Story by Erwin Wong and Koh Yizhe/Red Hoops. Photos by Lai Jun Wei/Red Hoops.
Christian Sitepu (Satria Muda, #15) grabs hold of the rebound which Kyle Jeffers (Slingers, #31) failed to catch. (Photo 1 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, January 31, 2010 – There is something about playing Satria Muda BritAma at home in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) that brings the best out of the Singapore Slingers.
The Slingers shot 51.6% from the field and made 13 consecutive free throws in an 87-68 victory over the Jakarta-based team in Game 1 of the ABL semi-final playoffs. This was the second heavy defeat suffered by Satria Muda at the hands of the Slingers in the same arena, the first being the 34-point rout on November 1 last year when the home team shot a league-high 63.5% from the field.
Michael LeBlanc led the Slingers with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, and Kyle Jeffers added 21 points and 10 rebounds as all five starters reached double figures.
Satria Muda’s Alexander Hartman needed 21 shots to score his 21 points, while Nakiea Miller had 18 points and 13 rebounds, but tied an ABL record with eight turnovers, as their team made only 34% of their shots in a game where they were always second-best.
“We’ve already played three games against them, and this was our fourth. We know a lot about this team. We did a lot of homework, watched a lot of videos, and basically know their weaknesses,” said backup centre Pathman Matialakan.
“As the home team in the first play-off game, we wanted to come out aggressive. That was the key today. Coach (Frank Arsego) wanted us to come out aggressive, be on the front foot and take the game to them, and that’s what we did. They never recovered from it.”
Point guard and floor general Al Vergara opened the scoring with a lay up plus the foul, but missed the ensuing free throw. That proved to be the only miss from the charity stripe until the fourth quarter when Marcus Ng failed to convert. In between, the Slingers, the worst of the four play-off teams in free throw accuracy at 55.9%, made 13 consecutive shots from the line, while establishing a double-digit lead and never allowing Satria Muda into the contest.
The key to that was keeping Hartman and Miller in check. Marcus and Jeffers were the respective ones ear-marked for that role for most of the match, and performed admirably against the pair of teammates who have collectively scored 45% of their team’s points in the regular season.
Marcus, who is among the league leaders in fouls per game, finally stayed out of foul trouble and bothered Hartman into a six of 21 shooting performance from the field, while adding 10 points and six rebounds of his own in a standout performance.
“Marcus did a great job on him. He stays in front of him, and is active. Marcus just has to continue to do what he does,” said Jeffers as he praised his teammate’s effort.
“He’s an excellent defender, and I think Hartman has a hard time trying to play against him. He’s going to hit his shots, but for the most part, he’s not going to have a great night against Marcus. Not many people have great nights against Marcus, unless he’s in foul trouble, then they might get off. But Marcus is a solid defender against Hartman.”
Jeffers himself restricted Miller to below his league-leading 20.7 points per game average, as the latter’s lateral quickness in his post moves was simply not enough to carry his team. Jeffers was modest when asked to appraise his match-up with Miller, saying, “I’ll let the stats speak for themselves. We’re both pretty solid under the basket, and I think it’s a fair matchup for both teams. It’s just whoever has the better night.”
The Satria Muda centre eventually fouled out with three and a half minutes to go, with his team trailing by 20 and showing little fight in them.
They did keep the game close in the first half, and after Pathman made two free throws to hand the Slingers a 29-17 lead with six minutes left in the half, Satria Muda restricted the home team to just a solitary field goal over the next four minutes, and tied the game at 31 when Jeffers goal-tended Rony Gunawan’s lay up.
Satria Muda trailed by only four at the break, but the Slingers, aided by the Hong Wei Jian’s energetic second-half display, extended the lead into double-digits as their opponents continued their inept shooting display.
Wei Jian drew two pivotal fouls from Miller, made all four of his free throws and drew special mention from coach Arsego. “We brought him in, in that third quarter, and he was just aggressive, got some free throws, lay ups, and challenged Miller. I’m very proud of him. That was the little spark we needed just to kick on and see whether they would respond. I think they found it hard.”
Jeffers beat the third-quarter buzzer with a turnaround jumper to make it a 62-51 Slinger lead, and then the game turned into a rout soon after. LeBlanc led the way with a couple of three-point plays, and scored half of his game-high 22 points in the final period.
