Singapore Slingers suffer second straight home defeat with 65-62 loss to Thailand Tigers
Story by Koh Yizhe/Red Hoops. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Hoops.
Desmond Oh (Slingers, #2) scored nine points in the match after featuring for 15 minutes and 36 seconds. “Although I am happy I got quite a lot of minutes, I believe I could work on my offense more. It is hard to chase the match when you are 10 plus points down. It is possible, but very hard.” (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Monday, December 7, 2009 – The Thailand Tigers survived a late rally by the Singapore Slingers to edge the home side 65-62 and subject them to their second defeat in as many games in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL).
The Slingers started the season with four straight wins, but after falling to the Philippine Patriots last month, things went downhill from there. Although they managed a slim 61-59 victory over Satria Muda BritAma in their next away game, the Slingers were then defeated 84-74 by the KL Dragons in their next match at home. With this latest setback, the Singapore Slingers now have a 5-3 win-loss record.
The Tigers, meanwhile, improve to 3-6, with this road win against the Slingers their first of the season after six attempts.
The Slingers had a positive start, taking advantage of Tigers’ turnovers to jump to a quick 15-7 lead with four and a half minutes played. The starting Slinger five of co-captain Michael Wong, alongside the four imports, Kyle Jeffers, Marcus Ng, Michael LeBlanc and Al Vergara, doing the damage for the Slingers in the opening minutes.
However, poor ball-handling on the part of the Slingers allowed the Tigers to keep within striking distance and the visitors ended the quarter only six points adrift at 16-22.
The second period belonged squarely to the Tigers as they limited the Slingers to just a measly seven points. Ratdech Kruatiwa reduced the hosts’ lead to just two points with a three-pointer at the 6:19 mark, while a quick steal by Attaporn Lertmalaiporn allowed him to level the scores at 27 with a layup.
Attaporn then sank a three-pointer to give the Tigers the lead for good with more than four minutes left in the quarter, and the Tigers extended their lead further at half-time to nine points (38-29).
The Tigers continued their dominance and mastery of the Slingers upon resumption. Kruatiwa started the quarter brilliantly for the Tigers with a three-pointer as the Slingers struggled to make their chances count in the early goings. As a result, the Tigers led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter.
Although they managed to reduce the deficit with LeBlanc’s powerful plays in the paint, the Slingers still trailed by nine points at 39-48 heading into the final quarter.
The Slingers were a different side in the final quarter. Although their opponents started with a 5-0 run, two consecutive three-pointers by Marcus Ng and Desmond Oh, along with a three-point play by Marcus, put the crowd firmly behind the Slingers and reduce the deficit to six points with 4:50 left on the clock. It was down to just four points at 61-65 when Kyle Jeffers made a layup three minutes later.
A series of missed free throws by Ikenna Chukwuemeka Nwankwo gave the Slingers and the home fans a glimpse of hope, but cheap turnovers and fouls cost them in the dying moments as Marcus failed to make a three-pointer at the buzzer.
“We showed what we could do in the last few minutes of the game when we chased the game,” said Slingers’ ASEAN import Marcus Ng, “but that was what we should have done throughout the match. We had trouble running through them as they shot down all our fast break and we couldn’t make crucial plays.”
Slingers’ court captain and point guard Al Vergara attributed the loss to his team’s defense and rebounding. Al said: “It was bad. In the first quarter we led by 8 points, the second quarter we only scored 5 points? In the fourth quarter, we didn’t have time. They (Tigers) had a lot of offensive rebounds.”
The Slingers will have to bounce back on the road against third-placed Satria Muda BritAma on Saturday, while the Tigers will take on the KL Dragons on Sunday.
