By Les Tan/Red Sports from Manila
Slinger Michael LeBlanc (#35) finds Patriot captain Rob Wainwright (#5) in his way to the basket. LeBlanc had a game-high 16 points but shot only 38% from field-goal range. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
San Juan Arena, Manila, Saturday, November 7, 2009 – The Singapore Slingers were crushed 70-53 by the Philippine Patriots in their ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) matchup, bringing their four-game winning streak to an abrupt halt.
The Slingers now have a 4-1 win-loss record while the Patriots are 3-1, their sole loss coming against the Slingers last month.
The Slinger starting five of Michael Wong, Marcus Ng, Kyle Jeffers, Michael LeBlanc and Desmond Oh were never allowed to settle by an intense Patriot defensive show in the first quarter and it was no surprise that the Patriots walked off leading 22-8 after just a quarter.
With Wong Wei Long and Lim Wai Sian (aka Lao Lao) down with chicken pox upon arrival in Manila and Al Vergara nursing a bruised knee, coach Frank Arsego knew the team was stretched to the limit.
“My intention was never to play Al [Vergara]. Maybe play him only for five minutes or two minutes but we couldn’t execute without him,” said Arsego.
As the Slingers started to crumble and were staring at an eight point deficit at 8-16, Arsego was compelled to introduce Al Vergara into the game with 2:15 left in the first quarter.
The Slingers achieved parity with the Patriots only in the early minutes of the first quarter, a one-handed dunk by Kyle Jeffers to make it 4-4 giving the Slinger bench some hope that maybe the depleted team could compete.
The Patriots though started to pull further ahead and by the time Brandon Powell sank a three-pointer to make it 14-6, Arsego had seen enough and introduced Vergara.
The momentum though was with the Patriots and they soon established an 18-point lead in the second quarter at 28-10 before Desmond Oh hit a 3-pointer at 6:45 to make it 28-13.
Patriot shooting started going cold, with their centre Jason Dixon getting mad enough to yell at his teammates to “bring the ball inside”.
Even then, the Patriots still walked off with a 13-point, 36-23 lead at half-time.
The Slingers started the third quarter brightly with a Jeffers two-handed slam and a Vergara 3-pointer to make it a 10-point game at 38-28.
The match got more interesting when Marcus Ng stole the ball to lay it up for two and another Jeffers slam dunk cut the deficit to nine at 33-42, forcing the Patriots coach Louie Alas to call a timeout to calm his team down.
Jeffers was having a hot streak and he delivered another one-handed slam when play resumed and now it was a seven-point deficit at 35-42.
The Slingers drew to within seven points late in the third quarter at 37-44 but threw away their opportunities at the free throw line. Michael Wong sank only one of three to narrow the deficit to six but that was the closest they would get.
From then on, some inconsistent calls from the Slinger point of view, a Rob Wainwright rejection of Marcus Ng and a missed Pathman layup saw an 8-4 Patriot run that gave the home team a 50-39 lead at the end of the third quarter.
At the same time, Filipino Elmer Espiritu also slammed the door shut on the Slinger resurgence. Espiritu had a three-point play and sank a jump shot to stretch the Patriot lead to 55-43 early in the fourth, giving his team breathing room after the Slingers came to within six at 50-44.
A Powell slam dunk at 6:00 to make it 57-43 raised cheers from the small home crowd before Espiritu scored another two points with a tip-in and Erwin Sta. Maria had a three-point play of his own to make it 62-49.
Vergara then limped out with 2:55 on the clock because of cramps caused by the taping of his knee injury.
The Patriots had a game-high, 21-point lead towards the end of the fourth quarter before wrapping up the 17-point victory, 70-53.
“Since we’ve had our head coach [Louie Alas] back, we’ve played real good basketball. We’re confident as a team,” said Patriot captain Rob Wainwright who had eight points on the night.
American Brandon Powell had a team-high 14 points for the Patriots on 5 of 8 shooting from 2-point range and also spoke of a better team effort since the Patriots’ 74-69 loss to the Slingers on October 18.
“We worked on our team chemistry more,” reflected Powell, when asked what was different about this team from the one that showed up in Singapore last month.
On his own performance, Powell said: “I came out and played good. I had great intensity. I’m excited about the win. It was a big win for us.”
Patriot coach Louie Alas was pleased with the team’s performance.
“We had few turnovers in the game. We got only 11. I think that spelt the difference,” said Alas.
Two players also stood out for him.
“Jason Dixon played well. And [Elme] Espiritu played well also,” he added. Dixon had 12 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds while Espiritu had seven points and five rebounds.
