Slingers beat Barracudas 82-80 away for third straight win in ABL

@mart There’s a super typhoon? :O

@wayklaro22 I can’t really imagine cause I prefer reality. As for IF they are still young, thats a big IF cause time doesn’t turn back. I think this debate isn’t going anyway, let’s just celebrate the launch of the ABL. The only way it’ll grow is with all of our support. I follow the PBA a little and like some of the better players like Hontiveros but thugs like Wynne Arboleda are better off thrown away from the game.

@ slingerrocks : Its very clear that you don’t know much about PBA. and about Baguio scoring just 5 points against the slingers…its because he didn’t get much playing time since “the spark” came back after a year long of rest coz of an injury. Spark torched your SLingers with 24 points in his first game after an injury and he’s only about 80% healthy…imagine how much he would average in the ABL?
FIBA style or NBA style,it doesn’t really matter that much so long as the players got skills and the team has got a good system…NBA players are dominating the FIBA world championships you know?
Avenido and Vergara as i’ve said are just third rate players in the PBA and yet they are playing like superstars in ABL. If Samboy Lim and Allan Caidic were still young, they might average 30 in ABl. hehe

Patriots are going to face a problem against the Barracudas tonight. They lack a power forward to guard Mike Pilgrim. And not sure DIxon can hold his ground against L. Jones, the shot-blocking beast.

@Slingerrocks,
“Saying that ABL play is non-pro is something to be corrected. ABL’s play is more pro than the PBA.” – Slingerrocks

I was referring to professional rules versus Amateur(FIBA) rules. I was not using pro or non-pro as a description of talent/skills/level of play.

I agree with you that PBA style of play won’t win in FIBA competitions (except SEABA) and that PBA scorers (except catch and shoot outside shooters – who usually cannot defend one on one and just rot on the bench) can be neutralised on offense.

There was only one PBA player who can score at will against a zone/FIBA defense – Samboy Lim (37 points against Italy’s Banco Di Roma in world basketball championships, 28 points against CHINA in the Asian games finals, 20 points to beat US team composed of some future NBA players in the Jones Cup Championship). His advantage was that he can also shoot 3-point shots aside from his acrobatic penetrations.

I can’t think of any PBA player can excel in ABL using one one one skills (in a half court set) alone.

@ wayklaro22, just a fact about the PBA. The PBA tries to imitate an american brand of basketball on an international court, so it is really a different sort of basketball. When it goes down to real basketball FIBA style, the PBA style won’t win games. The PBA players and coaches themselves even agree that there are quite a lot of adjustments to make when playing against the Slingers, because they are not used to the style. When PBA scorers play in the ABL, they will be neutralised. There is no one on one in the ABL and PBA plays one-on-one basketball. By the way, Mr Cyrus Baguio could only score 5 points against a Slinger defense and he is like one of the best in the PBA.

@xxhillxx:
I think there is a rule saying that when a team from country A plays country B, the referees cannot be from either A or B.

It doesn’t really matter how many foreign players each team has. They all were given the luxury to hire 5 and as to whether they take advantage of it or not, It shouldn’t be grounds to judging as to how good the team is… a win is always a win.

We’re not supposed to talk about pride here, ABL is designed to uplift basketball in our region, that’s why imports were allowed to make the league competitive as well as to share their skills and influence to the locals. Even Fiba Europe allow imports.

The Slingers clearly has the advantage for now as they are more prepared compared to other teams. Their locals have also shown tremendous improvement and certainly, local players from other countries would soon become better as the Singaporeans did. Judging form how the games went on so far, Satria Muda seem to have the potential to give an upset to Patriots and Slingers.

And please, don’t compare ABL to PBA and more so, say that ABL looks more professional because PBA is the best play for pay league in our region no doubt. The mere fact that only ex-PBA players and amateur Filipino players play in ABL says something about how great the competition is in the PBA.Even Vergara of the Slingers is just a third rate point guard in the PBA. I couldn’t imagine how much points would Miller and Caguioa be doing if they play for ABL when they can pour more than 20 even against American imports in the PBA. And take note, the PBA imports are way better than those in the ABL simply because PBA teams can afford them.

slingers are 5 man deep. their heart and soul are the 2 americans and vergara. the opposing team will keep on attacking the two imports to put them in foul trouble or get tired at least. also, as the players and coaches gets more familiar with their moves and plays, i expect some of the slinger players will get exposed.

satria muda and patriots in the finals!

Satria Muda was already a pro-team before joining the ABL. They have been playing in the Indonesian league last year and all their players were already professionals.