Quarter by Quarter Scores
Singapore Slingers v Thailand Tigers
1st Q: 22-16
2nd Q: 7-22
3rd Q: 10-10
4th Q: 23-17
Singapore Slingers Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BS | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Desmond Oh | 9 | 3/11 | 1/5 | 2/6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 15:36 |
| 5 | Wong Wei Long | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 11:36 |
| 10 | Hong Wei Jian | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6:14 |
| 11 | *Michael Wong | 6 | 2/4 | 1/3 | 1/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21:36 |
| 12 | Prasad Sadasivan | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Steven Khoo | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6:16 |
| 14 | Lim Wai Sian | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Pathman Matialakan | 4 | 2/5 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10:06 |
| 19 | *Al Vergara | 6 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 26:31 |
| 21 | *Marcus Ng | 6 | 2/13 | 1/6 | 1/1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 32:18 |
| 31 | *Kyle Jeffers | 8 | 4/12 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 32:35 |
| 35 | *Michael LeBlanc | 23 | 10/19 | 2/7 | 1/4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 37:12 |
| Total | 62 | 25/72 | 5/23 | 7/17 | 16 | 24 | 40 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 18 | 22 | 200 |
Thailand Tigers Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BS | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | *Chaz Twan Briggs | 12 | 5/12 | 1/3 | 1/7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 40:00 |
| 8 | Chattipak Ruankam | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 11 | Glenn Santana Bolocon | 2 | 1/3 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9:21 |
| 12 | Ratdech Kruatiwa | 15 | 4/9 | 4/6 | 3/4 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 29:27 |
| 14 | *Axel John Gaspal Doruelo | 10 | 3/8 | 2/5 | 2/2 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 32:36 |
| 19 | Ricky Inguin Ricafuente | 4 | 1/2 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7:24 |
| 23 | *Piyapong Piroon | 0 | 0/2 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11:43 |
| 24 | Chaiwat Kaedum | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 35 | *Ikenna Chukwuemeka Nwankwo | 9 | 4/12 | 0/1 | 1/10 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 40:00 |
| 55 | *Attaporn Lertmalaiporn | 13 | 4/6 | 1/2 | 4/4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 29:29 |
| Total | 65 | 22/57 | 8/24 | 13/29 | 15 | 23 | 38 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 22 | 20 | 200 |
Michael LeBlanc (Slingers, #35) gets his headband knocked off in a tussle. Despite his usual high scoring performance, it wasn’t enough to seal the win for the Slingers today. He was top scorer with 23 points. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Attaporn Lertmalaiporn (Tigers, #55) was the star of the Tigers with 13 points including five straight points in the second quarter to level the match and give the Tigers the lead. However, in the dying moments, he was fouled out and was given a technical foul when he threw the ball in the direction of the referee. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Nwankwo Ikenna (Tigers, #35) made only 1 out of 10 free throws. If he made them all, he could have put the game beyond the Slingers much earlier. (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Wong Wei Long (Slingers, #5) failed to make an impact on this match with costly turnovers in his own half. He had a total of five turnovers. (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Michael Wong (Slingers, #11) had a quiet night with a mere six points despite playing over 21 minutes. The Slingers co-captain was handed a starting place alongside the foreigners. (Photo 6 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Slingers’ court captain Al Vergara (Slingers, #19) had to sit out for some time in the crucial fourth period. (Photo 7 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Although he got 16 rebounds on the night, Kyle Jeffers (Slingers, #31) failed to pull down some crucial boards and was constantly out-played by Nwankwo Ikenna. (Photo 8 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Kyle Jeffers goes for a slam dunk. (Photo 9 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Marcus Ng going between Kruatiwa and Nwankwo. (Photo 10 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Marcus Ng holds the ball tightly despite having a bloody tooth. Marcus struggled in the first half but picked up his game from the third period and was unstoppable in the fourth. (Photo 11 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
