Handicapped Patriots determined to stop Slingers’ winning “Wei”s
By Jan Lin/Red Hoops. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Hoops.
Slingers’ backup local point guard, Wong Wei Long belongs to the Slingers’ trio of “Wei”s, together with Hong Wei Jian and Desmond Oh Wei Jie. The “Wei” trio contributed 33 points in Slingers’ 96-72 wipe out of Satria Muda BritAma last weekend to continue the Slingers’ winning ways. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Underpinning the Singapore Slingers’ four consecutive ABL victories is a message that boasts of their depth. The traveling Slingers are well on course to extend their winning ways as the Philippine Patriots have been dealt a double injury blow ahead of their crucial home tie this weekend.
The Patriots’ key players – Nonoy Baclao and Christian Coronel – are reportedly still recovering from hamstring injuries. Point guard Coronel, who contributed 9 points in their 69-74 defeat against the Slingers three weeks ago, will be replaced by Froilan Baguion and Warren Ybanez.
But the 6’4” Baclao, who has only debuted for the Patriots after the game against the Slingers, is insistent on being featured in this Saturday’s showdown despite the injury.
Baclao is a star player of the UAAP (Philippines’ inter-varsity league) recently crowned champions, Ateneo Blue Eagles. Fellow UAAP stars, Elmer Espiritu and Val Acuña, were also brought in to beef up the team after the UAAP league concluded last month.
On top of the three new additions, Patriots’ head coach Louie Alas has also revealed his strategy of employing a full-court press this weekend.
The full-court press was the Slingers’ lethal weapon against Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma whom they demolished 96-72 at home last weekend. The game was also a test of depth for the Slingers as their Filipino point guard, Al Vergara, was forced to retire after picking up a knee injury.
Taking Vergara’s place was the backup local point guard Wong Wei Long, who shouldered the heavy responsibility with maturity and poise to finish the game with 13 points. Together with Hong Wei Jian and Desmond Oh Wei Jie, they form the menacing “Wei” trio of the Slingers.
“When I knew that I had to go on for Al, initially I was quite excited and nervous,” admitted 21-year-old Wei Long, “but I tried to overcome it by just getting myself to sweat it out, and the team helped me out a lot as well.”
Despite dropping nine three-pointers in four games, Wei Long is humble about his achievement. He said: “In my perspective, I don’t think I run the ball as well as Al does, I may score a lot of three-pointers but all these come from team work, where I managed to get the good shots.”
“I have to improve in commanding the big brothers,” said Wei Long, who may be the second youngest Slinger but he’s no doubt a young man with composure beyond his years. “I think that’s the biggest step I’ve to overcome when Al is injured, but I’m starting to pick it up.”
“I guess as they are the imports, the ball tends to go to them and the locals tend to be forgotten in the games,” Wei Long added. “The locals do get the ball but I personally feel that we will need to have a better balance in that, so that our opponents will respect us as well.”
The local Slingers did indeed catch the eye of their opponents last week. A thoroughly impressed Fictor Roring, Satria Muda’s head coach, said: “The fantastic thing about the Slingers is that the imports and the local players can blend together and play as a unit.”
Even Slingers’ local development player, Prasad Sadasivan, was given the rare opportunity to get on court with four other locals in the game’s dying minutes. In the 1 minute 25 seconds he was on court, he downed a 2-pointer to seal off a memorable evening for the hosts.
Wei Long said cheekily: “I’m very proud to say that I was the one who passed the ball to Prasad to score! I was very excited about that! It was fantastic having five locals finishing the game. I just feel that the ABL is a very good opportunity for our locals to play on a big stage.”
With only four imports on the ABL roster, Wei Long’s fellow local Slingers Hong Wei Jian and Desmond Oh Wei Jie have taken turns to be the fifth starting Slinger. The “Wei” trio contributed 33 points (of 96 points) in blowing out Satria Muda last week.
Wei Jian and Wei Long were also tied in third place in points (13 points) last week. The 24-year-old Wei Jian also bagged a hat-trick of 3-pointers, while Desmond “pillar of defense” Oh has been head coach Frank Arsego’s starting five choice in the last two games.
Wei Jian started in the Slingers’ first two home games, while Desmond was handed a surprise starting five slot when the Slingers traveled to their first road game in Brunei a fortnight ago.