As for the Slingers, the last-minute loss of back up point guard Wei Long was a big blow.
“Wei Long pulling out [because of chicken pox] ripped the heart out of the team because he could have handled their #27 (Froilan Baguion),” said Arsego.
With Vergara doubtful and Wei Long not available, Arsego noted that Marcus Ng and Michael Wong struggled playing on point tonight.
“Marcus is not used to the physicality and Michael Wong is a good passer but he’s not comfortable starting plays off the dribble,” added Arsego.
The poor first quarter – where they were outscored 22-8 – played a big part in setting the tone of the game.
“I think we started off in a manner that the other team just knew that they were probably going to be in control. That was probably a bit hard to handle,” said Arsego.
The Slingers made up for it in the second and third quarter when they outscored the Patriots 15-14 and 16-14 respectively.
“Credit to the boys for getting us back to eight points [behind] at one point [early in the fourth quarter], but unfortunately we missed three free throws and it could have been back to five [behind].
“At that point, if we could have held on for that little bit longer, maybe some things could have come around. But we would have had to play out of our skins to get through to the end. We just didn’t have enough horses to compete with a very good team,” Arsego concluded.
Quarter by Quarter Scores
Patriots vs Slingers
1st Q: 22-8
2nd Q: 14-15
3rd Q: 14-16
4th Q: 20-14
Singapore Slingers Game Box Score
| # | PLAYER | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | TO | STL | BS | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | *Oh Wei Jie Desmond | 3 | 1/3 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16:42 |
| 5 | Wong Wei Long | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 10 | Hong Wei Jian | 0 | 0/3 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18:11 |
| 11 | *Wong Yoon Suh Michael | 1 | 0/3 | 0/3 | 1/3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23:43 |
| 12 | Prasad Sadasivan | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Khoo Kian Huat Steven | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Lim Wai Sian | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Pathman Matialakan | 4 | 2/5 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11:04 |
| 19 | Al Vergara | 12 | 3/8 | 3/5 | 3/4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 32:43 |
| 21 | *Marcus Ng | 5 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 1/2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 28:31 |
| 31 | *Kyle Jeffers | 14 | 7/14 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37:33 |
| 35 | *Michael LeBlanc | 14 | 4/15 | 0/3 | 6/9 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 38:52 |
| Total | 53 | 19/58 | 4/19 | 11/18 | 12 | 28 | 40 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 200 |
Philippine Patriots Game Box Score
| # | PLAYER | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | TO | STL | BS | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | *Brandon Charles Powell | 14 | 6/11 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 24:43 |
| 3 | *Warren Ybanez | 2 | 1/4 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 24:25 |
| 5 | Robert Wainwright | 8 | 2/5 | 2/4 | 2/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 18:16 |
| 8 | Val Acuna | 3 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:33 |
| 9 | Elmer Espiritu | 7 | 3/8 | 0/2 | 1/1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 26:18 |
| 14 | Khasim Mirza | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3:12 |
| 15 | Dina Daa | 0 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3:53 |
| 16 | *Jerwin Gaco | 11 | 4/6 | 0/0 | 3/3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 18:36 |
| 21 | Siverina, Jr Baclao | 4 | 2/3 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11:47 |
| 27 | *Froilan Baguion | 6 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 32:07 |
| 34 | Erwin Romme Sta.Maria | 3 | 1/4 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29:19 |
| 42 | *Jason Lamar Dixon | 12 | 5/12 | 0/0 | 2/3 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 33:23 |
| Total | 70 | 27/65 | 5/17 | 11/13 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 200 |