“Keep your eye on the ball!” Tiger coaches gives instructions to their players. (Photo 12 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
It was a night of frustration for the Slingers’ coaches. (Photo 13 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Coach Frank Arsego giving the team last minute instructions before the fourth period. (Photo 14 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
2009 ASEAN Basketball League Fixtures
| DAY/DATE | TIME | HOME TEAM | VISITING TEAM | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | |||||
| Sat, Oct 10 | 6pm | Satria Muda | 69 | Philippine Patriots | 76 |
| Sun, Oct 11 | 4pm | S'pore Slingers | 87 | Brunei Barracudas | 69 |
| Wed, Oct 14 | 8pm | KL Dragons | 76 | Brunei Barracudas | 94 |
| Round 2 | |||||
| Sun, Oct 18 | 4pm | Thai Tigers | 75 | Satria Muda | 78 |
| Sun, Oct 18 | 4pm | S'pore Slingers | 74 | Philippine Patriots | 69 |
| Sun, Oct 18 | 8pm | Brunei Barracudas | 73 | KL Dragons | 76 |
| Round 3 | |||||
| Sat, Oct 24 | 5pm | Brunei Barracudas | 80 | S'pore Slingers | 82 |
| Sun, Oct 25 | 4pm | Philippine Patriots | 74 | Thai Tigers | 61 |
| Sun, Oct 25 | 3pm | Satria Muda | 91 | KL Dragons | 67 |
| Round 4 | |||||
| Sat, Oct 31 | postponed | Philippine Patriots | Brunei Barracudas | ||
| Sat, Oct 31 | 5pm | KL Dragons | 79 | Thai Tigers | 78 |
| Sun, Nov 1 | 5pm | S'pore Slingers | 96 | Satria Muda | 62 |
| Round 5 | |||||
| Sat, Nov 7 | 4pm | Philippine Patriots | 70 | S'pore Slingers | 53 |
| Sun, Nov 8 | 3pm | Satria Muda | 97 | Brunei Barracudas | 62 |
| Mon, Nov 9 | 8pm | Thai Tigers | 88 | KL Dragons | 71 |
| Round 6 | |||||
| Sat, Nov 14 | 3pm | Satria Muda | 59 | S'pore Slingers | 61 |
| Sat, Nov 14 | 8pm | Brunei Barracudas | 91 | Thai Tigers | 86 |
| Sun, Nov 15 | 5pm | KL Dragons | 63 | Philippine Patriots | 73 |
| Round 7 | |||||
| Sat, Nov 21 | 4pm | Philippine Patriots | 74 | Satria Muda | 56 |
| Sun, Nov 22 | 4pm | Thai Tigers | 77 | Brunei Barracudas | 66 |
| Sun, Nov 22 | 4pm | S'pore Slingers | 74 | KL Dragons | 84 |
| Round 8 | |||||
| Sat, Nov 28 | 3pm | Satria Muda | 77 | Thai Tigers | 71 |
| Tues, Dec 1 | 4pm | Philippine Patriots | 77 | Thai Tigers | 61 |
| Round 9 | |||||
| Sat, Dec 5 | 4pm | Philippine Patriots | 81 | Satria Muda | 69 |
| Mon, Dec 7 | 8pm | S'pore Slingers | 62 | Thailand Tigers | 65 |
| Wed, Dec 9 | 8pm | Brunei Barracudas | 80 | KL Dragons | 63 |
| Round 10 | |||||
| Sat, Dec 12 | 5pm | Satria Muda | 67 | S'pore Slingers | 58 |
| Sun, Dec 13 | 4pm | Brunei Barracudas | 95 | Philippine Patriots | 70 |
| Sun, Dec 13 | 5pm | KL Dragons | 88 | Thai Tigers | 69 |
| Round 11 | |||||
| Thurs, Dec 17 | 8pm | S'pore Slingers | 69 | Thailand Tigers | 66 |
| Sat, Dec 19 | 8pm | Philippine Patriots | 76 | KL Dragons | 70 |
| Sun, Dec 20 | 4pm | Thailand Tigers | 58 | Satria Muda | 69 |
| Mon, Dec 21 | 6pm | Philippine Patriots | 70 | Brunei Barracudas | 56 |
| Round 12 | |||||
| Mon, Jan 4 | 8pm | Thailand Tigers | 89 | Brunei Barracudas | 94 |
| Tues, Jan 5 | 8pm | KL Dragons | 57 | Satria Muda | 69 |
| Wed, Jan 6 | 8pm | S'pore Slingers | 67 | Philippine Patriots | 59 |
| Round 13 | |||||
| Sat, Jan 9 | 5pm | KL Dragons | 77 | Philippine Patriots | 59 |
| Sun, Jan 10 | 3pm | Satria Muda | 98 | Brunei Barracudas | 84 |
| Mon, Jan 11 | 8pm | S'pore Slingers | 92 | KL Dragons | 74 |
| Round 14 | |||||
| Sat, Jan 16 | 8pm | Brunei Barracudas | 85 | Satria Muda | 81 |
| Sun, Jan 17 | 4pm | Thailand Tigers | 87 | Philippine Patriots | 91 |
| Sun, Jan 17 | 4pm | KL Dragons | 78 | S'pore Slingers | 71 |
| Wed, Jan 20 | 8pm | Brunei Barracudas | 89 | S'pore Slingers | 95 |
| Round 15 | |||||
| Sat, Jan 23 | 3pm | Satria Muda | 67 | KL Dragons | 70 |
| Sun, Jan 24 | 4pm | Thailand Tigers | 80 | S'pore Slingers | 92 |
| Sun, Jan 24 | 4pm | Philippine Patriots | 87 | Brunei Barracudas | 65 |
| Semi-Finals | Playoff 1 (2 vs 3) | ||||
| Sun, Jan 31 | 4pm | S'pore Slingers | 87 | Satria Muda | 68 |
| Wed, Feb 3 | 8pm | Satria Muda | 74 | S'pore Slingers | 45 |
| Sun, Feb 7 | 4pm | S'pore Slingers | 76 | Satria Muda | 86 |
| Playoff 2 (1 vs 4) | |||||
| Sun, Jan 31 | 4pm | Philippine Patriots | 77 | KL Dragons | 43 |
| Wed, Feb 3 | 8pm | KL Dragons | 65 | Philippine Patriots | 70 |
| Finals | |||||
| Fri, Feb 12 | 6pm | Philippine Patriots | 78 | Satria Muda | 68 |
| Wed, Feb 17 | 8pm | Philippine Patriots | 72 | Satria Muda | 53 |
| Sun, Feb 21 | 3pm | Satria Muda | 67 | Philippine Patriots | 75 |
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
@slingerrotts, im speaking in behalf of myself and last time i check im free to post my own opinion..unlike you speaking in behalf of the All americans..and cmon you can do better than 3moons..
