Slingers had an off day? So say Dragons and Tigers coaches
By Jan Lin/Red Hoops
“Piyapong Piroon (Tigers, #23) is the captain of the Olympic national team, he’s the team’s leader and he plays hard and smart, he’s a strong leader for the entire team,” said Tigers head coach Chuck Davisson. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Both the head coaches of the KL Dragons and Thailand Tigers believed that their away wins in Singapore were assisted by an off-colour Slingers.
After their comprehensive 84-74 away victory over the Slingers, KL Dragons head coach Goh Cheng Huat remarked: “I do think the Slingers had an off-day playing against us. They were not in-form, missing shots under the baskets were costly to them, while we were patient. I still think they are one of the top teams in the ABL.”
On the same note, Thailand Tigers head coach Chuck Davisson shared: “I don’t think we dominated below the paint in defense either. We just played smart and hard for 40 minutes, we held on. I think the key to our win was they (the Slingers) didn’t shoot very well.”
“And I don’t think it’s anything we did,” the American coach asserted. “They just might have had an off night, we didn’t shoot any much better with 39% and I’ve never seen that many missed free throws!”
Davisson was referring to the Tigers’ Nigerian-American import, Ikenna Chukwuemeka Nwankwo, who had an abysmal 1/10 free throw record in that game.
“With those free throws, it’s like a cascading effect,” 35-year-old Nwankwo shared. “Once you miss one or two, you have that doubt in your mind and you just keep forcing it. I don’t feel I played up to my standard, luckily my team mates were all able to pull it together in the end.”
The Tigers will face the Slingers again in Singapore today. Both teams have just come off from away losses with the Tigers bowing out to the KL Dragons in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday, while the Slingers were outplayed by Satria Muda in Jakarta on Saturday.
“The Slingers are a really good team, they are well-coached, probably the best organisation in the league,” said coach Davisson. “They’ve been around for a long time, we’ve been around for just 2 months. And they definitely have more size than we do, Jeffers and LeBlanc, Marcus and even the local guy Pathman.”
The Tigers-Slingers ABL game will tip-off at 7:40pm at the Singapore Indoor Stadium tonight.
As for the KL Dragons, they will ride on their handsome 88-69 win over the Tigers to have a go at toppling the current league leaders Philippine Patriots this Saturday, 8pm, at the Ynares Sports Arena in Manila.
Tigers American import Chaz Twan Briggs (Tigers, #3) had 12 points and 8 rebounds to his name in his first game against the Singapore Slingers. Briggs is currently in third place (with 156 points) in the ABL leaders standings and has 121 rebounds. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Axel John Gaspal Doruelo (Tigers, #14) started against the Slingers and finished with a 10 points, 6 rebounds score card in that game. (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
KL Dragons Chris Kuete Lonichi had a double-double on 24 points and 11 rebounds in their last home game against the Tigers. Lonichi has been consistently handing in double-digit score cards. (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
After his impressive game against the Slingers a fortnight ago, Rudy Lingganay (Dragons, #10) has had two quiet games against the Barracudas and the Tigers. (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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