Slinger Al Vergara (#19) keeps an eye out for Warren Ybanez (Patriots, #3). Vergara played with a heavily strapped knee which ironically gave him cramps late in the fourth quarter, forcing him to retire. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Kyle Jeffers (#31) lays up over Wainwright. Jeffers dropped 10 points and had a team-high 13 rebounds. (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Michael Wong (#11) drives past Brandon Powell (Patriots, #1). Michael was playing in the unfamiliar point guard position because of Vergara’s injury but the experiment wilted under the intense Patriots defense in the first quarter. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Patriot Jason Dixon (#42) eyes the basket while Jeffers defends. Dixon impressed coach Louie Alas with his 12-point, 8-rebound performance. (Photo 5 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Patriot Powell flies high for two in a team-high, 14-point performance. The American shot 5 of 8 (63%) from the field and had a crowd-pleasing slam dunk in the fourth. (Photo 6 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Patriot Wainwright drives between Slingers Jeffers and Vergara. The American had 8 points, playing 17 minutes in the game. (Photo 7 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Patriot Froilan Baguion (#27) protects the ball against Vergara. Baguion, who played on despite spraining his left foot in the second quarter, had six points, three rebounds and six assists. His speed and defensive ability threw the Slingers off. (Photo 8 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Powell (in white) tangles with Desmond Oh (#2, centre) and Jeffers on a layup. A small crowd turned up to watch the game at the San Juan Arena. (Photo 9 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Singapore Slingers 2009/10 ABL schedule
| DAY/DATE | TIME | HOME TEAM | VISITING TEAM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRE-SEASON | |||||
| Fri, Sept 18 | 8pm | S'pore Slingers | 93 | Coca-Cola Tigers | 85 |
| Wed, Sept 23 | 8pm | S'pore Slingers | 67 | Philippines | 70 |
| Wed, Sept 30 | 8pm | S'pore Slingers | 72 | Ginebra Kings | 77 |
| Sun, Oct 4 | 4pm | S'pore Slingers | 71 | San Miguel Beermen | 65 |
| ABL | |||||
| Sun, Oct 11 | 4pm | S'pore Slingers | 87 | Brunei Barracudas | 69 |
| Sun, Oct 18 | 4pm | S'pore Slingers | 74 | Philippine Patriots | 69 |
| Sat, Oct 24 | 4pm | Brunei Barracudas | 80 | S'pore Slingers | 82 |
| Sun, Nov 1 | 5pm | S'pore Slingers | 96 | Satria Muda | 72 |
| Sat, Nov 7 | 4pm | Philippine Patriots | 70 | S'pore Slingers | 53 |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 5pm | Satria Muda | 59 | S'pore Slingers | 61 |
| Sun, Nov 22 | 4pm | S'pore Slingers | 74 | KL Dragons | 84 |
| Mon, Dec 7 | 7.40pm | S'pore Slingers | 62 | Thailand Tigers | 65 |
| Sat, Dec 12 | 5pm | Satria Muda | 67 | S'pore Slingers | 58 |
| Thurs, Dec 17 | 7.40pm | S'pore Slingers | 69 | Thailand Tigers | 66 |
| Wed, Jan 6 | 7.40pm | S'pore Slingers | 67 | Philippine Patriots | 59 |
| Mon, Jan 11 | 7.40pm | S'pore Slingers | 92 | KL Dragons | 74 |
| Sun, Jan 17 | 4pm | KL Dragons | 78 | S'pore Slingers | 71 |
| Wed, Jan 20 | 8pm | Brunei Barracudas | 89 | S'pore Slingers | 95 |
| Sun, Jan 24 | 4pm | Thailand Tigers | 80 | S'pore Slingers | 92 |
| Semi-finals | |||||
| Sun, Jan 31 | 4pm | Singapore Slingers | 87 | Satria Muda | 68 |
| Wed, Feb 3 | 8pm | Satria Muda | 74 | Singapore Slingers | 45 |
| Sun, Feb 7 | 4pm | Singapore Slingers | 76 | Satria Muda | 86 |
@jimmy arroyo WELCOME BACK JIMMY! WE ALL MISS YOU LOL
@ adrax: “Example of filipino players being invited or scouted by the NBA teams are PG 5?7?JOHNNY ABARRIENTOS, PG 5?10? JIMMY ALAPAG(called as the best PG in Asia)…PG 6?5? GABE NORWOOD(filipino-american)he joined the NBA Draft but he was not drafted.”
By the way,to my shocking surprise,singapore players such as prasad to my horror was also eligible for the 2011 nba draft. Prasad is projected as a top 10 pick. Listed as 7’2 tall and as quick as a cat by scouting report. Unfortunately he declined to play in the nba as he had to concentrate on being in the table tennis national team which is training 4 the 2012 london olympics,
In fact, i am also joining the nba draft. But only top 15 pick.
Please la, adrax. Your American Import that has been helping Smart Gilas to win did not play against the PBA teams during the season.
to slingrocks ; dude u got to understand those players there in philippines patriots arent even the best superstars dat we hav, and yet u guys r strgling, think about this and sligers most of them are imports, i hav played couple of times in singapore and sad to say most of the local does not even know how to dribble properly
@adrax, thanks for acknowledging by opinions.
Here is another of my opinion: $10000 were up for grabs if the PBA teams could beat the Slingers. It is part of our challenge series prize. So I can’t say that the PBA team didn’t play their best.
