5 players make provisional Reds squad for adidas Nations basketball league

By Les Tan

The second round draft of the adidas Nations League last month yielded 18 players, five of whom were eventually selected to play for team Reds.

The adidas Nations League consists of four teams – Reds, Golds, Whites, Blacks – and some of this island’s best under-18 basketball talents will feature for them in a round-robin league next starting February 7, 2009.

Kua Hiong Yong (Jurong Junior College), Pedrio Florio Moschioni (Overseas Family School), Darryl Tong (Peirce Secondary), Li Qi Xiang (Peirce Secondary) and Chua Kang Yi (Ngee Ann Polytechnic) were the five second-round draft picks by Reds coaches Joe So and Foo Kwang Hock.

Speaking about the standards of the 65 players who showed up for the trial to make the second round draft, coach Joe So said: “Firstly, the number of players that were interested and enthusiastic about this trial was an encouraging sign. They came to impress us and we were in fact glad to know that we did not missed these people out. However, in the end, the choice of selecting the players was not an easy task and we decided on the 18 of them.”

“Based on the current group, we have a young and talented group of people. We lack a bit of depth in the point guard as well as the center positions. We are probably the smallest team around. Generally, most of the players know and have played with or against each other over the years. We also have a couple of Combined Schools or National Youth squad members playing in key positions.”

The best two players from the whole league will get a chance to represent Singapore at the adidas Nations training camps in China and the United States next year. A further seven players will also get to represent Singapore in the adidas 5, a regional tournament in China, in October 2008. While there, the players will take in an American National Basketball Association (NBA) game as well.

Provisional Reds Squad

Chua Kang Yi Ngee Ann Polytechnic (second round draft)
Darryl Tong Peirce Secondary (second round draft)
Hans Barroga Chatsworth International School
Hubert Neo New Town Secondary
Jabez Su Catholic High
Kua Hiong Yong Jurong Junior College (second round draft)
Li Qi Xiang Peirce Secondary (second round draft)
Lim Fang Qi Unity Secondary
Loh Hong Sheng Hwa Chong Institution
Ng Wei Xiang Unity Secondary
Pedro Florio Moschioni Overseas Family School (second round draft)
Pek jia Rong Ngee Ann Polytechnic
Subhas Nair New Town Secondary
Tan Wei Xiang Jurong West Secondary

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