Story by REDintern Ethan Lou. Photos by Vanessa Lim/Red Sports
Steven Khoo scored a game-high 23 points on the night for the Slingers, including three 3-pointers. He was 9-of-11 from field-goal range. (Photo 1 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, September 5, 2010 — The Singapore Slingers began their ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) pre-season with a 97-72 defeat of Rain or Shine Elasto Painters from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).
Local slinger Steven Khoo topped the scoring charts with 23 points, including three 3-pointers.
“The team is great, although we have been together for only two to three weeks, we have really bonded, on and off the court, sharing everything. We were very good for a new team,” said Steven. “I am very happy with my performance. It’s great but, there is still a lot of room to improve.”
This was the first of three pre-season games against PBA opposition in preparation for the ABL tipping off in October.
The second season of the ABL will see six professional teams tip off — the KL Dragons (Malaysia), Satria Muda BritAma (Indonesia), Brunei Barracudas, Philippine Patriots, Thailand Cobras and the Slingers. The Cobras replace the Thailand Tigers of last season.
The Slingers finished second during the regular season but lost to Satria Muda in the semi-finals.
The Slingers led 27-13 at the end of the first but Rain or Shine outscored them 13-11 in the second quarter to ensure that the Slingers led by only 12 (38-26) at the half-time break.
A fairly even scoring quarter in the third saw the Slingers hold a 13-point (64-51) lead going into the fourth.
The Slingers then put together a 22-12 run on the back of Steven Khoo and Al Vergara to set up the eventual 97-72 victory.
“They seemed as though they were here on holiday, they weren’t really motivated and we jumped on them early,” said returning local Pathman Matialakan. “We will be facing top teams in our next game. That would be our real test.”
New import Marcus Skinner made his debut in a Slinger jersey while last season’s co-captain Kyle Jeffers was also back in the familiar yellow home jersey. While the imports usually top the scoring charts, it was a pleasant surprise to see Steven Khoo’s name lead the charts.
“Overall, we had a good game, we had a game plan and we stuck to it. Some individuals really stepped up big. Everyone has a part to play. We are not a Kyle Jeffers and Marcus Skinner (imports) team. Everyone has a part to contribute. We didn’t really have to rely on imports (tonight). Last year, most of the job was done by the imports,” said Pathman.
Each ABL squad is allowed five import players – two international and three ASEAN players. Each squad has 12 players and will take 10 players for away games.
With reference to his own performance, Pathman said: “I am a bit disappointed that I did not start, but there must be a reason for it. I gave my best, given the minutes that I was playing, I got a couple of shots down and it’s only the first game of the season. I am reasonably satisfied.”
The Singapore Slingers will next play Meralco on Monday, September 13th, 2010, 8pm, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Scoring by Quarter
Rain or Shine vs Singapore Slingers
1st Q: 13-27
2nd Q: 13-11
3rd Q: 25-26
4th Q: 21-33
Singapore Slingers Game Box Score
* Denotes starters. MIN - Minutes played. FG - Field goals made/attempted. 3PT - Three-point field goals made/attempted. FT - Free throws made/attempted. OR - Offensive rebounds. DR - Defensive rebounds. TR - Total rebounds. AST - Assists. STL - Steals. BS - Blocked shots. TO - Turnovers. PF - Personal fouls. PTS - Points scored.| # | Name | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | *Desmond Oh | 23 | 1/6 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Wong Wei Long | 17 | 5/10 | 3/7 | 2/3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
| 11 | Tan Chin Hong | 5 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Brian Tan | 3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | *Steven Khoo | 32 | 9/11 | 3/4 | 2/3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 23 |
| 14 | Gary Koh | 6 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 15 | Pathman Matialakan | 16 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 19 | *Al Vergara | 27 | 6/10 | 4/5 | 0/0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
| 21 | Ng Han Bin | 2 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | Teo Chun Hoe | 5 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | *Kyle Jeffers | 36 | 7/14 | 0/0 | 4/5 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 18 |
| 35 | *Marcus Skinner | 28 | 7/14 | 0/1 | 3/3 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 17 |
| Team | 8 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| total | 200 | 37/73 | 10/20 | 13/16 | 20 | 35 | 55 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 18 | 97 |
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Game Box Score
* Denotes starters. MIN - Minutes played. FG - Field goals made/attempted. 3PT - Three-point field goals made/attempted. FT - Free throws made/attempted. OR - Offensive rebounds. DR - Defensive rebounds. TR - Total rebounds. AST - Assists. STL - Steals. BS - Blocked shots. TO - Turnovers. PF - Personal fouls. PTS - Points scored.| # | Name | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | *T.Y. Tang | 22 | 1/7 | 0/1 | 2/3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | *Jay-R Reyes | 20 | 4/7 | 0/0 | 2/3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| 9 | *Jeffrei Chan | 15 | 3/4 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 11 | Eddie Laure | 16 | 0/3 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | RJ Jazul | 16 | 0/5 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | *Ryan Arana | 30 | 4/11 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| 20 | *Jervy Cruz | 3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | Paolo Bugia | 17 | 1/5 | 0/0 | 1/3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 22 | Josh Vanlandingham | 21 | 7/11 | 6/10 | 0/0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| 44 | Doug Kramer | 28 | 5/10 | 0/0 | 3/5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 56 | John Ferriols | 12 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Team | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| total | 200 | 26/65 | 7/17 | 13/20 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 72 |
American Kyle Jeffers (Slingers #31) goes for a slam dunk. Jeffers, who is back for his second season with the Slingers, dropped 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting. (Photo 2 © Vanessa Lim/Red Sports)
For more photos go to next page
If other ABL team not going to recruit 7ft center, then jeffers and slingers are strong contender this year,with the arrival of skiner
who are the slingers new players?
replaced whom from last year??
I am proud of the Slingers for such a great game regardless what Jayson said… great up to date article & action photos from Redhhoops/Sports as usual!!!!
Les/Jan? will anyone be covering the games like you all did last year for us that cannont get live games?
TY!! Slingermom
Hi Deana, thanks for dropping by and glad you enjoy the stories. At the minimum, we’ll have stories like these but having a live blog will be a problem probably because we don’t have enough crew members for the ABL.
@les, need live blog and vidoes to upload.
let slingers expand its popularity nationwide..
@thadis – I’m sure the Slingers know that but we are not hired by the Slingers to do anything. We are an independent news site and have no official ties with the Slingers or any government organisation.
if you would like to volunteer to do the live blog and videos, let me know. Live blogs and videos require talented people who have the time to volunteer. : )
@les, doesn’t matter if not tied with slingers, the important thing is.. you cover sports, and cover to the best as you can..
We try : ) But no videos though. No manpower.
celfone..low budget videos?
You can always try and upload them to YouTube on your own. : )
your celfone, and upload it in your stories to tell
Oh. I don’t have a mobile phone with a camera.
AT LEAST GINEBRA DID NOT DISAPPOINT US LAST SEASON!
GINEBRA! GINEBRA ! GINEBRA!
PBA player will NOT play to die.
Good game for the Slingers, however, I won’t pay anymore money for any Slingers vs PBA teams. PBA teams always play half-hearted and never uses their star players. After 2 years of watching visiting PBA games I thought this time would be different. It’s an obvious NO.
As usual PBA team never fail to disappoint. This is the last time for me …and my friends… and their friends!
How much you pay?