A 14-3 run, highlighted by Jeffers’ one-handed put-back slam, over the first four minutes of the quarter extended the lead into its twenties. Steven Khoo’s lay up gave the Slingers their largest lead of the game at 23, as the home team played with their second unit to close out the game.
Game Two of the best-of-three series will be played in Jakarta on Wednesday, February 3, and if necessary, a third game will take place back in the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sunday, February 7. But as far as the Slingers’ Pathman is concerned, they will hope to avoid playing a Game 3.
“We’re not looking forward to coming back here (for Game 3). We want to finish the game off in Indonesia, and come back for a good rest. But all we’re thinking of is the game on Wednesday. That’s it.”
Quarter by Quarter Scores
Slingers vs Satria Muda
1st Q: 16-13
2nd Q: 19-18
3rd Q: 27-20
4th Q: 25-17
Singapore Slingers Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BS | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 87 | 32/62 | 2/11 | 21/29 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 8 | 11 | 1 | 17 | 26 | 200 | |
| 2 | Desmond Oh | 5 | 2/3 | 0/1 | 1/5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8:25 |
| 5 | Wong Wei Long | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8:31 |
| 10 | *Hong Wei Jian | 11 | 2/7 | 0/1 | 7/8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 23:28 |
| 11 | Michael Wong | 2 | 1/3 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13:51 |
| 12 | Prasad Sadasivan | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Steven Khoo | 2 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3:34 |
| 14 | Lim Wai Sian | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 15 | Pathman Matialakan | 4 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 4/4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6:18 |
| 19 | *Al Vergara | 10 | 5/12 | 0/3 | 0/1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 31:29 |
| 21 | *Marcus Ng | 10 | 5/7 | 0/1 | 0/2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 34:16 |
| 31 | *Kyle Jeffers | 21 | 9/15 | 0/0 | 3/3 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 35:10 |
| 35 | *Michael LeBlanc | 22 | 7/13 | 2/3 | 6/6 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 34:58 |
Satria Muda BritAma Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BS | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 68 | 21/62 | 4/18 | 22/33 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 23 | 200 | |
| 5 | Faisal Achmad Julius | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10:53 |
| 6 | Wendha Wijaya | 6 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 4/8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 14:56 |
| 7 | Amin Prihantono | 5 | 2/4 | 0/2 | 1/3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18:36 |
| 8 | *Alexander Gordon Hartman | 21 | 6/21 | 2/7 | 7/9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 35:01 |
| 9 | *Youbel Sondakh | 3 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 3/4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 23:14 |
| 11 | Galank Gunawan | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:34 |
| 12 | Bonanza Siregar | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1:32 |
| 13 | Rony Gunawan | 2 | 1/4 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10:27 |
| 14 | Welyanson Situmorang | 2 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9:02 |
| 15 | *Christian Ronald Sitepu | 2 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8:03 |
| 18 | *Mario Wuysang | 9 | 3/9 | 2/4 | 1/2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 28:16 |
| 43 | *Nakiea Miller | 18 | 6/12 | 0/3 | 6/7 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 36:26 |
Alexander Hartman (Satria Muda, #8) ponders his next move. (Photo 2 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Hong Wei Jian (Slingers, #10) holds on tight after coming away with the ball from a stumbling Youbel Sondakh (Satria Muda, #9). (Photo 3 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Kyle Jeffers tries to steal the ball from Nakiea Miller (Satria Muda, #43). The two stellar centres went at each other all game long, and while both had double-doubles, Jeffers came away with the win while Miller had eight turnovers and fouled out. (Photo 4 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Michael LeBlanc (Slingers, #35) goes for two. He scored a game-high 22 points to go along with 10 rebounds and five steals, and “was very pleased that we fought hard. Even when things didn’t go well for us, we still dug in deep on defense and found a way to get stops. We got a couple of steals in the second half and we got our confidence.” (Photo 5 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Al Vergara (Slingers, #9) charges in for a lay up despite the close attention of Mario Wuysang (Satria Muda, #18). Vergara scored 10 points and had four assists with no turnovers, out-duelling the latter in the battle of the point guards. (Photo 6 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Hong Wei Jian goes up for a shot with Wendha Wijaya (Satria Muda, #6) swinging his hand in to stop. Wei Jian was praised by his coach Frank Arsego after the game for the energy he brought, and said, “I played pretty aggressively and I believe that was the task I was assigned. For my own part, I tried to get Nakiea Miller out of the game as early as possible. I did that with five minutes to go.” (Photo 7 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Alexandar Hartman goes for a long range shot. He, along with his teammates, shot poorly, in a 34% shooting performance from the field and only 4 of 18 from three-point territory. (Photo 8 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
A furious Frank Arsego laments a dubious call. (Photo 9 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Fans react to a call by the referee. (Photo 10 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
Marcus Ng fails to stop Nakiea Miller from getting to the rebound. (Photo 11 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
The Slingers bench cheer their lungs out after Michael LeBlanc makes a spectacular shot. (Photo 12 © Lai Jun Wei/Red Sports)
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Good Job Guys…..GO SLINGERS!!!!!
