Patriots crush Slingers to hand them first ABL defeat
By Les Tan/Red Hoops in Manila
Slinger Michael LeBlanc (#35) finds Patriot captain Rob Wainwright (#5) in his way to the basket. LeBlanc had a game-high 16 points but shot only 38% from field-goal range. (Photo 1 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
San Juan Arena, Manila, Saturday, November 7, 2009 – The Singapore Slingers were crushed 70-53 by the Philippine Patriots in their ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) matchup, bringing their four-game winning streak to an abrupt halt.
The Slingers now have a 4-1 win-loss record while the Patriots are 3-1, their sole loss coming against the Slingers last month.
The Slinger starting five of Michael Wong, Marcus Ng, Kyle Jeffers, Michael LeBlanc and Desmond Oh were never allowed to settle by an intense Patriot defensive show in the first quarter and it was no surprise that the Patriots walked off leading 22-8 after just a quarter.
With Wong Wei Long and Lim Wai Sian down with chicken pox upon arrival in Manila and Al Vergara nursing a bruised knee, coach Frank Arsego knew the team was stretched to the limit.
“My intention was never to play Al [Vergara]. Maybe play him only for five minutes or two minutes but we couldn’t execute without him,” said Arsego.
As the Slingers started to crumble and were staring at an eight point deficit at 8-16, Arsego was compelled to introduce Al Vergara into the game with 2:15 left in the first quarter.
The Slingers achieved parity with the Patriots only in the early minutes of the first quarter, a one-handed dunk by Kyle Jeffers to make it 4-4 giving the Slinger bench some hope that maybe the depleted team could compete.
The Patriots though started to pull further ahead and by the time Brandon Powell sank a three-pointer to make it 14-6, Arsego had seen enough and introduced Vergara.
The momentum though was with the Patriots and they soon established an 18-point lead in the second quarter at 28-10 before Desmond Oh hit a 3-pointer at 6:45 to make it 28-13.
Patriot shooting started going cold, with their centre Jason Dixon getting mad enough to yell at his teammates to “bring the ball inside”.
Even then, the Patriots still walked off with a 13-point, 36-23 lead at half-time.
The Slingers started the third quarter brightly with a Jeffers two-handed slam and a Vergara 3-pointer to make it a 10-point game at 38-28.
The match got more interesting when Marcus Ng stole the ball to lay it up for two and another Jeffers slam dunk cut the deficit to nine at 33-42, forcing the Patriots coach Louie Alas to call a timeout to calm his team down.
Jeffers was having a hot streak and he delivered another one-handed slam when play resumed and now it was a seven-point deficit at 35-42.
The Slingers drew to within seven points late in the third quarter at 37-44 but threw away their opportunities at the free throw line. Michael Wong sank only one of three to narrow the deficit to six but that was the closest they would get.
From then on, some inconsistent calls from the Slinger point of view, a Rob Wainwright rejection of Marcus Ng and a missed Pathman layup saw an 8-4 Patriot run that gave the home team a 50-39 lead at the end of the third quarter.
At the same time, Filipino Elmer Espiritu also slammed the door shut on the Slinger resurgence. Espiritu had a three-point play and sank a jump shot to stretch the Patriot lead to 55-43 early in the fourth, giving his team breathing room after the Slingers came to within six at 50-44.
A Powell slam dunk at 6:00 to make it 57-43 raised cheers from the small home crowd before Espiritu scored another two points with a tip-in and Erwin Sta. Maria had a three-point play of his own to make it 62-49.
Vergara then limped out with 2:55 on the clock because of cramps caused by the taping of his knee injury.
The Patriots had a game-high 19-point lead towards the end of the fourth quarter before wrapping up the 17-point victory, 70-53.
“Since we’ve had our head coach [Louie Alas] back, we’ve played real good basketball. We’re confident as a team,” said Patriot captain Rob Wainwright who had eight points on the night.