SAtria muda winning against slingers come saturday.
My opinion is “Philippines can’t play ball”
jack if slingers guard fail to deliver 3s or outside shot, they will have hard time to satria
SLingerrock, “Phil can’t play ball”, even your dog will not beleive that men..
I don’t want to repeat myself that “Philippines can’t play ball”
Why talking about slingers now when rudy lingganay is 1/12? is he really that good? 1 for 12?
@slingerrotts.. then tell that to your slingers team if you can,or should i say all the abl teams..
8% field goal. Marcus Ng is better, at least he went 2/12. We love Marcus.
linganay,to filipino player very ordinary, for ABL, yes but not only good, far ahead of any national player point guard playing now in ABL.
@slingerrott, lingganay is good enough to be the highest scorer when they trash your slingers..
jan, if theres no major changes, maybe healines tonight “Barracudas Bounce back to KL dragons”, if only baracudas can sustain 9pt lead after 3rd quarter,, but we cannot underestimate kl dragons offcourse
2/15, hmm rudy is improving. He should stop shooting, knowing that he can’t shoot.
marcus Ng, as i mentioned is the only TRUE basketball player in SLingers, just because he has the height became his advantage, however, if you can think his height around 5″9 tall, i think he will not be part of slingers, he is not perimeter shooter afterall
I agree with you, Slingerrock. Jamal Brown goes 0/1 and the two philipinos are taking so many shoots and not making them. THey should stop shooting and give the ball to Jamal.
Slinerock, if you remove Al vergara from Slingers, they will fall to 7th place
just a question to hanoi09, maybe it is your english that i don’t understand, but what is the meaning of TRUE basketball player. Aren’t Kyle Jeffers and Michael LeBlanc better players than Marcus Ng. How can Marcus be the only TRUE player?
lingganay having a hard time shooting as he is being challenge by another filipino defensive player.. opposite from when he is being guarded by the local players of slingers the last time when he shoot freely and score 21 points.
rudy is 2/16….oh my….reminds me of how Wei Jian scored 18 points in one game and 0 in the other. But Wei Jian only played 6 minutes. Rudy is playing 28 minutes and he sure doesn’t look consistent enough as a dependable scorer for the dragons too.
Slinerock, i mentioned its only Ng is the TRUE basketball player in slingers aside from the imports, you dont know what a true bassketball players mean???? come on folks, your writing lots of thing here and yet you dont even know???
The last time the “defensive player” defended Wei Long, Wei Long scored 14 points. Rudy only had 5 points. Looks like Rudy can’t play against Avenido as well as Wei Long. Just shows that Rudy isn’t ready yet and still needs to grow.
Rudy no form tonight. He cost us the game.
then whats the score of wei long on the game with rudy? and do i have to mention the turnovers instead..
@hanoi0, with your kind of english, it is seriously hard to know. No offense, but I can’t make out almost 50% of what you say.
Slinerrock, i think you know the maximum height of rim in FIBA,NBA,NBL,or even your court back of your house?
what is HEIGHT?
I told in the afternoon the Avenido is the Best ASEAN import in this LEAGUE!, 5″10 but can dunk the ball, play almost 40 minutes without good reliever, set up team play, can slash the inside lane,can shoot,can defend, can you steal the ball from him?
Wei Long is better than Rudy against the Barracudas. Wei Long is the Barracudas killer.
Please Hanoi, check out Avenido’s height. He is 6’2, not 5’9. Don’t need to spread rumours. He has the height of a power forward. I don’t deny that Avenido is good, I’m just saying that he lacks quickness. Well, some NBA point guards like Chauncey Billups lack the quickness, but are still good. Maybe Avenido plays like Billups? A slow and effective style.
Jan, New Headlines, Barracudas bounce back to KL dragons.
GO BARACUDAS GO!..I will always be a follower of underdog..
