By Ian Chew
Despite close attention by the Purefoods defenders, Slinger Darren Ng top-scored with 23 points for his team on the back of three 3-pointers. His team edged out Purefoods 92-84 for their third successive win. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Tuesday, Sept 30, 2008 – The Singapore Slingers survived a late fourth quarter onslaught by the visiting Philippines Purefoods team to maintain a perfect 3-0 record this season in front of 6,000 roaring spectators, itself a record turnout.
In what was their sternest test to date, the Slingers had to endure some typically tough physical defense from their opponents as well as a hostile crowd to hold on for a 92-84 win. Slinger Darren Ng coolly sank four free throws late in the fourth quarter for a game-high 23 points to help his team hang on.
It had not helped matters that the Slingers had just returned from an exhaustive road trip and had little preparation for the game.
“We played four competitive games in four days in a tournament in Taiwan last week and would have played the semi finals and final or third/fourth placing if not for the typhoon,” related head coach Gordon Mcleod of the team’s incredible foray to Hualien, Taiwan. “We had to take a train to the airport as the roads were flooded and eventually only reached Singapore at 5.30am this morning!”
Yet the home team looked anything but jaded in a sparkling first quarter when they outscored Purefoods 29-20 with a barrage of five 3-pointers. Darren displayed his shooting threat by scoring the first and last basket of the quarter from beyond the arc for 8 first quarter points, while teammate Blogoj Janev added another 7 points.
Purefoods head coach Ryan Gregorio did appear a little shell shocked at the sharpshooting accuracy of the home team, though his team managed a creditable 20-point reply through some good inside play. He did however, ring some key changes in the second quarter.
Out came the Philippines Basketball Association team with a decided more physical approach and it soon told on the Slingers as Purefoods went on a 10-7 run to close the gap. Slinger guard Darren was a marked man throughout the quarter, and it showed when he was hauled down by the Purefoods defense as he went for a breakaway layup. The incident almost resulted in an altercation between the players of both teams but fortunately, good sense prevailed.
The game-seasoned Slingers showed their experience at the end of the first half though as both Chris Daniel and Al Vergara shot quick successive three-pointers to lift their team to their biggest lead at 47-34 yet going into the half time break.
Purefoods captain K Raymundo then took on his team’s scoring burden and the entire Slinger defense by pouring in 10 points in a 16-11 run midway through the third quarter. Raymundo’s quick first step to the basket and accurate pull-up jumpers caused all sorts of headaches for the Slingers defenders as they rotated in vain to contain him.
The pattern of the game was becoming clear at this point though – anytime the visiting team rallied, the hosts had an answer. The answer came in the form of Slingers forward John Fitzgerald who burst into life with seven quick points to put the Slingers up 70-52 at the end of the third quarter for their biggest lead of the game thus far.
Purefoods were not about to roll over as their compatriots Air21 Express did before though. Egged on by a vociferous crowd, they clawed their way back to close the gap to a mere 4 points at one stage. Star Purefoods guard James Yap and captain Raymundo was ably supported by their team’s role players in a huge 30-16 run off an energetic full court defense throughout the quarter. The scoreboard showed 86-82 in the Slingers’ favor with just over a minute to go.
That last-gasp effort by Purefoods did not prove enough though.
A hotly disputed flagrant foul call on the Purefoods James Yap saw Slinger Darren Ng stepping up to the free throw line and calmly sinking all his attempts amidst the swirling controversy for a hard-fought 92-84 victory. A telling statistic for the game was at the three-point line where the home team converted 11 out of 20 attempts while the visitors downed only 4 of their 14 tries. In the end, the Slingers simply outshot a competitive Purefoods team.
“I am extremely proud of the character shown by the boys in view of what we have been through and pleased with the scoring contributions from all the players. Eric helped the team a lot in this game though he did appear a little rusty from not playing the entire week (due to a sore back),” said Slingers coach Gordon.
The next game though, against Sydney Spirit would be a different proposition altogether.
“They are a very good team, with a totally different playing style (compared to the PBA teams) that the Slingers have hosted so far,” he continued.
“The key thing now is to have a good rest!”