American Brandon Powell had a team-high 14 points for the Patriots on 5 of 8 shooting from 2-point range and also spoke of a better team effort since the Patriots’ 74-69 loss to the Slingers on October 18.
“We worked on our team chemistry more,” reflected Powell, when asked what was different about this team from the one that showed up in Singapore last month.
On his own performance, Powell said: “I came out and played good. I had great intensity. I’m excited about the win. It was a big win for us.”
Patriot coach Louie Alas was pleased with the team’s performance.
“We had few turnovers in the game. We got only 11. I think that spelt the difference,” said Alas.
Two players also stood out for him.
“Jason Dixon played well. And [Elme] Espiritu played well also,” he added. Dixon had 12 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds while Espiritu had seven points and five rebounds.
As for the Slingers, the last-minute loss of back up point guard Wei Long was a big blow.
“Wei Long pulling out [because of chicken pox] ripped the heart out of the team because he could have handled their #27 (Froilan Baguion),” said Arsego.
With Vergara doubtful and Wei Long not available, Arsego noted that Marcus Ng and Michael Wong struggled playing on point tonight.
“Marcus is not used to the physicality and Michael Wong is a good passer but he’s not comfortable starting plays off the dribble,” added Arsego.
The poor first quarter – where they were outscored 22-8 – played a big part in setting the tone of the game.
“I think we started off in a manner that the other team just knew that they were probably going to be in control. That was probably a bit hard to handle,” said Arsego.
The Slingers made up for it in the second and third quarter when they outscored the Patriots 15-14 and 16-14 respectively.
“Credit to the boys for getting us back to eight points [behind] at one point [in the fourth quarter], but unfortunately we missed three free throws and it could have been back to five [behind].
“At that point, if we could have held on for that little bit longer, maybe some things could have come around. But we would have had to play out of our skins to get through to the end. We just didn’t have enough horses to compete with a very good team,” Arsego concluded.
Quarter by Quarter Scores
Patriots vs Slingers
1st Q: 22-8
2nd Q: 14-15
3rd Q: 14-16
4th Q: 20-14
Singapore Slingers Game Box Score
| # | PLAYER | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | TO | STL | BS | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | *Oh Wei Jie Desmond | 3 | 1/3 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16:42 |
| 5 | Wong Wei Long | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40:00 |
| 10 | Hong Wei Jian | 0 | 0/3 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18:11 |
| 11 | *Wong Yoon Suh Michael | 1 | 0/3 | 0/3 | 1/3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 23:43 |
| 12 | Prasad Sadasivan | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Khoo Kian Huat Steven | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40:00 |
| 14 | Lim Wai Sian | DNP | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 15 | Pathman Matialakan | 4 | 2/5 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11:04 |
| 19 | Al Vergara | 12 | 3/8 | 3/5 | 3/4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 32:43 |
| 21 | *Marcus Ng | 5 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 1/2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 28:31 |
| 31 | *Kyle Jeffers | 14 | 7/14 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 37:33 |
| 35 | *Michael LeBlanc | 14 | 4/15 | 0/3 | 6/9 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 38:52 |
| Total | 53 | 19/58 | 4/19 | 11/18 | 12 | 28 | 40 | 10 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 200 |
Philippine Patriots Game Box Score
| # | PLAYER | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | TO | STL | BS | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | *Brandon Charles Powell | 14 | 6/11 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 24:43 |
| 3 | *Warren Ybanez | 2 | 1/4 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 24:25 |
| 5 | Robert Wainwright | 8 | 2/5 | 2/4 | 2/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 18:16 |
| 8 | Val Acuna | 3 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:33 |
| 9 | Elmer Espiritu | 7 | 3/8 | 0/2 | 1/1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 26:18 |
| 14 | Khasim Mirza | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3:12 |
| 15 | Dina Daa | 0 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3:53 |
