Singapore Slingers Team Preview: ‘Four’eign Factor

By Jan Lin and Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan/Red Sports.

Despite the apparent talent of the four foreign imports of the Singapore Slingers, the ‘Big Four’ are endorsing the sacred words of the great Michael Jordan: “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

And although each team competing in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is allowed to recruit a maximum of five foreign talents – two international and three ASEAN – the Slingers have opted to recruit only four foreigners for the inaugural season.

While this gives room for a local talent to fill the final starting five spot, what is more important is understanding how recruiting the services of the foreign imports is effectively fundamental to unlocking the potential of our local born-and-bred talents.

“Different people bring different things to the team,” shared Slingers’ head coach, Frank Arsego. “Obviously one of the things that held the locals back sometimes is the size factor in comparison to other teams. But they overcome that with great determination, they love to compete, they are quick.”

“We are fortunate that we have brought some sizing into our group,” he continued. “What we found out is that local players such as Pathman, who had played in center, this season will play in a more natural position as a power forward.”

“So guys who normally play in a bigger position, can now come out to play in a more natural position. That is the advantage of having the appropriate size factor across the floor and with this environment, it helps the local players to grow,” he asserted.

On top of technical strategy, Arsego also shared that the variety of personalities of the four foreigners has added much depth to the team dynamics for the Slingers. So let us give you a behind-the-scenes introduction of Slingers’ four foreign imports.

#35 Michael LeBlanc, 31 years old, American

Underneath the cool no-nonsense veneer of Michael LeBlanc, is a man with a big heart. “God First! Then My Family! After that all else better stay in line!” has become the proverbial slogan of the 2.02m tall American.

LeBlanc was the top scorer for the Slingers in their final pre-season game against San Miguel Beermen last week with 14 points and three rebounds on his scorecard. And that was only LeBlanc’s second game.

“I don't like to single out any players, but our bench played very well. Marcus (Ng) was strong on defense and so was Desmond (Oh). Pathman played well also,” said LeBlanc after the San Miguel game.

"It was not a great game for us, but it was the little things that won us the game," reflected LeBlanc, who has stressed that it is the collective team effort that matters to him more than his own good performance.

"These are the same little things that we were lacking in the previous game (against Ginebra Kings). Even when we trailed in the third quarter, we stayed positive and encouraged each other. We also played till the end and never game up. As a team, we showed our mental strength."

Always setting high performance goals for himself, LeBlanc commented: "There are still a lot of areas I have to improve on. My turnovers are still a problem while I have to learn to be patient with the ball. I must seize my opportunities instead of always looking for easier ones."

"The crowd was great!” said LeBlanc on his playing experience in Singapore since making his debut just a fortnight ago. “It was not only the support for us, but the opposition crowd also pushed us to win the game."

#31 Kyle Jeffers, 24 years old, American

We have got a natural entertainer in Kyle Jeffers. With his amazing ability to balance professionalism and fun, this foreign Slinger has to be our favourite (Ok, Jan’s at least). Not to mention the fact that Jeffers has topped the score sheet for the Slingers’ pre-season campaign.

Averaging 16.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in the four per-season games, Jeffers is already looking ahead to possible honours. Never mind his unorthodox albeit entertaining court antics, Jeffers three-pointers should leave you salivating and chanting ‘encore’.

“We are definitely in a good position to win a lot of games in the ABL,” said Jeffers, who has also clocked the highest averaged playing minutes per game (32.7 minutes) in the pre-season campaign. “It will be hard competition, but our preparation has been very good. We’re ready.”

“The strength of this team is when we play together and when everyone can contribute together,” Jeffers remarked without hesitation in response to what the key to the team’s success will be. “We want to make it all the way to the championship round, and of course to win it.”

#19 Al Vergara, 30 years old (in December), Filipino

The Slingers’ point guard has been a pillar of strength for the team with his composure and ability to cope under immense pressure. It should not come as a surprise that Al Vergara came out as the Slinger with the second most minutes per game in the fourth quarter in the pre-season.

“I’m very confident of the Slingers in the ABL, we practice every night and we had extra preparations in the pre-season, that’s why I’m very confident, especially in our local players too,” said the 1.70m Slinger who ended the pre-season campaign with an average of 11.5 points per game.

Vergara, who has been singled out by coach Frank Arsego a couple of times for his positive and aggressive approach against the Filipino oppositions, shared: “I know the Filipinos’ game very well, its tough to play them but we are ready for them especially for the ABL.”

“Its very different playing here and playing in the Philippines,” revealed Vergara, who debuted for the Slingers in 2008. “It is a lot more structured and organised to play here, the coach likes us to be organised, especially in the half-court play. In Philippines, its a lot of one-on-one.”

Despite the menacing penetrator he is on-court, Vergara is actually a humble man of few words off-court.

“Actually before the pre-season started, I felt shy as I was the only Filipino in the team,” admitted the soft-spoken Vergara. “I felt that I needed to play well in the pre-season to show that even though I’m the only Filipino in the team, I can play well, especially for the ABL.”

Outside of basketball, Vergara shared that he likes to go to the mall, and – you guessed it – Lucky Plaza is his favourite ‘hang out’ with his Filipino friends.

“I like Singapore very much,” he said earnestly. “I’ve liked it very much since I came here the first time 2 years ago. It is very clean here, with very good discipline. And my family will be coming over from the Philippines for a holiday during Christmas.”

#21 Marcus Ng, 24 years old (in December), Australian of ASEAN heritage

Many would think that the younger brother of former hot shot Slinger Darren “doctor” Ng has big shoes to fill when he donned his brother’s number 8 jersey during the pre-season, but judging from the classy act he has served up in the pre-season campaign, Marcus clearly belongs in a class of his own.

Besides his stunning finesse and intelligence on-court, the doctor-to-be is known to be extremely personable off-court. Sharing an apartment (provided by the management) with team mate Al Vergara, the Filipino revealed that Marcus is “a funny guy”, who has good jokes to share.

“It feels that the team has gotten better each game, we’ve been training together for a couple of weeks now, and things are finally coming together,” said the former Adelaide 36ers junior player, who admitted to an initial culture-shock when the pre-season tipped off.

“In the first game, I was caught a bit of guard by the Filipino style of play but now I’m getting used to it and it has made me a little stronger,” he said.

At the end of the pre-season campaign, Marcus has averaged a score of 7.8 points per game and has become arguably the most versatile Slinger.

He added: “Its a very different style of play in Australia. In Australia, its a lot more structured where over here, its a lot more running. You just got to be ready for some good shooters or some good penetrators. Its tough to know what to expect but I’m getting used to it now.”

“We probably need to keep gelling together and getting to know one another,” said Marcus, who has taken six months off his medical study in Adelaide and will return next March to complete his studies.

“I was supposed to come last year with my brother as a development player, but I got injured, so it has always been on the cards,” he added, “then with the formation of the new league this year, everything came together and fit into place.”

“Darren told me mostly positive things, and to just enjoy it here. I love it at Singapore so far, everything’s been good. I love the weather and the food,” Marcus shared. “But I’m only here for one season at the moment, we’ll see how things go but I’m really liking it so far.”