I was somewhat stunned with the results of both games — 77-43 win of the Patriots and 87-68 win of the Slingers. Even though I was expecting that the home teams will win their respective assignments, I never thought it would be by that much. I was more leaning towards a much closer result, at least 8 points or less.
However, I am still sure that both semi-final series would extend to three games.
1.Basketabll ir very easy, but again, Alex hartman make it difficult, missing too much shots from baseline within short range ever being guarded by small player than him
2. Mario Wuysang had good basketball credentials but i don’t even impress on the way he play. There is jersey no. 6 from SMB which if far better than Wuysang but giving limited playing time.
3. Slingers local fans dominate the crowd, overreacted each time officials called against Slingers, but theres nothing to protest as the call is clear as ice,one example is Jefferes goltending as the ball already hit the board
Im expecting SMB will win Games 2 and 3.
Just looked at the box scores, and I noticed a couple of things. It seems that everything is close in the stat sheet, but the field goals from SMB killed them! That can be an attribute to the Singapore defense, which can be a little aggressive because they committed slightly more fouls than SMB (26-23). The Singapore locals also dominated over the SMB locals, which helped a lot. The starters of the Slinger also did very well with each starter scoring in double figures even though the Satria Muda barely won the bench scoring (15 to 13).
Slingers have always played good defense. I only watched the game via the delayed TV telecast….but from what I saw, this was the key in the game as well. During the strech from 2Q into the middle of 3Q, leblanc was in a shooting slump, and KJ took a bigger role in offense….but it was the defense that kep the team in the game.
Good defense does not show up in the stats..esp if there were no fouls. But the opposing FG% and TOs can be indicators.
Hartman is a good player, but he was made to work very hard all through the game. If he took difficult (increasingly) shots and missed more than his share and became frustrated….then kudos to Marcus Ng who did his job well.
@H-S Pipelines…thats what good home crowds do…..maybe influence a few calls. What do you expect? Applaud SMB for good play? Its a lot better than hurling abuse and throwing stuff onto the courts right?
No defensive player stopn Hartman from the court even any american import, the thing is, he is more of a “showman” as what he thinks he is, he make more exhibition and acrobats rather than take more easy shots, 2 points is just 2 points.
A true basketball fans knows what exactly the call is, why protest and make noise if official make good calls.
While in fact, Le blanc not a dirty player but more of physical player, he throw many dirty stuff “unseen” to many including referees and its not the first or second time, but it is his work indeed, the ABL offcial need to train more to see those Le blanc tricks.
I was there, the referees were a little intimidated by the crowds I agree to that. But, that is the advantage of having a home court advantage – it has always been that way.
Reference to Photo 10. I think that dude on a white shirt is a hardcore fan.
@Hanoi, as a basketball fan I would agree with you, but for the sake of homecourt advantage, I don’t. It wasn’t really a surprise to have fans heckling at the referee at every call against their team. Just like Jayson said, “it’s homecourt advantage.”
What is not good, and I think the ABL needs to start looking at this, if it gets overboard. Like people starts throwing objects, physically attacking a player or official, provoking a player or an official, fans from opposing teams end up in a fight (or worse, a riot), etc. I won’t be surprised if some of these stadiums would end up like Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA, USA where the stadium has a court room, with a judge, and a small jail cell for rowdy fans.
@Irangels,
The dude in photo 10 is Botak Jones, he owns a “restaurant” chain here in singapore. If you can, do try out his burgers next time you are in singapore.
@Slingerrocks. Really?!?! I thought it some random dude. Anyway, I did try the double botak once when I was there in Singapore last April.
