragons picked him up. Together with a supporting cast of big men including #3 Chris Danial Kuete Lonichi and #33 Chee Lee Wei (mad hops dude!!), the Slingers had to work doubly hard getting inside.

Slingers’ imports #31 Kyle Jeffers and #33 Michael LeBlanc were held to just 12 and 13 points respectively, together with low shooting percentages. Despite Jeffers’ double-double efforts with 16 rebounds, the home team still found difficulty getting points in the paint. However, local boy #10 Hong Wei Jian stepped up to the plate and finished with a season-high 18 points and 4 rebounds, perhaps the first in Slingers’ history did a local outscore their imports (I can’t verify that, hope someone can). #11 Michael Wong (sorry, unable to take any photos of you) also contributed with 10 points, making 50% of his shots and Philippine sensation #19 Al Vergara had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Left: Wei Jian takes it to the rim | Right: Challenges his ex-teammate in the paint

Left: LeBlanc had to fire from the outside | Right: Al fights to the rim

At the other end the Dragons roughed it out with the Slingers as Kuete and #10 Rudy Lingganay put up 20 and 21 points. Rudy whom I believe hailed from the Philippines was totally sick with his inside scoring. How he managed to get inside in the presence of big defense, I’ll never know. Together with Kuete they both contributed from beyond the arc with six treys. Brown too had a double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds (oh, he got three blocks too). Most importantly, his intimidating presence and iron curtain defence played a huge role in preventing inside points, something that statistics will never show.

Left: Kuete takes it to the hole | Right: Brown with a block in his name while Kuete jumps in a bid to swat

Left: Brown can’t get it? No problem, Kuete is on his way up for a block | Right: Brown contributes from the baseline

On a lighter note, I can’t help but wonder why I didn’t take as many photos as I would have for other games. I think might have spent a majority of the time ball watching than shooting (hey, it was an intense game and we needed numbers), something I should shake off for future games. I’m pretty sure I missed plenty of good shots.

The Slingers will take a two-week break before hosting the Thailand Tigers on 7 Dec at the Indoor Stadium. Currently placed last, the Tigers have the same record as the KL Dragons before they met the home team on Sunday. Will the Slingers put their guard down again and repeat another defeat by a statistically weaker team, or will they find some time for self reflection and redeem themselves with a win? There is only one way to find out. Tickets are available at Sistic. Of course KL Dragons fans are more than welcome to visit. But this time, cheer for us yah? Goooooo Slingers!!

More photos in my Flickr album here.

Singapore Slingers and fans got owned at home

Published on November 23, 2009 in Things that suck and Usual Ramblings. 11 Comments Tags: abl, asean basketball league, kl dragons, singapore slingers.

Of course this is based on my observation but still, I find it rather interesting and blog worthy. The Singapore Slingers experienced their first ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) loss at home to the KL Dragons today, 74-86. Apart from great plays by the visiting team and the Slingers being owned on the boards with strong rebounds from the Dragons’ Jamal Brown, who once donned a Slinger jersey (more of that in another article), the 1,000 if not more Singapore Slingers fans were completely owned by a small group of KL Dragons in team t-shirts cheering for their team and waving their flags. From what I gathered, they actually travelled all the way from KL to Singapore for the game (can anyone verify that?).

What seemed to be an home court advantage became an away game for the Singapore Slingers as cheers from the 50 or more strong KL Dragon fans drowned the somewhat quiet home fans. After the game, Singapore fans were taunted by Dragons’ fans rhythmically outside the Indoor Stadium entrance as they banged on drums and symbols (yes, they brought musical instruments down) in their bid to create more hype, which they did pretty well.

Nice sounding “Wicked Aura Batucada” like tunes aside (well I kinda liked it), I wished I could say that the Dragons’ fans are just celebrating the win, but with chants like “Who won today? KL Dragons!!”, followed by cheers by our visitors, I think that qualifies as taunting (hey…I could be wrong). As for the Singapore fans, they just stood there, watched and some even cheered after they stopped playing. Of course as friendly competition goes, in addition to Singapore being a safe country and the fact that there are really no super hardcore Slinger fans, there were no fights or incidents…thankfully ~wipes brow~.

