Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports and Ian Chew. Photos by Thomas Tan/Red Sports
Due to timely pressure from Singapore’s Russel Low, Israel’s Oleksander Chernuvych (#13) was denied a basket. (Photo 1 © Thomas Tan/Red Sports)
*Scape Youth Park, Tuesday, August 17, 2010 — Perhaps it was the back-to-back schedule of the Youth Olympic Games basketball competition, or the hot and humid weather.
Whatever the reason was, the Singapore basketball boys failed to replicate their heroic performance against Turkey the day before, where they had pushed their bigger-sized opponents all the way before eventually succumbing 24-28.
This time, they lost 14-27 to Israel. Captain Jabez Su and Russel Low only managed four points each while Tan Jun Wei and Larry Liew got three each as the Singapore team shot a poor 11% from the field.
It had all seemed so promising when Tan Jun Wei quickly levelled the scores after Israel’s opening basket with an aggressive driving layup. That brought cheers of “Singapore, Singapore” from the capacity crowd at the city venue gathered to support the host nation.
But it went downhill from there.
Israel managed to reply almost immediately and proceeded to unsettle the host nation’s offensive rhythm with their aggressive defense. They soon found themselves leading 12-5 with Singapore finding it hard to penetrate Israel’s tight defense.
By the end of the first half, Singapore looked down and out with a 12-point deficit. Staring at such a huge deficit, it looked like Singapore would need a miracle to notch their first win of the tournament.
It was not Singapore’s day as they continued to fall behind as the Israelis stretched their lead to as many as 19 points in the second half. Rebounding was once again Singapore’s bane as their opponents grabbed 23 boards to their 10.
With less than a minute on a clock, Larry Liew gave Singaporeans something to cheer about with a three-pointer, only his second of the tournament, but it was way too late and Israel easily held on for the match.
“We didn’t play up to standard today,” analyzed Mr Khoo Hwa Pang, team manager of Singapore. “We had a low shooting percentage and they could have finish the match much earlier in the second half, but I guess they missed a few shots as well. Israel doesn’t give chances at all. When defending, they don’t even give you space to shoot.”
“It is already our third game so the boys are tired,” continued Mr Khoo Hwa Pang.
“Singapore are playing against players with a lot more experience,” said Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. “Our boys are talented but they still have a lot of work to do like working on their fitness. But they never gave up today and that was the best part.”
“Of course I’m feeling very disappointed now,” said Larry Liew who only manage one three-pointer in the match. “Throughout the tournament I’ve not been playing up to my standard and I think it is just nerves. Today we were too harsh with the ball and made many turnovers. In terms of rebounds we also lost out.”
Larry, who makes three-pointers freely in local tournaments, said about the competition: “Their experience is so much more than the local players and their physical built is larger as well. We can’t compare it with the local level.”
“It was a poor team performance and we didn’t do our best,” said captain Jabez Su, who got four points but did not drive as much to the basket as he usually does. “Today just wasn’t my day. I think we lack confidence and aggressiveness and they had it. When we encounter someone more aggressive than us, we suffer. It’s hard to play at this high level of intensity everyday. It is really exhausting and challenging.”
To the fans he said, “We are sorry to disappoint you and not putting up a good show today, but we thank you for coming down and your support.”
Singapore will next play against the United States of America and Jabez commented on that: “It is a rare opportunity to play against the number one team in the world. We’ll definitely do our best against them.”
Jabez’s (#4) plan to get past Oleksander (#13) with a pass to teammate Russell Low (#5) faced interference from Israel guard Igor Mayor. (Photo 2 © Thomas Tan/Red Sports)
Singapore guard Larry Liew (#11) remains calm on the attack, even as he is kept away from the hoop on two sides. (Photo 3 © Thomas Tan/Red Sports)
Spotting a momentary chink in the Israeli defense, Jabez (#4) sprints right through to the hoop. (Photo 4 © Thomas Tan/Red Sports)
Larry Liew (#11) struggles to keep on the attack with the aggressive hounding from Sergey Zelikman (#7). (Photo 5 © Thomas Tan/Red Sports)
Russel is a picture of disappointment at full-time as Israel win it 27-14. (Photo 6 © Thomas Tan/Red Sports)
Team Singapore v Israel 1st Half:
Team Singapore v Israel 2nd Half:
Greece v Serbia 1st Half:
Greece v Serbia 2nd Half:
Spain v Philippines 1st Half:
Spain v Philippines 2nd Half:
Hi Jason, I know the boys and there is no one more disappointed about their performance for this match than themselves. I mean, they have sacrificed their time and energy all these years to do their best for the nation.