Arsego said: “As our program grows, certain players in the program are going to grow as they continue to develop. Desmond has really applied himself, training-wise and his commitment to defense. And there will be opportunities for the other guys to have that responsibilities to step up. That’s all part of the whole learning and growing thing for our group.”
The Slingers-Patriots match will tip-off on Saturday, 4pm, at The Arena in San Juan City. Satria Muda BritAma will host the Brunei Barracudas on Sunday, 3pm, at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta, while the KL Dragons will visit the Thailand Tigers on Monday, 8pm, at Bangkok’s Nimibutr National Stadium.
Slingers’ Desmond Oh Wei Jie was handed a surprise starting five slot for the first time a fortnight ago in Brunei, and was again Arsego’s starting five choice against Satria Muda a week later at home. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Slingers’ Hong Wei Jian was tied with Wei Long in third place with 13 points for the team in last weekend’s game against Satria Muda. The 24-year-old Wei Jian also bagged a hat-trick of 3-pointers last weekend. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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or maybe get another 2 asean imports from the philippines…. and then we’l have rivalry between patriots and slingers…
3 asean imports + leblanc and jeffers + a good system and a good coach… that will be a great team… but right now, lets face it, your local players cant handle the pressure yet.. may be in a year or 2…
To clarify, Nonoy Baclao was not a star player during his UAAP days but more of a role player.. He’s a defensive specialist in case you don’t know or have not seen him play yet..
Anyway, no excuses for the loss Slinger boys.. You were truly outplayed there.. The difference of the SS-PP first and second game is that the Patriots were not yet complete during the first game.. Baclao, Espiritu and Acuna didn’t play and even Coach Alas wasn’t there in their first 3 games.. But likewise, not an excuse for the first loss either.. It’s just that the Patriots then weren’t outplayed, they just couldn’t convert..
Anyway, nice game for the Patriots.. Now the ABL gets more interesting..;p
when will be an all local teams be fielded in such ABL to really speak of what they are really worth of.
imports win games.
@jake and kettch, wait for me to say something? Challenging me to say something? Just too bad Wei Long and Wai Sian wasn’t at the game. Otherwise, I really hope they can shake hands and pass the virus to the Patriots and let’s see who is taunting and challenging who.
Today Nov.7, 2009, Patriots beat Slingers 70-53 the final score.c”,)
1st Quarter 22-8; 2nd Quarter 36-23; 3rd Quarter 50-39; 4th Quarter 70-53
This time the Philippine Patriots are playing seriously in this league.Patriots are playing good defence,because this is what Patriots are made of. A DEFENSIVE Team who dont rely on imports..The addition of 3 college players who are known to be the number 1 and 2 of shot blockers in college really makes the Patriots stronger..Baclao and Espiritu,this two new recruits fresh from college is the shot blocker.They are the one guarding the imports of theri opponents and both of them having 9 blocks a game combined..c”,)
Great game guys.
Being a Filipino and a Patriots fan, I would say it was a game worth rejoicing if only for beating the Slingers. But then sure @Slingerrocks has a point there that Wei Long wasn’t playing and the bench of the slingers was just around 3 players. This is a victory nonetheless but I won’t go and say it decides once and for all who’s the better team. We’ve gotta give credit where it’s due. The Slingers played a great game but fans would have preferred it better if their bench was in their prime and we could have tested their mettle.
My advice to some guys here, just calm down. Your team getting beaten or winning doesn’t give you license to lay verbal abuse at anyone. For fans who appreciate the game for what it is will get to see games for what they are and give credit to players and teams who deserve it. Sure I want the Patriots to be the overall champ but I won’t go on forums arguing the team outplayed lousy teams. If that’s the case, that’s not really a sweet victory is it?
Anyway, this is just the maiden year for ABL. More matches have to be played before fans can crunch stats and really immerse themselves into the league. Nonetheless, I see a Patriots/Slingers rivalry in the making here.
If any hard nosed fan here goes ahead and continues with bashing other nationalities, PLEASE DO GO AHEAD BUT MAKE SURE YOU BUY GAME TICKETS WHEN YOUR HOME TEAM PLAYS ABROAD. That way, we can make the ABL a commercial success.
trash talking? all you can do. pity.