Left: The small but strong KL Dragons fans cheering for their team | Right: I think the only time Singapore Slingers fans every stood up and cheered was for free t-shirts

Left: KL Dragons fans cheering after the game ended | Right: The celebration continues outside the Indoor Stadium

I know its not soccer and I have always wished for a strong Slinger fan base especially at home and a completely sell out crowd at the Indoor stadium chanting “Let’s go Slingers!! Let’s go!!”. But at the rate how things are going, I reckon that Singapore fans will continue to be owned by fans from visiting teams as the ASEAN Basketball League carries on until the end of season. Oddly, for a country that produces the loudest and proudest complainers, Singaporeans are rather quiet eh?

My report on the game coming soon. Once I get the statistics…

I’m really not dead..neither are the Slingers

Published on November 21, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments Tags: abl, asean basketball league, basketball, satria muda britama, singapore slingers.

Woah it has been a while since my last entry. I guess its a combination of my busy schedule especially with the big project coming up in under two months together with mix bag of laziness, two new games (NBA Live 10 and DJ Hero) and other little things that led to a blog drought. Of course my cable connectivity has played a huge role in my inactivity. So dear folks at Starhub, you have no idea how itching I am to switch to a dedicated line once my contract with you is up. If your claim on being the fastest takes me back to my 56.6kbps days, I wonder how much slower can you get? This time the turtle doesn’t win.

Rants aside, the good news is that there are loads of things to write about and if I don’t get cracking, stories will pile up and I’ll definitely start forgetting them. Heck, I’ve gotten so far from blogging that my article on the Singapore Slingers’ match up against Satria Muda BritAma on 1 November (its a good day) is not up yet. Twenty days later, the Slingers have moved on losing one to the Philippine Patriots and taking another against the Satria Muda BritAma in both away games, while I’m still sitting idly by thinking its nice to be 4-0.

Of course I would love to go all hardworking and write about 1 November but there’s really no point. All the reports are up and you might as well read it from the Slingers themselves, Len who has been diligently keeping us updated and Red Hoops. I’m sure there are more reports but let’s keep it clean. The Singapore Slingers currently lead the ASEAN Basketball League with a 5-1 record and will be hosting the KL Dragons (2-4) tomorrow afternoon at the National Stadium. Len has a tonne of useful information here. Tickets are available at Sistic.

Gooo Slingers!!

More photos of the Singapore Slingers – Satria Muda BritAma game in my Flickr album here.

Slingers gun down Patriots

Published on October 25, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 3 Comments Tags: abl, asean basketball league, basketball, philippine patriots, singapore slingers.

The Singapore Slingers extended their winning streak to three (of three games) in their Asean Basketball League campaign with a 80-82 away victory over the Brunei Barracudas yesterday afternoon. With a game scheduled for the Slingers every week and the completion of round three yesterday, it means that my entry on last week’s (round two) game against the Philippine Patriots is way overdue. My bad on that.

Of course this would not have been possible without the hook up from Nic and Daphne for arranging, so much love to you guys. Last week, the Singapore Slingers managed to take down the formidable Philippine Patriots in an extremely intense and hard fought game. Bad refereeing aside (can’t blame Singaporean referees now) resulting in costly possession losses for both teams, the game was held extremely close until a late Slinger explosion that sent the visiting team packing with promises for revenge in their next meeting.

Patriots’ imports #42 Jason Lamar Dixon and #1 Brandon Charles Powell were their only double digit contributors for the game with 12 and 15 points respectively. Brandon had a double double that night pulling down 11 rebounds while Jason had nine. The rest of the Patriots players may not have put up as many points as their two American imports but their defence was impeccable leading to a Slingers’ inbound collapse in the fourth quarter and taking back a number of possessions. If the Slingers want another ‘W’ in their next in their next match up away, this is one key issue they must address.