By the way, your sentence that the PBA is the worst league in the PBA doesn’t make any sense at all. I’m sure I didn’t say that.
I’ll appreciate too that Pinoys don’t resort to verbal bashing of fans. It is okay to disagree with my opinions, but it is definitely not good to do something like Jake or the pinoy guy who said that “Singaporeans are crybabies”
TO SLINGERROCKS:
for Your info:LOL you are the only one saying that the PBA is the worst league in the PBA now..Indeed you know nothing about the
PBA.c”,)LOL.But its ok thats your opinion.
Im sorry to say but the PBA teams that was beaten by Slingers is not counted..PBA team are using that as a practice game to prepare for the coming season in order to jell with the new roakie players.Also they will avoid getting injured.
If your Slingers with imports play in the PBA’s regular season were the game counts, I bet Slingers can only win 1-2 in 15 games.And for you info Philippines is still one of the best team in Asia…Remenber Smart Gilas Pilipinas who beat your Slingers in your so called Pre-season games or exhibition games?They are just college players.Even the Smart Gilas easily beat some PBA teams in a pre season games in the Philippines but when they play in the REgular season games in the PBA (as a gust team) were the game counts now ther 0-3.They were beaten by 20-25 pts ave..Heck even the Patriots were beaten by Smart Gilas by 30pts in ther pre season game..What i mean is that,even that Slingers beat some PBA teams in your pre season games that doesnt mean that you are better team than the PBA teams..Peace.c”,)
All i can say is keep supporting your team no matter what.Thats what i like about you being a Die hard fan of the Slingers.Keep it up because this is good for the ABL.
This is just my opinion..peace!c”,)
@adrax: You wrote: “All i can say is keep supporting your team no matter what.Thats what i like about you being a Die hard fan of the Slingers.Keep it up because this is good for the ABL.”
I applaud that.
@slingerrocks : i understand how proud you are of your slingers but i think we have to be a bit realistic here. The mere fact that coach Arsego desperately needed to field-in Vergara despite his injury means that even him might agree with me about hiring another point guard.
The Filipinos of course aren’t the best in Asia when it comes to basketball but you have to accept the fact that they still are the most dominant in the Southeast. The Philippine team could beat all the ASEAN National teams by 30-50 points anytime and that’s the reason why we only send our collegiate players for the SEA games.
The Slingers are a strong team with a third rate Filipino guard like Vergara and what I’m just saying is that they could be stronger if they can get another one as back-up. Singaporeans might dominate the ABL soon with blossoming players like wei jian and wei long but the time is not yet now. The shooting touch and the athleticism are there but they lack dribbling skills and basketball I.Q… the gap between them and Vergara as of now is just miles away. Give them 2-3 years and they might just be the ABL superstars that you want them to be, then again, the time is not yet now.
I believe Singapore players are poor playmakers because they are very poor decision makers……
@mart, there are mandarin reports about the Slingers. I’m not sure about reports in Melayu or tamil though. It is a misconception that Singaporeans are all chinese. We have Malays and Indians who are Singaporeans too. Singapore’s official language is English and not mandarin so it makes sense that reports are in English.
@mart I’m not a red crew, just a Slingers fan lol XD I’m from Singapore but my mandarin isn’t the best
@les,@jan,
@gordon,
Ever thought of putting the content of this site in Mandarin only?
Most of the comments here are starting to embarass me.
Some of these posters are probably not here in Singapore.
It would really be funny if both the Slingers and the Patriots ended up not being in the finals, after all these verbal war!!! LOL!!! = D
@nashill, my prediction:
1)SINGAPORE SLINGERS
2)Satria Muda
3)KL Dragons
4)Brunei Barracudas
5)Thailand Tigers
6)philippines patriots
@wayklaro, Just because Slingers lost one game, doesn’t mean that we need to change a line-up. This line-up will lead us to the ABL Championship.
If Slingers were to sign any players, I hope it would be our AYG players Jabez Su or Russel Low, cos these guys have a lot of potential to be really good players. Singaporeans are proud of them.
@adrax, keep your country’s pride at home and please don’t use it to say that Singapore locals are lousy. It’s just your OPINION that Filipinos are good in basketball. I don’t see anything good in the PBA. The current slingers beat 2 PBA teams before, so all these names you have just cited about Philippines players are just crap to me.
For your information, so what if it is the 2nd oldest league? The league is one of the worst leagues in the world now.
If you want to do advertisement for Philippines basketball, do it elsewhere. This is a singapore sports site for Singapore fans. We are free to offer our opinions about the Slingers, so please don’t insult any of our players here.