Al Vergara endured a hostile Filipino crowd last night but showed great court awareness and composure to score 12 points. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Big Sam Harris goes for two against Purefoods, ending the game with 2 points. His biggest contribution is in his defensive play however. (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
A Purefoods player lines up the basket over the outstretched hands of Eric Sandrin. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Chris Daniel dunks for two of his 10 points. A balanced team scoring by the Slingers enabled them to triumph against Purefoods, said coach Gordon McLeod. (Photo 5 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Highlights of the fourth quarter
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE0i1SvrJJs
Highlights of the third quarter
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5sG1YzJcdU
Highlights of the second quarter
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5-AD0mda3A
Highlights of the first quarter
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyWEBKBJEKs
Related stories:
Slinger Eric Sandrin survives dangerous play by de Ocampo of Air21
Slingers overcome stiff Philippines Air21 resistance to sweep basketball series
Expect a fiery rematch, says Slingers head coach Gordon McLeod
Phillppines' Air21 crash to high-flying Singapore Slingers in season opener
Singapore Slingers gear up for season's first test against Philippines' Air21 Express
Hi Liz, I understand your frustrations but my view is that the referees missed calls on both sides, not just on Purefoods. One of the ways though that the organisers can consider in future is to pay visiting teams to bring along one of their referees. This will definitely help minimize any charges of bias and maybe improve the game.
Refereeing aside, I still stand by my report that the Slingers won the game Tue night because their ball movement was better and 3-point shooting much sharper than Purefoods. People may overlook the fact the Slingers, though a relatively new team, have been seasoned by the many pre-season competitions that they have participated in and their team understanding is impressive. The Slingers are also a well coached team and one of their strengths is the balanced scoring contributions from the entire team, not just depending on one or two stars.
But credit must still be given to the visitors. Purefoods’ energy and fighting spirit was incredible and to comeback in the fourth quarter like they did against the Slingers gave the crowd something to shout about. Hopefully we can see the return of some more Philippines teams to add colour to the basketball scene in Singapore!
Hi bri, francis, Ian and others.. We can’t just accept the FACT that because they were local refs, you would expect bias decisions against the competitors. This is so unprofessional. Something has to be done to IMPROVE this! Yes, such bias calls do exist but so what? Just because they exist, nothing will be done and we just have to accept that reality? What is the referee for then?
As for the white guy who gave a dirty finger, that was disrespectful of him. Do not do unto others what you don’t want others do unto you. I am not saying that he deserved the disrespect that he was shown by the Filipinos but the Filipinos’ violent reactions were brought about by the build up of anger towards what was going on in the unfair game plus the disrespect of this white guy. Filipinos has a great sense of brotherhood. If one Filipino is oppressed, the rest will fight for him. But then again, the reaction was too much and was indeed violent.
Mabuhay pilipinas
show them what the pinoy game is made of
continue the basketball legacy
nina,do u play basketball?anyway u don’t have to answer that…
if the officiating will not improve,say goodbye to the asian prof league being spearheaded by slingers…and maybe to the slingers also…eventually invited teams will beg off next time around if they learn or experience “cooked officiating”…I’ve watched the last 3 games and saw the officiating were really bad against the visitors(u can say I’m biased but what the heck other people are saying too,and most importantly I’ve seen it with my own eyes)…
so is it a googbye for slingers this early?only the organizers can answer that…(not u nina)
Referee poor standard or double standaard had been a problem in singapore for so many years, and it will be for many years to come. NO MATTER HOW YOU COMPLAIN. It happens in any tournament, be it friendlies, inter-school( ask hwa chong) NBL Div 1, 2 or qualifying ETC. So no point argueing here about the standard cos nothing gonna be done by BAS..
hi nina. i’m disappointed by your own double standards. if a slinger player falls down, like sandrin, you call it a dirty play. when lanete fell down just as hard and the ref did not call any violation at all, you deem the screen legal. also, how easy is it to claim someone does not know his basketball when you don’t even know him? although i’m tempted, i don’t think i have ample support to throw back the same accusation at you.
in any case, we bought agree the officiating is bad. this precisely makes my point. darren replied in his blog and agreed on this matter. but like ian said, these refs are the best we’ve got here. my point is simply just like yours, we need better officiating to protect the welfare of the players and the integrity of the sport.
whether you are impressed with filipino play is a matter of taste. you are definitely entitled to your own opinion in the same way many are in saying they are impressed with filipino basketball. this includes darren himself and the coach among many others.
cheers.
