Tag Archive for 'satria muda britama'

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.

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.