Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan/Red Sports
Jabez Su (#4) drives between Kyle Caudill (right) and Sterling Gibbs (#4) of the USA for a layup. Jabez had a team-high 9 points on 3 of 10 field goal attempts. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
*Scape Youth Park, Wednesday, August 18, 2010 — Although they were up against the giants of the United States of America (USA) in the Youth Olympic Games basketball tournament, the Singapore boys were fearless and turned in an amazingly spirited performance to push their larger opponents all the way before succumbing 21-31 in Group B.
Although they finished last in their group, the Singapore boys can be proud of the performance in their final match.
The USA boasted players with an average height of 2m, with their tallest player, Angelo Chol, standing a massive 2.11m. The Americans’ average high was 13cm more than the average height of the Singapore team. Singapore’s tallest player, Russel Low, 1.95m, was a head and a half shorter than Chol.
When asked about their aim for the Youth Olympics, both Chol and Caudill, who is himself 2.03m tall, agreed that “anything less than a gold will be a major disappointment”.
So with the quartet of Jabez Su, Russel Low, Tan Jun Wei and Larry Liew up against odds like these, sceptics all thought that the hosts would be swept aside within four minutes of the match. Instead, with the home supports clearly behind them, they pushed the Americans all the way and even took the lead briefly.
“We had goals for the boys today,” explained Mr Khoo Hwa Pang, the team manager. “We wanted to score more than 20 points and hold them to 10 minutes. We did both today!”
Singapore had a brilliant start with captain Jabez Su scoring a free throw to give his side the lead against the powerhouses. The hosts had gone down easily to Israel in their previous match, but this time, the boys were determined to show their worth and they turned up their defense against the much larger Americans.
Although American captain Sterling Gibbs made a three-point play to make the score 4-1, Russel Low replied with a long two, keeping Singapore within striking distance. Russel then nailed a three-pointer, something that Singapore supporters are not used to seeing, to bring Singapore to within one at 10-11.
It was only towards the end of the half that USA began to show their skills and establish a bigger lead. However, a Jabez free throw at the end of the half brought Singapore to within five at 12-17.
Jabez Su, in particular, was undeterred by the massive height of the Americans. Facing players 32cm taller than him, he continued making brave drives into the paint. Although he was the shortest player, he eventually finished with a team-high nine points and six rebounds.
Besides scoring a three-pointer, the highlight of Russel’s match would have also been making a massive block on one of the American players as he played with confidence and skill.
Even though Singapore were able to keep the USA quiet for a couple of minutes, they could not contain the quality and experience of the Americans. However, the Americans were not able to score 33 points, with Chol missing a dunk in the last five seconds.
“Today we put up a good fight,” said captain Jabez Su, who could not stop smiling after the match. “We came into the match knowing that there’s nothing to lose. They are the number one team in the world and it is an honour and great experience to play against them. What we were looking for in this match was the experience.
“Personally, I used my speed against the taller opponents. I drove to the basket a lot and tried to catch the right timing, but I was still blocked. They are really very tall and at a totally different level of quality,” Jabez added.
After their impressive performance against USA, the Singapore boys will be aiming to continue their momentum to finish 17th in the tournament.
The boys will next play the last-placed team of Group D on Saturday, August 21st, at 9.30am.
For Singapore fixtures and results, go to our 2010 YOG fixtures page
Larry Liew had 5 points from 2 of 4 from the field and 1 of 3 free throws. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Russel Low (#5) throws out a pass to teammate. Ruseel had 7 points and was 3 of 9 from the field. (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Sterling Gibbs (USA #4) scored a game-high 14 points, including one 3-pointer, and was 6 of 13 from the field. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Team USA v Team Singapore 1st Half:
Team USA v Team Singapore 2nd Half:
Israel v Central African 1st Half:
Israel v Central African 2nd Half:
Philippines v Croatia 1st Half:
Philippines v Croatia 2nd Half:
Turkey v Israel:
New Zealand v India 1st Half:
New Zealand v India 2nd Half:
CAF v Team USA 1st Half:
CAF v Team USA 2nd Half:
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