Slingers badly need another point guard and it’s very evident in all of their games. The whole team just crumbles without Vergara. The Singaporean guards can shoot the lights out from the rainbow but they still lack the experience in play-making. On their games against the Patriots, Le-blanc was forced to bring the ball down which is exhausting for a scorer like him. The locals need a little exposure but may be not to the point of losing. If Vergara’s injury gets worst because he’s forced by his coach to play through it, the Slingers are doomed. They might have to consider getting at least another true point guard. The following players might get the job done ( most are ex-PBA guards so they shouldn’t be expensive):
1. Jimwell Torion – just as tall as Vergara but better in defense and is 50 times more feisty. Would exchange faces with the opponents if instructed to. liability : prone to technical fouls
2. Jerome Ejercito – A tall scoring point guard. Can post-up other guards and draw a double team. liability : not suitable for a fastbreaking team.
3. Stephen Padilla – A point guard who is very deadly from the three-point distance. liability : not a good defensive player.
To GORDON:
if you said Wei Long didnt play and steven in this game due to their chicken pox as they said, still they are not that much diffrent.They are not that good players although Wei Long is much better player than steven but still thats not enough even if they both played..
Patriots also had injured players like a good pointguard coronel and forward Nonoy Baclao because of hamstring injuries but still Baclao played even if his still injured like Al Vergara of slingers.Patriots starting pointguard Baguion also had and injury but still he played even if it still hurts..”Al Vergara by the way is a bench warmer in the PBA.Hes team is Purefoods TG GIANTS”still hes a good player though,he just dont hav the playing time in the PBA.
The last time Slingers beat the Patriots is that the Patriots still are not a complete team and coach Alas is not the one coaching it.Its Bugs Adornado the assistant coach and there still working on their team chemisty because they are just created 2-3 weeks before that game.
In the Philippines the PBA both teams can beat anybody.It doesnt mean that if your 4-0, you will be the best team.You are still in the 1st round of the season where there are still a lot of adjustment to other team because they are just created 2-3 weeks ago..Your team will be tested in the playoffs (if they can go up there)were this game is much more important..and by the way watch out for the KL Dragons and Satria Muda Britama because they are a strong team now compare before.KL Dragons have 2 filipino imports now and SM Britama got back there real center import.Just now they demolished the Brunie Barracudas.So these makes the ABL’s more interesting now..c”,)
By the way Pointguards in the Phillippines are really good and many of them are scouted by the NBA and some of them are called for a tryouts by some team’s in the NBA.If your a point guard playing in the PBA “Philippine Basketball Association” you must be good because its too deep to play in that position in the Phils.
Example of filipino players being invited or scouted by the NBA teams are PG 5’7″JOHNNY ABARRIENTOS, PG 5’10” JIMMY ALAPAG(called as the best PG in Asia)This guy can dunk two handed even his only 5’10”, 6’2″ SG sharp shooting REN-REN RITUALO, SF 6’7″ KELLY WILLIAMS(filipino-American), PG-SG 6’1″ MARK CAGUIAO, SF-PF 6’10” 22 yrs old JAPETH AGUILAR from Smart Gilas Pilipinas, SG-SF 6’2″ SAMBOY LIM, PG 5’11” WILLIE MILLER(Filipino-american but born and raised in the Philippines,he doesnt even know how to speak english c”,))., PG 6’5″ GABE NORWOOD(filipino-american)he joined the NBA Draft but he was not drafted.Both of these players played in the PBA..
Also for the info:Philippine Basketball Association or PBA is the 2nd Oldest Professional League in the world next to NBA.
And also an NBA team the MIAMI HEAT is coached by a Filipino ERIK SPOELSTRA..c”,)im proud of him “First asian descent to coach an NBA team and the youngest coach in the NBA ever..
i dont find the slingers a strong team. outside of the 3 imports, they are nothing.
the slingers are the most prepared team when the abl started which resulted to 4 wins in a row. a few more games, the other 3 teams that consists 2 american imports and 3 asean imports will catch up and will leave the slingers in the bottom of the standing…
my prediction
1. patriots
2. barracuda’s
3. satria muda
4. dragons
5. tigers
6. slingers
I wonder if the Patriots will lose another game this season considering the fact that Louie Alas is back, the team’s roster is complete, and they are starting to jell as a team. Hard luck to the Slingers.
Good fight for the Slingers! You guys still make us proud playing through all the odds!
Steven and Wei Long didn’t play 40 minutes