@slingerrott.. and rudy the slinger slayer ;D
Slinercok, your Absolutely WRONG, avenido is 1.80m guard,not the height of power forward, he play 1-2 position PG/Off guard, but because baracudas not having deep guard bench, he play both instead of single position?, can you play almost 40 mins in a ball?
I dont know chauncey billups, but i know Isaih Thomas
long, baracudas killer? barracudas 2 import not complimenting the teams weakness,did not provide more scores, totally strangers with the newly found team,cannot find the chemistry,afraid of being injured,, i saw lots of call in favor of slingers, No Blood no Foul,, Adriano got 3 personal in first half, avenido played 40mins,
@hanoi, did you watch any barracudas game before? I saw Leo Avenido standing beside Steven Khoo and they were of the same height. Any way, see for yourself Leo’s height: http://mypba.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=4764&pid=388636&mode=threaded&show=&st=&
You don’t know who is Chauncey Billups? Oh my, check out the NBA and update yourself.
@hanoi, 1st you said that Leo was 5’9, then 5’10, then 180cm which is 5’11, stop contradicting yourself please. Leo is 6’2! Fullstop. Stop arguing over facts.
The Long Ranger, Wei Long!
play almost 40 mins in a ball? I can’t stop laughing right now…..some one help me.
wei long..long way to go!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunei_Barracudas, who is near 5″9 or 6″2
did you seen him sitting in bench longer time?.
Billups, did i say i am a fan of DETROIT PISTONS, i think ISAIH THOMAS, completed with rodman,laimbeer,mahorn that FORMED THE ORIGINAL BADBOY OF NBA ever
Let’s go Slingers! Let’s go! Slingers, let’s win the ABL Championship this season! We can do this!
yes, Avenido is 6’2, maybe 6’3 when wearing shoes, during his college days he was very popular and a good baller, but sadly PBA teams snob him in favor of younger players,
hanoi, please don’t trust the wikipedia heights. It is not accurate. There is one guy listed at 4’12, man, that’s no such thing as a 4’12. Francis Adriano 192 cm? You kidding me. Kiko is only 185cm. The heights and weights are all not reliable.
the first time the slingers and baracudas face each other avenido played 39.24 mins…the kids rigth.. now this is the part when what you said backfires and blew everything in front of your face..
Slingerrocks, don’t argue with him anymore.. It’s not going anywhere coz he’s not going to lose to you..;p
Saying also that “Philippines can’t play ball” is wrong.. Don’t repeat yourself.. I don’t want to argue..
I don’t get it.. Just having an off night means you can’t play ball?? I’ve seen the worst.. Just recently, Hedo Turkoglu had 2/11.. Does that mean he can’t play ball?? Figure..
Rudy Lingganay is a volume shooter.. He does that coz he got the license to shoot from his coach.. He can knock all of those in a good night.. But that was not..
@hanoi You don’t know Billups huh.. Maybe you don’t know Brandon Jennings..
now all 6 teams are balance, its anyones ballgame
Hanoi watches the 1980-1990s NBA. If he doesn’t know Billups, does he know Kobe or LeBron?
Rudy is a streaky shooter. Wei Jian is a streaky shooter. 2 exciting young guards to watch.
Wei Jian style is similar to Rodney Santos during his Alaska Aces days
Something important for Patriot fans. Can you describe to me how Elmer Espirtu, Jerwin Gaco and Nonoy Baclao play? As in what is the difference between them in the ABL (not their colleges). How are they used in the Patriots line-up?
Baclao, Espiritu and Gaco usually get their points off the rebound, and their primary role is on the defensive end, block shots, offensive defensive rebounds,
Baclao’s role in Ateneo(college team) was mainly on the defensive end and the rebounding.. Maybe you saw his blocking skills in the ABL.. He’s only 6’4 but has those long arms.. He usually gets his points from drop passes and shots from the perimeter.. He plays the same I think with the Patriots.. Played the 4 spot for Ateneo de Manila University..
Espiritu gets his points mostly inside.. From rebounds, dunks, drives.. It’s just now that he has developed a decent outside shot.. He’s a high flyer.. Like Baclao, he is also effective in the defensive end.. Blocking shots is also one of he’s specialties.. And I think you saw it also in the ABL.. He’s a great rebounder thanks to his long arms and leaping ability.. As for his role in the Patriots, he plays the same except that he doesn’t isolate with the ball that much.. Powell is the one doing that.. Played the 3/4/5(??) spot with the University of the east..
Man, if you only saw their match up during this years UAAP Finals.. UE vs Ateneo.. They were swatting shots for their respective teams..
As for Gaco, I cannot say much because I didn’t see him play during his college.. I was way young back then..