Give them credit too for the way they have bounced back against the USA team today. They have every reason to be proud of their performance in pushing the favourites all the way.
I believe that we ought to instead stand behind them and give them our support and encouragements to continue to do well for the rest of the tournament. In any case, they are the best among our youth in their age group. If we don’t support them, then I’m not sure who we can support!
Yet there is some merit to your argument about the development of sport in Singapore which is quite a big topic in itself. Take away the personal criticism of the boys and we can go on to discuss how to promote sport in general:)
Hi Ian,
I have not watched their performance against the USA team, what I said in my initial comment was based on their performances in the first few matches up till yesterday. To be honest, my disdain for them is because of some feuds between me and them whilst I played against them from secondary school and JC. As much as I want to applaud them for their effort, but seriously it’s hard to do so.
In summary, my comments may be too harsh, for that i apologize. As for the few people below, like I said, comments are merely comments, nothing personal, no offense was meant. I don’t really see the point of trying to be right or wrong since everyone has a different perspective of things.
So, let us end this redundant debate here and just continue to watch the YOG games.
It’s agreeable that basketball has not been promoting by SSC and SBA is not proactively developing local talents. Local Competitions comprising Schools’ and Milo Age Groups as well as Division I, II and Qualifying are insufficient. No proper and unbiased selection of Teams to train up. The YOG Team is basically the AYG Team with the exception of a Player for the Men. This Team may have been over-stressed and over their peaks. For 3-on-3, Teamwork is very essential and 3-point shooting is secondary if defence is tight.
Couldn’t agree more with jason.
Is that an agreement with me or with my duplicate friend?
It’s nice to see these bunch of people who are so arrogant in local competitions humbled on their home turf, or should I say, being destroyed utterly to the bone.
Why should they even be disappointed or bother apologizing to the home crowd? We never did expect much from them, lest to say even perform well. These bunch of kids were just there to make up the numbers and be the whipping boys for us to get some entertainment whilst watching.
mr jason, i think u shld try playing. it’s cos of u critics who just put singapore’s sports down, that’s why it’s so difficult for us to progress in sports. besides, fyi, this israel team almost won the US team. tells alot huh? well until u can represent singapore on an international level, i suggest u keep ur comments to urself.
You know, I didn’t criticise ALL the sports, just basketball.
The reason why we can’t progress any further or rather any more in sports is not because of the critics, it’s because of the lack of sponsorship, lack of help rendered and the entire Singapore culture. We’ve many talented youngsters distributed amongst all sports, but sadly National Service takes away the precious 2 years that could otherwise be used to develop their talent. Debatable issue but, it’s true to a certain extent.
A comment is a comment, look at it from a bigger view, take away my personal criticism towards the boys and probably you will realize what’s between the lines.
I mean, if you’re so sensitive to take it so personally, then alright, I’m sorry.
Swimming, Table-Tennis, Sailing – These are some of the sports we excel at, i mean seriously, given the mediocre contribution the SBA has extended, do you honestly think we stand a chance? Like seriously, lol.
cmon give them a break..whats wrong with competing with others n losing?..they love the game n made sacrifices…are you willing to do that for team sg?they are disappointed not becoz they didnt win but rather not putting up a good fight..they know their own standards too..all they want is to put up a good fight n give singaporeans something to cheer abt..if you dont like those kids jus keep it to yourself alright?..i find your comment very disrespectful to them..so dont comment on them the way you do alright?
Precisely, that’s the whole point, they didn’t even put up a good fight. YOG was set to be hosted by SG like 1 1/2 years ago. Excuses like nerves being rattled and lack of fitness were given, but i mean seriously what kind of stupid reasons are those, that’s equivalent to saying you didn’t do well for your exams cos’ you didn’t study hard enough. 1 1/2 years, if they really wanted to prove themselves, they’d probably have had trained harder on their fitness and technical skills. How can one not be disappointed when you watch them play? They don’t execute proper plays, don’t play good defense, don’t hustle for the ball. I mean, the header of this article ” Sluggish ” should explain all of it.
What’s wrong with giving criticism, knowing that it is true. Like I said, don’t take the comment so personally. Stop being so sensitive. =)