By Ian Chew. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports.
Michael LeBlanc (Slingers, #9) goes for a shot while Mick Pennisi (San Miguel, #34) tries to block. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, October 4, 2009 – The Singapore Slingers badly needed a win after two consecutive losses and boy, did they achieve it in style.
Staring at a 15-point deficit at one stage in the fourth quarter, the home team rallied for a famous 71-65 victory against the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Fiesta Conference champions San Miguel Beermen. Four Slinger players – Al Vegara, Kyle Jeffers, Michael LeBlanc and Pathman – all poured in double digit points in the Slingers win.
Yet it was by no means a walk in the park. San Miguel’s Donaldo Hontiveros (#7) was unstoppable in the third quarter. He scored 13 consecutive points, including three three-pointers to give his team a comfortable 53-45 lead at the end of the third quarter. Perhaps the Slingers should seriously consider him for the final ASEAN slot.
In the end though, the winning desire of the Slingers shone through, and they eked out a much-needed victory.
Match Verdict
Siot Tanquingcen, head coach of the San Miguel Beermen summed it up best.
“Credit to the Slingers who upped their defensive intensity in the final quarter and caused our team (San Miguel) to commit turnovers. That, and our inability to control the defensive boards killed us in today’s game,” he said.
Slingers coach Frank Arsego offered a different take.
“I told the boys before the game that we needed a bounce (from the previous defeats to Smart Gilas Pilipinas and Ginebra Kings). What we saw today was all about attitude.”
I’ll have to agree with him on that. The Slingers definitely showed greater mental resilience in fighting back for the impressive win. This augurs well for the team in the upcoming ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) which tips off next Sunday (11 October @ 4pm).
Players Verdict
Besides the normally dependable starters like Al Vergara and Kyle Jeffers performing well for the Slingers, I would give the most improved player award to Marcus Ng.
His performance this game was particularly impressive, especially in adding the offensive dimension to the team apart from solid defensive work. Compared to the previous match, he has definitely gelled much better with the team and this was displayed in his statistics – 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 pivotal steal in the fourth quarter.
Crucially too, he has cut down his turnovers and is smiling more, a sure sign of confidence.
Of course, credit also goes to Wong Wei Long, who made the contested 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to spark the Slingers rally. He also did a fantastic defensive job on Mike Cortez in the final quarter, and received a nod of praise from the San Miguel head coach as well for that.
View From the Sidelines
There were cheers heard around the stadium when the Slingers were making their comeback in the fourth quarter. Could it be that the crowd is finally starting to get behind the home team as well?
As if the intensely competed basketball game was not entertainment enough, there was also a wedding proposal in the middle of the crucial fourth quarter. Fortunately, the soon-to-be bride agreed, or it wouldn’t have gone down too well with the poor guy.
Conclusion
A game may not constitute a season, but based on today’s effort, the Slingers look good for the ABL championship.
Kyle Jeffers (Slingers, #30) looks for a team mate. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Kyle Jeffers looks for an opening. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Michael LeBlanc tries to round Donaldo Hontiveros (San Miguel, #7) in his attack. (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Marcus Ng (Slingers, #6) goes for a lay up. (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Michael LeBlanc drives towards the basket. (Photo 6 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Marcus Ng tries to stop his opponent from making a shot. (Photo 7 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
LeBlanc had a team-high 14 points for the Slingers. (Photo 8 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Hong Wei Jian (Slingers, #12) tries to avoid his defender. (Photo 9 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Wong Wei Long (Slingers, #5) stares down his opponent. (Photo 10 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Michael Wong (Slingers, #11) searches for a team mate. (Photo 11 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Al Vergara (Slingers, #1) leads a solo charge to the basket. (Photo 12 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Lim Wai Sian (Slingers, #6) signs autographs for his young fans. (Photo 14 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
See highlights of the first quarter:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Pd6cP_esEg
See highlights of the second quarter:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9toTVpPUfQ
See highlights of the third quarter:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbotQvuWbZI
See highlights of the fourth quarter:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drmnqcp4wDs
Hontiveros can play in the Asian Games level because he can shoot from the outside.
I remember his play against South Korea (2002 Asian Games Semifinal – winner gets to face China in the finals), he was knocking down 3-point shots. Unfortunately, Korea won on a buzzer beating 3-point shot (Philippines was leading by 2 points). Korea beat China (with Yao Ming) in the finals.
@Gordon,
Sometimes the shooting percentages belie how good/great a shooter is.
There are lots of NBA players today who have better lifetime shooting percentages than – say, Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, and Drazen Petrovic. but usually those high-percentage guys are shooting it when there’s nobody else in the same Zip code area – like a drive and kick play – see John Paxson playing alongside Jordan. While the 3 players above have people chasing them all the time.