70-53
weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
I bow to your superior logic, Slingerrocks. Clearly the presence of Wei Long, a man averaging 8.5 points per game Wai Sian Lim, who has contributed NO PTS, 2 TURNOVERS AND 2 PALTRY REBOUNDS in FOUR GAMES (these are total stats and not averages) would’ve been sufficient to turn the tide and overcome the puny 17 point lead the Patriots erected.
Besides, I thought you guys were all first world and high tech. Ever heard of vaccination?
@ kettch, WEI LONG is the TOP THREE-POINT shooter in the ABL. His presence will mean a GREAT deal to the Slingers. No excuses for the loss, but please, it’s your challenging that is pissing me off, not the patriots. Kudos to Singaporeans for creating the Redhoops site, because the ABl news is shallow.
@Slingerrocks, I know Wei shoots .500 from beyond the arc, but still, he’s only good for roughly nine points a game. Assuming he performs as expected, and he hits his treys like he’s supposed to, then you’ve still got an eight-point deficit staring you in the face. And this is assuming Coach Louie Alas is a complete idiot and doesn’t recognize the danger of not defending against the league’s most accurate three point shooter.
I apologize for feeding the flames, but you gotta admit, your… umm… rather spirited (to put it mildly) pregame comments and your deafening silence during and immediately after the game made you a rather easy target. And wishing ill (literally) on other people? Not cool.
Welcome to internet sports fandom. Remember, it’s nothing against you personally. Take it all in stride, and have fun supporting your team. Peace! Apologies if you’re offended.
to dominate the Asean basketball scene you have to beat RP in SEABA or the SEA games not in the ABL…in the ABL imports usually do the work
to gordon and slingerrocks, my analysis last week was ryt? truly nonoy baclao and elmer espritu has eaten le blanc and controlled jeffers,they are really the complete potent weapons of the patriots…. I think, it is the new revamped kuala lumpur dragons that can at least challenge the patriots because of two filipino guards lingganay and bandaying and i think pari llagas will be part of kuala lumpur too.. the only way to be on the top form for slingers is to hire another filipino guard that can play 123 position.without a new filipino guard, they cannot be a tittle contender.
lol, news blackout?
A bit of an anti-climax in the end but no excuses for the slingers, bad things happen but good teams are able to step up to the challenge. Needed Marcus or Michael Wong to really step up and deliver. Anyway, hope to see them go back to the drawing board and improve again. Will WWL and WaiSian be out for the next game as well? Won’t they need to sign someone in the interim if that is the case?
with the presence of baclao,espiritu and acuna, it will be an all the way win by the patriots to the finals. the slingers should add depth from another filipino import. otherwise the other abls teams that wll revamp and retool their roster can catch them up.
i think slingers will go down hill from now… they do not have a good rotation and their bench, well lets call it shallow…
@ Jake – what you say could be true, i am hoping that they don’t begin to slide downwards, with 2 players out and vergera at not 100% plus a road trp to SM (not easy by any means), it is possible that they could lose the next game. I hope that Marcus can have a breakthrough and really contribute more. I feel that without WWL, they need Marcus to really have a strong breakout game. Hope he can do that next game and slingers can get the win at SM.
Wei Long is out. nice excuse.
FACT: The Singapore Slingers is composed of THE BEST BASKETBALL PLAYERS in Singapore plus imports. The Philippine Patriots is composed of (no offense to the players) not even the cream of the crop of College Players and amateurs.
@kettch You should, after all, what you’re using to explain isn’t logical. You don’t decide whether a player can cut the deficit because of his averages, do you? Are you implying that a Cleveland team (for example), without Lebron will score 30 points lesser? Like I repeated several times, I won’t take the win away from the Patriots, they won, they deserved it but I think the Slingers team deserved some credit for fighting with a couple of players. However, they are so many factors you have to consider, yes, the Patriots did have a couple of players out too, but they still had a rotation of at least 11-12 players meaning they could spread the minutes and no one would need to play above 35 minutes. Bottom line, the Patriots won, they deserved it and I mean no offense to you, but your criticism isn’t fair.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter if a country is first world or fourth world, chicken pox is an optional vaccine, only vaccines like Polio and Measles are mandatory. As large percentage of children have gotten chicken pox before, it would not be sensible to immunized all of them (that’s just injecting more virus in them cause the Varicella Zoster stays in the nervous system after the first chicken pox). The two cases were just unfortunate.