| 16 | *Jerwin Gaco | 11 | 4/6 | 0/0 | 3/3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 18:36 |
| 21 | Siverina, Jr Baclao | 4 | 2/3 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11:47 |
| 27 | *Froilan Baguion | 6 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 32:07 |
| 34 | Erwin Romme Sta.Maria | 3 | 1/4 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29:19 |
| 42 | *Jason Lamar Dixon | 12 | 5/12 | 0/0 | 2/3 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 33:23 |
| Total | 70 | 27/65 | 5/17 | 11/13 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 200 |
Slinger Al Vergara (#19) keeps an eye out for Warren Ybanez (Patriots, #3). Vergara played with a heavily strapped knee which ironically gave him cramps late in the fourth quarter, forcing him to retire. (Photo 2 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Kyle Jeffers (#31) lays up over Wainwright. Jeffers dropped 10 points and had a team-high 13 rebounds. (Photo 3 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Slinger Michael Wong (#11) drives past Brandon Powell (Patriots, #1). Michael was playing in the unfamiliar point guard position because of Vergara’s injury but the experiment wilted under the intense Patriots defense in the first quarter. (Photo 4 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Patriot Jason Dixon (#42) eyes the basket while Jeffers defends. Dixon impressed coach Louie Alas with his 12-point, 8-rebound performance. (Photo 5 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Patriot Powell flies high for two in a team-high 14 point performance. The American shot 5 of 8 (63%) from the field and had a crowd-pleasing slam dunk in the fourth. (Photo 6 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Patriot Wainwright drives between Slingers Jeffers and Vergara. The American had 8 points, playing 17 minutes in the game. (Photo 7 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Patriot Froilan Baguion (#27) protects the ball against Vergara. Baguion, who played on despite spraining his left foot in the second quarter, had six points, three rebounds and six assists. His speed and defensive ability threw the Slingers off. (Photo 8 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
Powell (in white) tangles with Desmond Oh (#2, centre) and Jeffers on a layup. A small crowd turned up to watch the game at the San Juan Arena. (Photo 9 © Les Tan/Red Sports)
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
By the way, here is another link to Botak Jones’ interview and he was saying something about KJ’s rebounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYZy5CabzkY
Botak Jones is a BIG supporter of the Slingers!!!
And…He has as many chairs at the game as KJ’s rebounds LOL
The Slingers do have a lot of supporters. Many of the local players’ supporters are juniors from their schools. Once we can get them cheering, the stadium will rock. I think the stadium commentator needs to add more hype. This voice is rather monotonous throughout the entire game. All he says is: “Let’s D up!” hahaha. No offense to him at all, but I really hope that he can help to hype up the game a bit more to get the fans going!
fhadzmer bandaying of kl dragons shot 5 three pointers at the losing effort against thailand tigers. he is better than slinger’s wei long.i think he holds the most number of treys converted. he broke the record of wei long.kudos to bandaying !i think he is the college team mate of patriots’ elmer espiritu.
@jack AND Lingganay..;p
Bandaying? Toto? As in Fhadzmir Bandaying of the University of the East? He’s a what? An import in the ABL.
Hahahahahaha, this guy barely got to see the court in the collegiate circuit in Manila, he was a certified benchwarmer and now he’s a record holder of sorts in the ABL?
I shudder to think what second tier PBA stars like Peter Jun Simon or Gary David or even Jojo Duncil will do in a league like this. Hahahahahahaha.
It is not important for the ABL that the best players in the region are in the league. What is more important for the ABL is that the league is relatively balanced, has close games, and is interesting for neutrals and fans.
From what I can see, the PBA, despite its strong following and heritage, has never travelled outside of the Philippines in terms of television, print and cable coverage, i.e., it’s not picked up as a story by regional media.
Going forward, assuming the ABL survives its first few years, it has the benefit of playing to a 550 million strong ASEAN market.
But only time will tell if it survives.
