Chris Kuete drives for two for the Slammers against the Dragons. Kuete was instrumental in driving the new franchise to a victory over his former team. (Photo 1 courtesy of ABL)
Bangkok, Saturday, October 2, 2010 — With the merry-go-round seen in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) off season, it was inevitable that an ex-player would come back to haunt a team. That first honour went to Chris Kuete on opening day when he powered his new team Thailand Slammers to a 79-74 win over his former team, the KL Dragons.
Kuete scored 31 points, including nine crucial points in overtime.
The Slammers went on an early 16–6 run before they went scoreless for almost four minutes in the face of a solid Dragons defense. The Dragons then went on a 10-2 run to ensure that they finished the first quarter trailing only by two (16-18).
Kuete came alive in the second quarter with eight consecutive points for the Slammers with the Dragons suffering from turnovers and poor offensive execution. Kuete scored 12 of 18 Slammers points for a 10-point (36-26) lead at the half.
Returning Dragons’ Filipino import Rudy Lingganay sparked his team with a four-point and one-assist effort to reduce the deficit to four (32-36) at the start of the third period. Rudy would go on to score eight points in the quarter and together with another eight by new Irish import Thomas Conor, they both combined for 16 of 22 points in the third.
Some controversial no-calls for the Dragons allowed the Slammers to enter the final quarter with a 56-48 lead.
Rudy kept the Dragons in the game, scoring consecutive points to tie the game at 65-65 with 2:30 left before it finished 67-all at the end of regulation time.
After getting shut down in the second half, Kuete came alive again in overtime, scoring all nine points for the Slammers, including one three-pointer. With just under one minute left, it was a two-possession game with the Slammers leading by 76–72. The Dragons failed to secure the crucial rebound and Jason Dixon sealed the game 79–74 for the Slammers with free throws.
Slammers’ American import Jason Dixon, who won the Best Import in his first season with the Philippine Patriots, scored 14 points, seven rebounds and also had four block shots.
Rudy stood out for the Dargons with 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting with Conor scoring 14 points and six rebounds.
Ed’s note: There are no box scores available for this game because the organisers had technical difficulties.
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