@Ola, Singapore Slingers are not the best basketball players in Singapore. Players like Koh Meng Koon and Mitchell Folkoff are also very good players that could possible play for the Slingers. It is just due to personal commitments to other stuff that they can’t play.
FLYBOY!!! FLYBOY!!! FLYBOY!!!
hey guys have you heard that the smart gilas team are going to start a 300 game workout in preparation for a chance to have a slot in the Olympics. Their aim is not winning the olympics they just want to join in and play some games… hope they succed
@Jake – fascinating tidbit. 300 games? How do you play 300 games a year? Amazing. Unless you pulling our legs. ; )
yo ho Mr. Les what year is it, its still 2009 when is the olympics it’s in 2012… so let us count 1, 2, 3 so it’s roughly 3 years… well Mr. Les hope you are enlightened… i did not say in one year…
Ah right, of course. About two and a half years. It’s doable. Still a lot of games. One can only improve after so many games.
besides its only the target games, nobody knows what might happen….
Wow, thats alot of games jake, they sure are determined to make the Olympics! Is there a link to the story? I wanna check it out, could they be planning games against NBA teams?? (that would be exciting!)
It will be tough for Smart Gilas to make the Olympics as the FIBA Asian Tournament is already over. Normally only 2 Asian teams can qualify and that would be China and Iran. To get another place in the Olympics, Smart Gilas has to beat teams like Canada with Samuel Dalembert of the 76ers or European teams like Poland with Marcin Gortat of the Orlando Magic. Each of the teams that seek to qualify for the Olympics have at least an NBA player. Even the Asian teams like Lebanon has ex-NBA players i.e Matt Frejie, Jackson Vroman. Smart Gilas can try for 2016 after 4 more years of training. Olympics is no joke. It is playing the best in the world. The 2012 goal is almost impossible now.
@Jake I think it is only about 40+ games.. But hey, that count is only for international games.. The local(Philippines) games are not part of the count.. So maybe they’ll reach that 300 count..
Smart Gilas is my FAVORITE team as of now.. The Slingers and Gilas faced each other i think last december.. Gilas won by 3 while missing more than HALF of the training pool/line up (because of commitments to their respective schools: yes, they are composed of college students, some just graduated).. They only had 10 players then when they faced the Slingers.. So it was a pretty impressive win..
This team also finished 5th in the last FIBA Asia Champions Cup.. Against teams from the Middle East, China, Korea and the rest of Asia..
Their goal is to put the Phils back in the basketball map of the world (we were once one of the best).. And with a very formidable coach (Rajiko Toroman: Google know him better), he make this team better and better.. And better.. AND BETTER! It’s a long shot, but they are getting there..
@jake lol, don’t appreciate your sarcasm, I wasn’t being sarcastic anyway, Smart Gilas is a team I respect because they beat the Slingers with their ability and not foul play. Players like Chris Tiu and Aguilar are fun to watch.
@no1slingerfan Like I said, it’s a long shot.. But there is a glimpse of hope.. China was beaten by Iran.. And Iran is beatable.. But it was minus Yao Ming.. So still, it’s a long shot..
But the ball is round.. Anything can happen..;p
@jake “i think slingers will go down hill from now… they do not have a good rotation and their bench, well lets call it shallow…” Well, the Patriots bench are worse. After all the bragging about how good the players are, only one player averages more than Wei Long (8.5 points) and he plays like 10 minutes more.
I’ll give my winning score to satriamuda against slingers, when they play in jakarta this coming week.Miller is not a pushover.
Slingers is a good team at the start of the league but the other teams recently wise up. KL Dragons were smart to bring in Rudy Lingganay who was fresh from the Universities Championship and the Tigers have also added 2 to complete their roster.
A good catch for the Slingers and Indonesia who still may opt to complete their roster for Asean imports is Paul Lee being courted by Gilas who is a teammate of Lingganay in the recent championship and Wilson, the recent NCAA MVP who is now available.
Slingers could even make use of ex-PBA players like Torion, Ejercito or Dale Singson…..Too bad Jaworski is too old to play for ABL.