Left: Jason going to the rim | Right: Trying to get in the paint

Left: Brandon fires from long range | Right: Flushes a contested two

Left: #Khasim Mirza firing from the paint as Leblanc takes to the floor | Right: #4 Christian Coronel laying up contested

Patriot point guard #3 Warren Ibanez who scored eight points was unfortunately taken out of the game halfway due to a broken nose (I think). I’m not too sure how it happened even when watching from under the rim but it sent him sliding to the photographers giving me an excellent vantage point. Although I felt bad for firing my camera away as he laid there waiting for the medical staff to arrive, but to be honest, I don’t think I can contribute much, recovery position maybe? Feel better dude, we’ll meet again.

Left: A medical staff tending to Warren | Right: Blood flowing from his nose as he stood

Although there weren’t any local Slingers player who had double digits that night, all our imports did with #19 Al Vergara putting up 11, #21 Marcus Ng scoring 13, #35 Michael LeBlanc making 15 and the #31 Kyle Jeffers leading the charge with 17 points. It was another double double night again for the ‘newly made-over’ Jeffers (more of that later) with him crashing the boards taking down 12 rebounds. Despite the fourth quarter defensive lock down by the Patriots, the Slingers managed to pull through with Marcus Ng (yeah I know) putting the game to bed with a superb dunk and a making couple of free throws in the last couple of minutes.

Left: Vegara with a floater | Right: Going for a lay up despite the heavy contest

Left: Marcus heading to the rim | Right: Hammers it in

Left: Leblanc hooks it from the right | Right: Getting fouled while firing

Left: Jeffers makes a two | Right: Going from under

There were two note worthy moments of that night. Local Slinger boy #5 Wong Wei Long who scored eight points made seven of them during the final minutes of the first half. His first successful three-point caused him to head to the ground with a foul in his favour. I’m sure he must have been practicing free throws the whole of that week after missing all his attempts during the last game against the Brunei Barracudas. Thankfully, he converted a rare four-point play after making his one and only free throw of the night. Seconds after gaining possession again, he sank in another trey to the amazement of the crowd.

Left: Wei Long’s first trey before he heads to the ground | Right: Wondering if the ghost of his previous game will haunt him

Spotting a clean shaven look and hairdo, Kyle Jeffers turned up last week in a very much boy’ish look. I was initially dumbfounded, thinking we had purchased another import. But it was until fellow photographer, Francis who set me straight did I realise that he is actually Jeffers. That was same time when he turned around and I saw #31, Jeffers at the back of his jersey. Nice look dude.

Left: Pretty good looking if you would to ask me | Right: Another look but in action

The Singapore Slingers returned home with a 3-0 record and their next match next Sunday will be against the visiting Satria Muda BritAma from Indonesia. Can they extend their winning streak to four? There is only one way to find out. Tickets are available at Sistic.

Goooo Slingers!!

You can read more about the game in Len’s blog here, and more photos in my Flickr album here.

Slingers victorious in first ABL game

Published on October 14, 2009 in Usual Ramblings. 8 Comments Tags: abl, asean basketball league, basketball, brunei barracudas, singapore slingers.

The Asean Basketball League (ABL) tipped off last weekend with the visiting Brunei Barracudas facing off with the Singapore Slingers on Sunday for their first game. Thanks to Nic and Daphne for arranging this, Len and I plus the usual Spartans members had the honour of popping over to the Indoor Stadium to catch the Slingers’ inaugural ABL game.

I think that the four Singapore Challenge Series games prior to the ABL was a really good pre-season practice for the Slingers given that this is the first time our local players make up the majority of the team. To be honest, I wasn’t too sure if the local Slingers could actually survive the league in the first place. Basketball is not exactly our number one sport and we all know Singapore isn’t too fantastic with soccer (wait, whatever happened to 2010 goal?). But after seeing how our local boys are doing so far with new confidence and better team dynamics, I think they will do fine ~cross fingers~ .