Wow, several posts in a row without any direct personal attacks/insults. People getting more civilised? or just away from the computer? = )
I haven’t gotten any chance to see the Patriots game telecasts on Channel 5 (Philippine channel), but word I got from Pinoys in other forums is that the reception/quality is not that good. Would have been better if GMA7 or ABS CBN is the one telecasting. But I heard that the upgrade seems to be on the way.
If Patriots want a better home crowd, maybe replace all/most of their local players with those from Cebu. Cebuanos will definitely give the home court advantage. I remember back that whenever a Cebu team plays in Manila particularly the PABL, the team gets tremendous support from Cebuanos in the city. Imagine if 6-9 Junmar Fajardo and 6-11 Greg Slaughter don’t sign up with Smart Gilas and play with the Patriots instead. Plus all those shooters from CESAFI.
Didn’t Don Camaso also converted 5 3-point shots in a single game?
@jack Bandaying Fhadzmir only hit a total of 6 treys and he holds the record? Please go update yourself on the ABL website.
Having not play 1 game, Wei Long still holds the record for most number of treys at 9. This record is tied with Don Camaso, Al Vergara and Rob Wainwright.
But considering that Wei Long has only played a total of 54 minutes (13.5 minutes a game), converting it to the per 48 minutes stats, Wei Long averages 9 threepointers.
Don Camaso plays 33 minutes per game. Per48 mins stats he averages only 3 threepointers.
Al Vergara plays 26 minutes per game. Per48 mins stats he averages 3 threepointers
Rob Wainwright plays 20 minutes per game. Per48 mins stats he averages 5 threepointers.
According to 48mins efficiency, Wei Long is still the best three-point shooter around (9 in every 48 mins of play). It is remarkable how one can play only 13.5 minutes and yet still hold the current record for most threes.
Stats are the measure of how good a shooter is: LONG-ranger, Wei Long is still the BEST and most EFFICIENT three-point shooter in the ABL.
@slingerrocks..good for wei long if he hit 9 3pointers. i stand corrected.. @ tee hee. YEs, bandaying is only a back up of paul leeand zamar and most of the time sitting at the bench the whole game.. IMagine this third tier basketball player is doing well in ABl.Rudy lingganay is also a back up point guard back in college…kudos to thai tigers! who is that glenn bolocon? hes a 6’3filipino playing for the tigers.he scored 11 points lasr nyt against dragons. I havent heard him in Philippine basketball.Any filipino fan can answer to my question.
ABL plays 48 minutes or 40 minutes?
If a bench player gets into the game and played the last minute then converting a 3-point shot, and then he never gets fielded ever again, that gives him 40 3pt shots per 40 minutes efficiency. Does that actually make him the best in the league?
What if this same guy attempted 5 3-point shots and converted only one in that 1 minute frame? great efficiency, poor marksmanship – 20%.
Statistics alone do not really tell the story.
Scoring:
The one with better efficiencies are always fresh while those who have lower efficiencies are those who are needed in the game most of the time. Michael Jordan averages in the 30s, but when it comes to efficiency for pts/48 minutes: how does he compare with let’s say Vinnie “The Microwave” Johnson, Mark Aguirre and other 6th men in the NBA who gets the lion share of scoring opportunities once inside the game. So who’s the better scorer in your mind?
Accuracy:
Who do you prefer to take the last shot of the ball game – Artis Gilmore (one of the highest FG%) or Michael Jordan (less than 55 percent) or Larry Bird (less than 50 percent) or Jerry West – all these 3 have lower FG %?
Great shooters are actually defined when they are under pressure and almost in fatigue stage. I read somewhere that the South Korean players actually train to shoot with the wrong foot as part of their regimen so that they can still make those long bombs even when they are very tired.
Take the case of Peja Stojakovic, remember his airball in the dying minutes of a playoff game? He was wide wide open from the corner.