There was even a game against Seattle: In the dying seconds of the game, Larry Bird told his defender that he will shoot from a certain area. Then he did it to sink the game winning basket.
Congrats Sing Slingers! I like San Mig team but too bad they ended up losing this game.
Hope to see games here in Thailand in the future.
Actually, after doing some research, Hontiveros isn’t really that good. He has a nice stroke but not the best shooting percentages. He’s also not the youngest fella around although he’s very streaky. I still want Jason Castro back though, I really like the heart and effort of that fella, his creativity is impressive, he isn’t even the first choice point guard on his current team. Then again, it seems like we’re pretty much set with this roster (with the pre season over), let’s hope we can do well with what we have.
@smart gilas: Danny I. and Danny S. are damaged goods– it’s like they’re made of glass– a little nudge, and something fractures or strains. They’ve spent more time on the injured list than on the active list for the past two seasons. I think it would be best for SMB to ditch these two– bump them up to the coaching staff or front office in gratitude for the excellent performances they gave when they were in their prime.
Also, I felt Bonbon Custodio deserved more playing time, especially after a breakthrough rookie season. And Samigue Eman should either get more playing time or leave SMB– it drives me to tears to see a young, trainable, mobile, 6’9″ player languishing on the bench.
i wonder how much the Slingers get paid? “superstar” PBA players are paid Php350K monthly, max 3-year contract (around SGD 10.5K monthly).
if the Jason Castro walkout taught the Slingers management anything, money is rarely an issue when a high-profile Filipino player is offered to play elsewhere. Castro signed up to play in the Aussie NBL, he’d rather settle for a cheap rookie contract in the PBA than stay with the Slingers who were looking for teams to play against (which he did).
sorry to burst your bubble, but players like Dondon Hontiveros will never sign for the Slingers even if he’s paid a fortune. at least there are many players in the Philippines just like Al Vergara.
Great Job SG Slingers! Nice one! Boo San Miguel! Ginebra! Ginebra! Ginebra!
There is a lot of hard contact but no calls from the ref. you can see the face of 2 american import and al vergara keep shaking their head same as with SMB players.Ref is a big thumbs down for me.Im not sure if ABL will use a nuetral ref for the said event.I see the line up of Phil for this event and all i can say is one of the weakest team. Mostly reliever and some collegiate role players.They can beat some but not a title contender. Hope im wrong on this hehehe.
Dondon honteveros is on fire!!! no wonder he is a mark man by their opponent during the FIBA asia championship last year.
Curiously… why the SMB staff didnt allow to play their 2 stars Danny seigle and Danny Ildefonso? Hmmm tactics or maybe they want to preserve this 2 guys for the coming PBA wars.Also a lot of 2nd stringers incerease their playing time.Very much different from the pattern they usually set at PBA. That is why a lot of people like Ginebra and Smart gilas – never say die spirit as long a clock is ticking fight till the end.
Anyway, kudos to Slingers Jeffers and to AL Vergara for being the most consistent players.Galing mo bro.
Hope another challenge series again next year and i hope a neutral ref will be using this time.
Generally, Eye opener for both the teams involved to improve their weak points and good entertainment.
@Slingerrocks lol relax bro, I see it used in EPL and NBA commentary all the time too, “trying to escape the marker”. And Yes, Hontiveros is amazing, I put “Ray Allen” and his name together about 10 times in the game, that fella’s got a smooth shooting stroke, really really impressive.
PG – Vergara
SG – Wei Jian
SF – Hontiveros
PF – Pathman
C – Jeffers
Very good team on paper.
Photo 9 says “Hong Wei Jian (Slingers, #12) tries to avoid his marker.” “Marker” is a Singlish term that only singaporeans basketballers use. Perhaps a better word would be “Defender” or “man”. That’s in my opinion though.
@Slingerrocks: Yeah, marker strikes me as a football term more. We’ll change it. Thanks.
Can the Slingers sign Hontiveros? He is a favourite among the fans (probably why the Pinoys came) and he fits the Slingers team perfectly, what we lack is a shooter like him. He has got a good shooting touch we would work very well through the screens in the Slingers offensive strategy. It is a win-win situation.
I’m sad to see Weijian injured his hand. Hope his hand can heal in time for the opening game next sunday:)
@Slingerrocks: Weijian said he injured his hand knocking into teammate Steven Khoo! AIyah. Steven Khoo made of bricks.
cant wait for the pictures of san miguel
Go Slingers! Pathman was on fire and with Wei Jian injured, he really contributed. Hontiveros reminds me of Ray Allen, that fella’s shooting stroke is a beauty