If you look at the replay the play by eric sandrin in the backcourt was not an illegal screen… if you don’t know the rules you shouldn’t make comments on this board. The refs do need to do a better job. Thats why people are getting injured and the crowd is getting out of control. Look at the last home game with Sandrin getting undercut… he’s still injured and although he’s not playing like himself, he’s still putting in his time. And look at the several fouls that were committed on Darren, I’m surprised he didn’t break. The refs seemed intimidated by the crowd and there were plenty of times where they should have called technical fouls and they didn’t. In professional basketball coaches and players that are not playing are NOT allowed to come on the court…. when the team of purefoods came on the court and their coaches, the refs should have handed out several tech…or at least warnings! There are several things during the game that happened that were unfair for both sides, I don’t think that the Slingers are going to be able to continue on this route without some more professional refs out there that aren’t biased for whatever team is playing….. as far as I’m concerned the Filipinos do NOT play high quality basketball, from all the games I’ve seen and played in I’m still not impressed!!!
I admire the Philippines crowd for their passion but teams (players and coaches) must be aware of the great responsibility they have in not stirring up the crowd. I’m not sure what was exchanged between the Purefoods coach and Caucasian fan but what transpired later was not pretty and downright scary. The more aggressive Filipino spectators could have started a riot!
As for refereeing, let me add my two cents worth. No referee in the world can be perfect, but I believe the referees were trying their best. The Singaporean officials need some time to learn the Filipino style of play while the Philippines team also need to get used to stricter style of officiating. Both parties would have to adapt to improve the entertainment value of the game.
From what I have observed, their officiating have improved since the first Air21 games and I thought that overall, they controlled the game, though some calls were missed. Give them some time – they’re the best we’ve got!
A great game but referees and the angmoh spoiled it..
A lot of unfair calls were made favoring the import slingers..
Maybe refs does not want to give the 10k..hehehe..anyway, they can get that back with the sell-out crowd…
next time bring in Ginebra and it will surpass yesterdays attendance…
the angmoh should have been sent out..i dont know what happened but i believe he utter racial comments or the like that made Gregorio pissed…but the reason why the ang moh was almost mobbed is that dirty finger, that why is was still lucky that he came out the stadium in one pc…the crowd was almost about to “Kuyog” the ang moh fortunately it did not happen…
result of bad officiating resulted into players getting involved. non calls really upset players and try to get back at the each other…one very obvious unfair call is against Topex Robinson with Sandrin banging him to the floor using his elbow…that was very obvious but the referee did not call…i think is not a human mistake, its what we call “Lutong Macao”(search it on the internet)…
to the organizers thanks for bringing in PBA teams..next time bring GINEBRA and jammed packed stadium..
Bri, i agree with you..there were a lot of ridiculous fouls called in favor of the slingers and i’ve seen hard fouls not being called and soft fouls being called against purefoods. but like what i said, it would always have bias if you put in local refs. its almost everywhere.
Fair comment, Bri. In fact, I don’t know bball that well and so I’m sure you are quite correct.
The inconsistent refereeing I suppose is what irks folks, both players and fans.
hi francis. like i said, there were plenty of bumps by the slingers against purefoods that were not called. naturally, that would make purefoods players believe that’s how the game will be called. but when they started doing the same on the other end, they were whistled for fouls. you can’t blame them for scratching their heads on such inconsistent officiating, can you?
hi les, i beg to disagree about your comment on the refs following the letter of the law. there were actually plenty of fouls committed by the slingers that were not called. after one scary fall by a purefoods guard (lanete) due to an illegal screen by eric sandrin, the coaching staff, fans and even some of the organizers reacted badly against the refs, with good reason. as a result, there were two plays were the refs made out-of-this-world horrendous calls in favor of purefoods (one was an offensive foul on a slinger player when none should have been made, but since the refs have whistled and were prepared to call a foul on purefoods, he just changed it to a stupid offensive foul upon seeing the crowd react). from then onwards, things went for the worse. it was clearly a disappointing performance by the referees. this, in my opinion, is the foremost thing Singapore basketball has to fix.