When were those shots made? garbage time? Wide-open, hand in the face, off the dribble, no one in the same zip code area, crucial moment, under pressure?
can we just enjoy the game and stop bashing each other hehehehe hey slingger rocks i resepct your views man but hey lets talk national teams for once and see who is dominant hehehehe…but i wish there are more singaporeans like you who are passionate about the game…most singaporeans or ASEAN citizens i know, excluding filipinos, doesnt have an idea about basketball…
@amir, I am well aware of singapore’s national team. I’ve been keeping up with how the national team is doing. Of course I don’t live in the denial that they lost to the Philippines. But since the Slingers’ season start, the national team boys are in for something really special. They have improved by leaps and bounds, like improved by 2-3X? Not exaggerating. I watched them play like one year ago and our Singaporean players weren’t half as good as now.
@mart, Wei Long shoots 50% from three-point range. Only Al Vergara shoots better at 60%
If you want to see the threes that Wei Long makes, you can watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-vc7w3dKHY
Wei Long had 2 Four-point plays in his first two games with 2 foul-in threes. This is incredible because even NBA players don’t hit four-point plays in back-to-back games.
We are talking about a really good shooter here!!!! Wong Wei Long is the MAN!!!!
@slingerocks,
If you think Wong Wei Long is a good shooter, I’m not gonna disagree. 9 for 18 is a good clip. I am not good enough to get invited to play in the ABL, who am I to belittle any ABL player?
Most of us here who brag and belittle players probably won’t even be given a considerable look to play in the ABL – that’s what we call we talk the talk but can’t walk the walk.
There’s the South East Asian championship for basketball before the year ends. It is a replacement for the SEA Games basketball games. SMART Gilas, I think, wil represent the Philipines. CJ Giles is not naturalised yet so he cannot ply. So we’ll see how Singapore and Philippines will fare agains each other.
Before that, U-16 Fiba Asia Baketball games in Malaysia this November. After sweeping Iran, Chinese Taipei, and Kazakhtan in a mini-tournament last week, maybe the Philippine team can upset some teams in this tournament.
Hey Mart, thanks again for your thoughtful comments.
By the way, do you know where to get good and reliable news stories about the upcoming South East Asian Championship? The one that you say replaces the SEA Games? The Basketball Association of Singapore doesn’t keep us in the loop about all these national level tournaments. Don’t know why they don’t issue press releases.
The Football Association of Singapore sends us stuff every week about this or that tournament all the time.
The only problem for Singapore, the Philippines or any other country is even if they are improving by leaps and bounds -> is the opposing countries are also improving.
One PBA coach said, our players are getting taller now (6’7 to 6’9, some up to 6’11) but it is useless if China can field 5 7-footers.
My bad, the participating teams in that mini-tournament aside from the Philippnes is Iran, Chinese Taipei and Japan (not Kazakhstan).
Even if the Philippines won against these teams convincingly (beat Iran Iran 88-83 in preliminaries then 77-57, in the finals; beat Japan 77-59, beat Chinese Taipei 87-55). The real deal is the tournament in Malaysia. It is well-known fact that teams hide their aces in some tournaments and usually experiment with the rotation.
Hi Slingerroccks & Gordan!! TY soo much for your kind words & the video clip with Jeffers & Giles… I would love to meet you all.. CJ & Kyle were actually on the same Pac-10 College Team.. lol…. I really like CJ, in fact on Jeffers Senior night, (Jeffers last home game in College), CJ talked to me for quite a while on the floor keeping me calm (panic attach!), before I had to walk out there with Kyle in front of 8,000 fans & the standing ovation Jeffers had… Incredible!!!! what a wonderful memory & footage I have of that night & so many, many other games, a full library! Anyway these 2 guys know each others moves!!! lol…. I am happy for both of them really… I feel like these guys are all my boys…
love & hugs, mama bear… lol
As far as getting to a game in person I would love to go!!!! Will Air Asia fund a round trip ticket for me pretty please?? It’s only a 30-32 hour round trip plane ride… I am ready for the sunshine & wonderful tropical climate!! lol
Glad Botak Jones is a Slinger fan & he has that many seats, but I am not one to sit at a game & not cheer for my Slingers so I must be in a section that has a great view but I am allowed to be myself… a crazed cheering fan with larengitis the next day!! that was a good clip with Botak.. TY!!