Thankfully, we had a confidence booster in the first game as the Slingers triumphed over the Barracudas 87-69. However, the 18-point win was not just merely handed to the home team in a silver platter, they had to fight for it. The first two quarters saw a neck-in-neck battle against the two teams as they traded baskets with the Slingers leading by one at the start of the second half. With huge in your face defense and a sudden 31-15 third quarter spurt, the Slingers finally put the game to bed and sent all five local players onto the court in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

Tip off

Having had only two weeks of training, I must say that the Barracudas’ efforts were commendable as they gave the Slingers a really hard time during the first half. American import #13 Michael Pilgrim (I can’t help but think he looks similar to Baron “Too Easy” Davis from the LA Clippers) contributed 16 points of his six of nine attempts and four rebounds while his fellow countryman and teammate #45 Lonnie Jones scored 13 points, pulled down all nine defensive rebounds and blocked five shots. Yes, Lonnie Jones is a scary guy. Filipino import #18 Leonidez Avenido pumped in 15 points, eight rebounds and dished out five assists. Unfortunately, the Barracudas’ local players did not make as much impact as their imports but I reckon with more practice sessions and more games to come, they will have something to show for.

Left: Jones lays it up in the paint | Right: Reaches to block Pathman’s fade away jumper

Left: Baron..I mean Pilgrim fearlessly takes it to the rim | Right: His only dunk of the night

Left: Going under the rim | Right: Avenido loses Al who screams for support

The Slingers did well with five of our players putting up double digits. Our local boys #5 Wei Long and #15 Pathman did us proud with them scoring 14 and 10 respectively. Wei Long proved deadly against the Barracudas with him making 50% from the three point line and five boards. However, I am pretty sure he will be practicing free throws the very next day after missing all five of his attempts ~shrugs shoulders~. Pathman too scored 50%, mostly from mid-range (I believed that will be his bread and butter position) and took down four rebounds.

Left and right: Wei Long firing at all cylinders

Left: Pathman goes basket as Francis partially blocks my camera (still much love to you bro) | Right: Fade away jumper

Our American imports were impressive and I’m ready to put my foot in my mouth anytime (just not right now ) after early skepticism that they aren’t able to contribute. #31 Kyle Jeffers crashed the boards more times than making shots with (get this..) eight offensive and 12 defensive rebounds, totaling 20 (yes 20 rebounds…crazy!!) while scoring 15 points, another double-double night for him. #35 Michael LeBlanc on the other hand made 20 points, powered for 10 rebounds with five assists. Philippine sensation #19 Al Vegara was in his phenomenal form again with amazing ball handling skills serving up eight assists and 10 points.

Left: Jeffers watches his ball go in | Right: Makes a hook from the right

Left: Leblanc draws a foul on the way to the rim | Right: Stays focused from mid range

Left: Al leading the charge | Right: Makes a pass to Wei Jian

Most noteworthy moment of the night goes to #10 Wei Jian who although made two dunk attempts, managed to pull of an emphatic two hander to the awe of the 1,000 spectators leading to an all out eruption (or at least just me).

Left: Couldn’t dunk so he lay’ed it in | Right: Flushes it (can you say poster boy?)

The next Slinger game will still be at home this Sunday at 4pm against the newly formed Philippine Patriots, who defeated Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma last Saturday. Touted as the team to take the trophy this season, the Patriots is definitely a force to be reckon with. I’m sure the Slingers too are keeping their eyes on the prize and hence, a Patriot upset is a must.

I’m sad to say that the turn out from Singaporean supporters (if any) is rather disappointing after so much criticism about the Singapore Slingers making up mostly of foreigners during the previous seasons. Now that the Singapore Slingers form a majority of local players and are doing pretty well, I wonder where all the critics are. Still it could be a lack of awareness and I hope with more games to come, we could perhaps start a different kind of Kallang wave at the Indoor Stadium soon. Tickets are available at Sistic at just a mere $8 – $18 (student discounts are also available).

You can read more about Len’s take of the game here and the importance of defense here.

More photos in my Flickr album here and here.