Story By REDintern Shaun Neo. Photos by REDintern Vanessa Lim and Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.
Blagoj Janev (Slingers, #21) goes up for two. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
As I sat along the length of the court in the Indoor Stadium to experience my first Singapore Slingers’ match, I had to restrain myself from turning around to the stands and shouting, “That’s what I’m talking about, Slinger fans!”
Having read about the 5,500-strong Filipino crowd that lit up the Slingers’ basketball challenge, I was expecting yet another massive turnout for a match-up between the Slingers and Beijing Aoshen. Perhaps even a gigantic China flag to cheer the Beijing Aoshen team on.
Unfortunately, there were only 1,000 spectators this time.
Still, the fans showed that heart was more important than mere physical presence as they passionately cheered the Slingers on. Having played basketball at various competition, I could never imagine any team in Singapore, apart from schools, having so many supporters behind them. I was stupefied.
Even the thousands of supporters during a national inter-schools final would have lost the energy to scream at the top of their lungs by the third quarter. This, however, was not the case for the Slingers’ fans. With the team establishing an early 10-point lead, the fans exploded emotionally as they prepared for a sweet victory, especially after losing the previous game.
It could only get better as the game progressed. As the Beijing Aoshen inched their way back into the game, the Slinger fans were motivated to cheer more aggressively. In the intense fourth quarter, the fans were a decisive factor. With the teams separated by just one point, the game boiled down to a mental battle – the first to succumb to pressure would face disastrous consequences.
With the crowd against them, Beijing Aoshen lost their cool as loopholes in their defensive plays were readily exploited and offensive plays lacked the cutting edge, only ending in turnovers. On the other hand, the Slingers performed even better and took home the win with a stunning 12-0 scoring run.
It was a scene like no other. The fans were absolutely fantastic.
On a more serious note, my first Slingers’ experience also raised the issue regarding the standards of our basketball officials. Having positioned myself beside the Beijing Aoshen’s bench, I could sense the frustration of Beijing Aoshen head coach Paul Coughter as he was unable to see eye-to-eye with the officials.
Of course coach Coughter’s opinion may be seen as biased but having experienced and witnessed the lack of professionalism of the officials myself, I was sympathetic. Fortunately, a fair call by the official that even coach Coughter could not argue with managed to salvage some respect for the referees.
The Singapore Slingers do set the benchmark for a realistic and attainable standard for both players and officials in the local basketball scene.
I, for one, am looking forward to the next game.
Eager fans wait for the Slinger girls to sling shot miniature basketballs to them. (Photo 2 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Al Vergara (Slingers, #1) going round his opponent. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Chris Daniel (Slingers, #6) manages to get off a tough shot. (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Slinger fans cheer on their players. (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Fans show signs of relief as the Slingers pull ahead in the nail-biting fourth quarter. (Photo 6 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Desmond Kuek was also seen enjoying the game with his family. (Photo 7 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Applauding the players after the game. (Photo 8 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Very brave, Shaun. Very brave.
hahah nay, i take responsibility for what i say.
in case i offend someone. the person doesn’t take it out on the site.
Hi Shaun, I thought you wanted to be anonymous. 😉
thanks uncle les,
blinking is me. (:
A thoughtful point, blinking.
just to clarify certain concepts about nationality. the term Singaporeans consists of more than just chinese, what you seems to have conveniently assumed. we are a multi-racial country. regardless of our ethnic races, it’s essentially where we deem as our home that really give the term Singaporeans a meaning.
in my opinion, if you’re someone who abandons Singapore in time of crisis, regardless of what IC you hold, it makes you no more Singaporean than the non-Singaporean living in this country.
The fact that these Caucasians are there at the game support a team that holds the name of Singapore seems to show that they are already more attached to the nation than what most ethnic Chinese have taken for granted.
i must say, reading about the slingers basketball may actually motivate me to watch one of the games sometime soon. the local basketball scene has indeed come a long way and its great to see locals and foreigners alike enjoying a great game of basketball. good job redsports! and shaun!
There were Caucasians, Chinese, Indians, Filipinos and Singaporeans at the game. A cosmopolitan mix of folks who love their basketball regardless of background.
The SINGAPORE in the name refers to their geographical location, not race. The owners of the team never intended to have a team full of Singaporeans because there aren’t enough Singaporeans who can play at that level.
The folks there had a good time, that’s for sure, and our crew witnessed it first hand.
pls la look at this. do u realise all these fans are caucasians? i doubt the singapore fans even stood up to cheer. and like there is only a few singaporeans on the SINGAPORE slingers and they dont even play much at all. abit ironic that singapore slingers dont play singaporeans. and the ang mo fans are probably the players friends or relatives…..-.- sigh….disappointing
and does it look like desmond quek and his family is enjoying the game? look at their faces la c’mon