I might be one to write, but I am very camera shy.. lol.. unlike the guys who are used to being in front of the microscope of the lens… I tend to hide from cameras as much as possible… but those cameramen & photographers always catch me, darn it… lmao!!
The stadium commentator should watch some College & NBA clips to get a clue on how our commentators react to ALL plays Offense & Defense! It is his job to get the audience on their feet so if he can’t get it right… I am sure that there is someone out there that is capable of handling this much sought after position correctly!!
Peace out!
@Deana, yea the 2 Oregon boys were great! It seems like there was a little rivalry going on when I was watching that game. CJ is going to change his citizenship and become a Filipino to play for the Filipino national team.
@Gordon, I think you would make a good commentator
Haha…sure to get the crowd on their feet.
LOL, @Deana Trust me, I’m a nutcase during games. I’ve seen fans behind us move seats because I’m too noisy
somebody replace the slingers homecourt announcer please!!!!”strong deffffffence” with a voice that sounds like he’s coming out his grave….how are you supposed to pump-up the crowd like that? I guess he haven’t watched any NBA game at all.
@Les,
I haven’t found any official news article on this.
But a Filipino guy posted it in http://forums.interbasket.net
The game swill be held in Manila. The basketball event was scratched from the LAOS SEA Games in December.
Hey, looks like MLB and the Slingers had a miserable week:
http://misterleblanchoops.blogspot.com/2009/11/lifes-beach.html
Slinger & Gordan!!! You 2 are sooo funny!!!! lmao!!!
CJ Giles was also a former player of Kansas Jayhawks. He only transferd to oregon.
@deanna, cj giles will be naturalized as a filipino in order to play for the philippine national team. hes salary is almost 1million peso a month. more than 20thousnd dollars a month.
Regarding MLB’s article, I can’t believe the poor hospitality and treatment given to the Slingers at the Philippines. No bus to send the players to the game? Locked locker room? Wet locker room that made Kyle Jeffers slip and fall? What is this? I’m wondering if it is a ploy to make the Slingers lose the game, considering the Patriots wanted to win really bad. I hope the professionalism will improve. This is bad for the ABL’s image. Makes one thing that the entire league doesn’t care for its players, but that is not true.
The traffic was bad. So the bus was held up. No need to conjure up conspiracy theories. The Patriots management were apologetic about the bus.
As I’ve understand, Slingers are billeted in the Greenhils area(?), and the venue is Sanjuan….the traffic is very horrendous there especially this time of the year (Christmas season)….that’s still nothing during the school days, lots of cars (usually SUVs double parking) fetching the students of the 3 schools in the Area.
That’s nothing compared to what other countries do to boxers. We have one boxer forced to walk through the winter cold to reach an arena. Bus trips taking forever to reach the stadium….
Les is there so he is in better position to assess the professionalism. But even other pinoy posters were dismayed on what happened.
kk guys, damned if I knew about the slip & fall in the locker room, that really sucks big time!!!! Redhoops it is time to move on… The Slingers fly out Friday… please let us know they got there safe.. You are MY ONLY FIRST HAND SOURCE of information… I appreciate knowing of any links, if their will be a live play by play or anything at all… soobbbb…. Slingers have a small bench this game, I do know that so far…. What time is the game & is anyone going to be filming?? Live stream of any kind much appreciated in next article or Comments guys!!!! I will be checking for update tonight from my beloved Rehoops for updated info…. Mama bear needs to sleep & not knowing how the Slingers are when traveling keeps me awake at night… Thursday 11:33 a.m.