All I can say is that Botak surely loves his Slingers!
So Proud of you Slingers!!!! Way to go guys!!! Looking forward to the next game!! Gooo Slingers!!!
@Kelvin: I totally agree that defense is not given the credit it deserves… without great defense there is no advantage to the teams plays… TY for bringing that insight into the comments.. so true!!
As far as the other comments made against the Slingers… well you guys obviously can’t stand watching the better Team WIN or that Singapore has very good fan support!! Looks like you don’t like the Americans or that they know how to play some basketball… lol.. Go read the Patriots games about the way that Team & Coach intimadate the Referees!!! Now that is down right scary!!! I don’t believe that abuse was happening in the Singapore Stadium although I did see a heated yell in there by Coach A (picture), who usually keeps his cool… yet that is nothing compared to the way the Patriots gang the Refs & their Coach is very intimadating with his behavior, not to mention the Patriot fans when they have home court advantage!! Get a grip Slinger haters..
hahaha, i agree with @irangel, the fans should react to any call made by the ref.
i yelled at the ref for all the calls made against my team and clap/praised them for any calls made to the opponents.
whether its a good call or not.
the fan is the sixth man of the team. so we complain in behalf of the players, and the ref can’t give the fan a technical for complaining am i right?
its like a simple act of selling the foul/call, imo hehe
With your permission above, may i..
First time i was in Singapore i able to watch PBA Team Ginebra VS Slingers, there is 1 filipino player that hit Jeffers, and fans are very upset and mad, PBA player only retaliate, and when he retaliate the slingers fans upset, if you diagnose the games from 1-4o mins,you will see hoe both imports do their tricks.
2. Patriots NEVER intimidate referees, while in fact the last encounter between Patriots and Slingers, it was one of most lousy basketball games i ever watch.
3. I taught guy in photo 10 is a radio DJ
well said @Deana… all in all everyone has their own views but at the end of the day PLAYERS are supposed to be PRO’S and in which should act like it. Players are human as well but NEED 2 keep their feeling in check.
Oh and by the way @Hanoi-Subsea Pipelines…. BEST believe IF a player comes to PLAY N RUMBLE ur coming at the best..TAKE IT AS GOOD AS YOU CAN GIVE IT….my husband doesnt play dirty BUT he has perfected HOW to protect himself and KEEP players off of him!!!
GOOOO SLINGERS…………..WE’RE THE BEST….OFF N ON THE COURT…..
As far as fan craziness are concern, a couple of good references are the Cameron Crazies from Duke University in NCAA (college basketball), and Philadelphia sports fans (the city known for booing Santa Claus) in pro-sports. I kinda experienced being right to next one myself. They can get a bit out of control.
As mentioned in a previous post, Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field (home of the Philadelphia Eagles in NFL) is the only stadium I know that has a courtroom and a jail cell for rowdy fans.
Let’s keep this in perspective. This whole thing flared up when one player lost his cool. It died down when that player sat down and shut up. It flared up again when that same player decided to go online with his grievances. The crowd was verbal, but under control. The player lost his cool. That’s it.
You know what? Let’s just look forward to the game tomorrow. Both game 2s are certainly a slam bang affair.
Agreed. Let’s play this game on the basketball court.
if Slingers Lost the semis, too bad, i had nothing to watch in stadium
Slinerrock, what is the resta name of botak jones, will try this out this weekends
I’ve watched several games at the former stadium (VETERANS Stadium) of the Philly Eagles. It has the courtroom and jailhouse inside that time already.
Fans are verbally harassing any fan wearing a non-Eagles/non-Philly teams. Kids, ladies – practically no one is excused.
- I even witnessed a drunk cursing Tampa Bay buccaneer lady fans.
Some opponent team fans has the Eagles shirt inside their shirt. Once the game is over they removed their shirt (opposing team’s), and blend in the crowd to avoid harrassment.
I usually root for the opposing team, I was from neighboring state Delaware – and Philly is closer than Baltimore (Ravens) but I don’t like the Eagles.
@mart. My experience with a Philly fan was during a Redskins game, at DC. They came in droves from Philly and talks trash all game even when their team’s loosing. Cool thing the Redskins held on and won, but they start throwing beer bottles. God thing the bottles were made in plastic.
@Hanoi, I think it’s just called Botak Jones. Try the double Botak!