Singapore Slingers to defend unbeaten record against Philippine Patriots in Manila with just 8 players in ABL

By Les Tan/Red Sports

Manila, Saturday, November 7, 2009 – The Singapore Slingers will defend their unbeaten record against the Philippine Patriots this afternoon in Manila with a squad depleted by injury and sickness.

The Slingers will take a 4-0 win-loss record into The Arena against the 2-1 Patriots in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL).

Filipino point guard Al Vergara is still recovering from his bruised knee while back up point guard Wong Wei Long and squad player Lim Wai Sian (aka Lao Lao) are both down with chicken pox. This leaves the Slingers with just eight players for the game today.

Wei Long had a fever before the trip but the chicken pox was diagnosed only last night in the early hours of the morning after a visit to a local hospital.

Wai Sian was diagnosed by fellow teammate and medical student Marcus Ng this morning, leaving Slinger head coach Frank Arsego with only eight players – Michael Wong, Hong Wei Jian, Desmond Oh, Pathman Matialakan, Kyle Jeffers, Michael LeBlanc, Marcus Ng and Al Vergara.

“These things happen during the season and so it’s a test of the resolve of the team. A little bit of adversity at certain times of the season builds character,” said coach Arsego.

“It’s probably not the ideal situation when you come to a venue like this and play one of the top teams. But you have to turn it into a positive, you know? There’s not much you can do about it,” he added.

At practise last night in The Arena, the venue of the game, the Slingers were practising with Michael Wong and Marcus Ng alternating in the point guard position.

Vergara, who hasn’t trained all week – apart from shooting practise and getting on a stationary bike – since he injured his knee in the game against Satria Muda BritAma last Sunday, trained by himself on the side with the team physiotherapist.

“I don’t feel any pain but after I train, it feels sore in the morning,” said Vergara. “The doctor said I need to rest for four weeks. Maybe I can play five minutes here and five minutes there.”

An MRI scan earlier in the week revealed a bruised bone but no MCL or ACL injuries.

For Slinger co-captain Michael Wong, it’s been a while since he’s played the point guard position.

“I guess it will be a bit stressful playing out of position and seeing how they (Patriots) do their defense. I haven’t played that position for a while. The last time I played that position was probably ten years ago. It will be challenging and I will try to do my best,” said Michael.

The injury to Vergara and Wei Long’s sickness will force the coaching team to reshuffle their deck.

“I think it’s going to be a more of a team combination for us with regards to those sorts of [point guard] duties,” said coach Arsego after training last night. “I think we’ll probably share the ball a lot more in our team system. We are not just going to let Michael catch it 94 feet from the basket and just leave it up to him to do it. Even Al Vergara had problems with that last time we played [the Patriots]. So that’s a lot of respect to the Patriots and the way they go about it. We’ll be collectively organised and help each other out.”

For co-captain Kyle Jeffers, it’s business as usual.

“We just have to step up. It really doesn’t change anything. It just puts more emphasis on everybody else to do a little bit more. I think it’s just business as usual but with other guys getting more PT (playing time),” said Jeffers.

The Slingers will take on the Patriots who have not played since October 25th after their game against the Brunei Barracudas last Saturday, October 31st, was cancelled due to a typhoon.

The Patriots played a warm-up game against the Smart Gilas Pilipinas team earlier in the week and import Jason Dixon, who has struggled in the Patriots’ first three games, impressed coach Louie Alas.

“He’s getting better and better. Hopefully, he can dish out the same performance he did against Smart Gilas. He’s getting back to his old, fighting form,” coach Alas was reported as saying in the November 7th issue of the Manila Bulletin.

“With the support of the crowd and the improvements of the boys the past few days, we have a good chance of beating them,” Alas added.

The Slingers beat the Patriots 74-69 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last month but the Patriots team has changed since then with the addition of new players. Alas started coaching the Patriots full time only after the first two games as he was committed to a university team in the Filipino college championship playoffs.