Jack, I know Giles was a Redshirt Transfer to OSU.. He was recovering from surgery with his arm in a sling… lol… I was there in person darlin…. know his life story… I am so proud of him & all my guys that I know playing all over the world… but Slingers are my FAVORITE TEAM now!!!! lol
Mart?! what is the name of the person that posted an article in http://forums.interbasket.net ???? TY!!! tons of stuff in there so I can’t find it.. lol
Hi Deana
Follow us on Twitter – http://twitter.com/redhoopsdotcom – I will tweet as we travel through Indonesia and you will know first hand what’s going on. : ) We are flying out in a matter of hours!
@slingerrocks- thats the problem of patriots, theyr forced to play in san juan arena because of lack of crowd supporters. they cannot afford to play the game in araneta coliseum where it caters 20thousand people.it is only the PBA who can do that, whenever ginebra plays the finals more 20thousand people jampacked the big dome.thats how the filipino loves basketball especially the PBA.i want to see jeffers play for the philipine basket asso
As visitors, any ABL team still deserves reasonable treatment on away games. If bus trips take forever like mart said, perhaps, should try to have alternate plans?
Regarding accomodations, transportation, logistics and other issues, I don’t think the ABL team owners will just turn a blind eye on this.
All these team owners have put a lot of money in this venture. Let’s just believe that the people in charge will address these issues and improve these things.
The Slingers management should be very vocal about these to those in charge of the Philippine trip.
@DEANA,
here is the link: only the very first post is useful information. don’t bother reading the subsequent posts.
http://forums.interbasket.net/f66/southeast-asian-championship-november-2009-manila-9943/
@Slingerrocks,
You’re very popular…
Even some people in Forums.interbasket have arrived at the conclusion:
Slingerrocks = = PinoySuxx
Back to relevant things:
Read somewhere that the guideline for the stadium is that it should be near the airport. Maybe when the state of the art stadium being constructed at the Mall of Asia is completely finished, it will host the ABL games (2011?). It’s very near the airport. By that time maybe the crowd support for the home team (Manila Patriots?) will warrant such venue.
@Jack
Correction: It is La Salle-Ateneo games (not PBA games) that usually fills up the Araneta Coliseum.
@ mart, youre ryt, but ginebra is always a crowd getter in all pba games, and ginebra is part of PBA.Even in philippine basketball history, Ginebra has the most mumber of fans than la salle ateneo.that proposal to construct the biggest basketball dome in mall of asia is too big for abl, it is planned for PBA because SM will join the PBA ballclubs come 2011. Including in the list of aspirants are gokongwei group and the phoenix oil co.
the proposed construction of the biggest baskeball dome in the phil or even in the whole southeast asia is part of the plans of the SM group to join the PBA ballclubs come 2011. other aspirants are gokongwei group and phoenix fuel corp.hence it is really for the PBA principaly, although it is open to others. I hope by that that time the patriots could get a large crowd supporters.. otherwise they cannot afford to rent it.
@Jack,
That stadium is not for the PBA principally (?), it is more of being the home of the National University (NU) Bulldogs. Henry Sy owns NU and SM. I’m not even sure the PBA will hold its games there. The PBA planned to build its own venue but seems like it got shelved(???).
The Patriots and also the other ABL teams need not have to use the biggest venues available, the most important thing is to be able to accomodate the spectators without too many vacant seats. Vacant seats do not look good to the broadcasting outfits (advertisements, sponsorships might drop). I think a smaller stadium with a full crowd would have a higher decibel level than a very big stadium with an average crowd size.
Other considerations are the accessibility and parking area of the venue.
Jan & Mart, TY for the updates… I am now a darn twitter er… lol… swore I would never go there… Mart I will check out the link.. TY! You are all probably in flight or there now… have a great trip! Mart… I am very disturbed about what happened in Manilla, especially the locker room & excessive extreme fouls.. this is BB, not a cat fight, so all teams need to put their claws away & play BB the way it was meant to be played!! The ABL must put their foot down & follow their own rules & FIBA rules.. The Refs need to know how to ref!! they can kick players acting up to the curb with a technical or 2 if the other side or any player is acting stupid.. It is a rough game already but it did seem like trouble right out of the gate… Not a conspiracy theory Les, it happened… so I am with Slingerrocks on that one.. sorry.. I know my gut feeling & come to find out it did go down that badly??? I am soooo upset… I always know when something is wrong… I don’t care how many miles seperate us…
JACK!! Bite me!!! Jeffers is a Slinger!!! how could u even go there?