They are FIBA referees, and I guess its a lot different as regards with calling fouls. In the pro league (NBA, NBL, PBA…etc), they allow soft fouls as nothing…its more into the harder fouls. last night, i was sitting next to Les (taking photos as well) and what she said were true…I also agree about what SgBoi said. But that’s always the case if the refs are local, they would always favor the home team…I guess its just the same thing in the Philippines..Taiwan..Korea, etc. just to name a few…by the way, am also a Filipino.
[…] Ian (Redsports) has a wrap-up of the game here. […]
Refs are an issue in Singapore. Not having a high-level professional league to ref in consistently always means they ref these games in Singapore with inconsistencies thrown in. They just don’t see this level often enough. What’s normal play for the Slingers or Purefoods looks rough to them.
Next week they’ll be back refereeing inter-constituency or Singapore National Basketball League games, or inter-school games.
The crowd lost control at times but hey, they know their bball and adrenaline and crowd dynamics plays a part. But there were auxilliary police around and so it was under control.
If nothing else, it made the game a lot more interesting. And it was unnecessary of the fan to taunt the Purefoods coach.
Well, Yes I am from the Philippines..if you know your Basketball sense, you would know what I am talking about here. The Singapore Slingers is a very good team and would be solid if they stay intact together for some more time. What I am trying to put accross here is, if they want to be successfull in the long run, the referees should raise their bar to the next level. PBA kind of plays are physical, but they are not as physical as to compared to the European, where the Big Boys are really are.
Now, Les was right..the referees was just calling everything they see, but again, if they are going to call it tight, they have to be consistent. Filipinos are passionate for Basketball, just like Singapore is passionate about football..lets just put it like that. So please don’t get me wrong..and I am not being offensive to anyone..coz I am just stating an observation that is also a fact.
If you go to NBL, Aussies are far more Physical than the Philippines. But that’s not even the point. If the Slingers are to be successfull in the long run, they have to be able to endure the physicality of the game. Basketball is a man’s game. It could have been a nice game last night..yes I was there..but I wasn’t booing at the slingers..I am just merely trying to appreciate the game. Yes, Purefoods is my favorite team back home..even since I was a kid..They built a legacy of their own in the PBA..they won countless championship. PBA has established itself firmly as the first professional league in Asia..for more than 30 years now..
The behavior of the crowd is inevitable..yes they shouldn’t have done that..and its a shame..but that is a result of adrenalin..Have you seen them do that in Air21 games? I definitely accept defeat..as long as its fairplay. Don’t call physicality as dirty plays, as it is part of basketball..well I can’t blame them since Singapore is not really exposed to Baskeball..but again, you see it for yourself..when was the last time you’ve seen a crowd like that watching a basketball game here in Singapore? and you think when will be the next? Time will tell..you go figure.
I think to be fair to Purefoods, they were not used to the local referees. I was taking photographs for this game and when the refs made a foul call in the first quarter, the Filipinos would turn around with an incredulous look at the referee.
I think the Filipinos are used to playing in a more physical PBA and I think the Singapore referees are just calling everything they see because they are not used to refereeing such high level games on a regular basis and so they err on the side of caution and follow the letter of the law.
It’s all about degrees.
I think “SgBoi” should be from Philippines. So many dirty play on the court and also the bad behaviour of the crowds as they throw coins and water bottle to attack those who support Slingers – what the shame!!!!!!!! Don’t blame the referees as they are also human that will make mistake.
I just woul like to comment on this statement by this article: “The pattern of the game was becoming clear at this point though – anytime the visiting team rallied, the hosts had an answer”
– well, it is also becoming clear at any point that this is also the pattern in all the 3 games…everytime the Philippine team make their come back, the referees also prevent them from doing so..referees dictate the outcome of the game..what a shame! The referees should have allowed the players to play the game at crunch time. This just shows that there’s a long way to go for the Singapore community to be able to at least catch up with the passion of basketball that the Filipinos have. It shows last night..and the indoor stadium would probably not see the same huge crowd again..Singapore Slingers is a good team..they can be even better as they go along. But again, its a shame that the referees are the ones dictating the game.. The crowd came to watch a good game..only to be disappointed by the bad, crucial calls.