Keep me updated Jan!!! Let us know all of you & the guys are ok please!! Friday 12:20 a.m. PST – sweet dreams…. zzzzzz
@Deana I don’t think the management over there meant it to happen but it was certainly very poor planning on their part. Since they knew the traffic would be like this during this time of the year, they should have perhaps sent the bus to the hotel earlier. The locked door wasn’t good but it wasn’t a major factor, I just hope they care about the welfare of the players (wet floor etc)
well perhaps next time the philippine home games should be played in cuneta in order to avoid the traffic but cuneta is too big for this league…im really excited with the ABL though, im giving credit to the other ASEAN countries who are participating, maybe in time they can give a good game to the philippines…and hey i think this league was meant for further regional intergration of the ASEAN
@mart–Maybe if nu bulldogs hAS thousands of followers accumulated than lasalle-ateneo… besides building the biggest and largest basketball dome is a wise and brightest investment for them as an adjunct to a business where they belong(JOINING THE PBA),Come to think of it, Henry Sy will not be as tycoon as he is today if hes decision is just to build the biggest dome in the philippines just to cater NU. instead, he could have only buy and develop dapitan sports complex just to cater NU BULLDOGS PRINCIPALLY.SM will bE part of PBA’s ballclub comes 2011.Ask MR. haresco.
I use to think Toa Payoh stadium’s locker room was bad as it was opposite a public stinky toilet and having no air conditioner. It seemed really like a bad place to host the ABA teams, hello, with Sun Yue in it? But at least, it was open and clean. That is the basic criteria for a locker room at the least! Players ought to be safe and reasonably comfortable. Wet floors and locked rooms are no-no! As a player, that will feel terrible!
@jimmy arroyo, you don’t have to insult a player here. KJ is the best player in the ABL, no import comes close to his skill level and no pinoy player in the ABL is half his match!
Mart… this post confuses me… this thread is not taking me to the right place… hopefully Redhoops can send a better link when they find out what it is… thanks anyway… (Mart said: only the very first post is useful information. don’t bother reading the subsequent posts.
http://forums.interbasket.net/f66/southeast-asian-championship-november-2009-manila-9943/
Life is short, basketball career/profession is much shorter, these ABL (and other leagues’) players are enjoying their jobs while they can. They’re not gonna lose sleep over our insults.
It’s probably the fans bashing each other are losing sleep defending their fave players.
@DEANA,
I’m not sure why it won’t work for you. I’ll post links of any other articles that I can bump into.
Please don’t arrive at the conclusion that all the bad things that happened in Manila / San Juan was carefully planned and intended by some parties with vested interests….
Reckless…hmmm maybe…but intentional…I don’t think so (ok this is my opinion).
If you get to know life outside basketball in the Philippines, you won’t even think of all these conspiracies. ; )
too much nationalism is already fanaticsm, fanaticsm tends to blind people of the truth and stirr people to destroy one another… Hitler and the Japs did that…
Congratulations! to Pacman Pacquiao!
Watched the replay of this game.. And I REALLY saw some blocks by Espiritu, Baclao and Jeffers..
That blow on Jeffers was just unlucky.. He was hounding Ybanez to the baseline and Ybanez was protecting his dribble.. The problem is that Warren is 5’7″(???) and Jeffers is more than a foot taller.. So were to your think his (Ybanez) shoulders would be..;p
Slingerrock, i dont know your measurement of good player,but i seen differently, jeffers is not past my assesment.He scores when he is being guarded by small player
Larry and Hartman is more complete player.