Contributed by Stella Oo
Jason Dixon (in black) defends against Jamal Brown of the Dragons. Dixon had an outstanding game for the Patriots with 22 points and 11 rebounds. (Photo 1 courtesy of ABL)
Maba Stadium, Wednesday, February 3, 2010 – The KL Dragons redeemed themselves with a battling performance in front of their own fans but they finally went down 65-70 in the end to the visiting Philippines Patriots.
The Patriots advance to the finals of the inaugural ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) after winning the best-of-three series 2-0.
Patriots center Jason Dixon was simply unstoppable especially at crunch time, finishing with 22 points and 11 rebounds to spearhead his side into the finals. His import counterpart Gabe Freeman had a poor shooting night by his lofty standards but still finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, proving his all-around worth to this formidable Patriots squad.
The Dragons were clearly a different team from the one that was embarrassed by the Patriots just three days earlier and came out intent on proving the critics that they did indeed belong in the playoffs.
In particular, their import Chris Kuete, who had been a no-show in game one came out a different player, scoring 10 points en route to helping his side to a 40-32 lead at half-time.
Kuete, who was much maligned in the first game, earned a mark of redemption with a handy double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds but more importantly played some solid defense on Freeman to limit the American’s effectiveness.
He was helped by local boy Loh Shee Fai who has used the ABL to great effect to establish himself as a legitimate 3-point shooter, finishing with 12 points as the Dragons’ third highest scorer on the night.
In fact the half-time deficit could have been a lot grimmer for the Patriots at the interval had they not gone on a slight mini-revival late in the half hitting three consecutive 3-pointers from Wainwright, Alcaraz and Ybanez to make the deficit a manageable one.
The Patriots were a different side in the third quarter as they tightened down on the defensive end with Jerwin Gaco providing a spark on both ends and playing with his usual brand of gritty, hard-nosed interior defending, earning a chorus of boos from the partisan home crowd.
Gaco’s six points in the third quarter helped his side narrow their deficit heading into the fourth quarter, at which point his teammates took over, opening the fourth quarter with a 10-0 run to turn a five-point deficit into a five-point lead.
The Dragons fought back hard to tie the game at 63-63 but then Dixon simply took over with his vast array of inside moves, scoring his team’s final seven points, in the process fouling out his opposing center Jamal Brown and carrying his team past the finish line.
The Dragons can hold their head up high with this spirited performance and giving the favourites everything they could handle. After an improbable late season run that carried them into the playoffs, their season has now come to an end.
As for the Patriots, they now head back to the Philippines and await the winner of the Slingers-Satria Muda series which is locked at 1-1 and will see a third and deciding game on Sunday, February 7th, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Quarter-by-Quarter Scores
Dragons v Patriots
1st Q: 22-13
2nd Q: 18-19
3rd Q: 15-18
4th Q: 10-20
KL Dragons Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total | 65 | 24/52 | 5/16 | 12/17 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 20 | 200 | |
| 1 | Wee Chuan Chin | 0 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4:02 |
| 3 | *Chris Daniel Kuete Lonichi | 20 | 9/18 | 0/4 | 2/6 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 40:00 |
| 10 | *Rudy Lingganay | 13 | 4/10 | 1/3 | 4/4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33:14 |
| 11 | John Ng Yeo Seng | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6:02 |
| 12 | Bandaying Fhadzmir | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Koh Way Tek | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3:09 |
| 18 | *Roel Hugnatan | 7 | 3/3 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 14:58 |
| 20 | *Loh Shee Fai | 12 | 4/6 | 2/3 | 2/2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 27:42 |
| 24 | Chai Chze Hian | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 30 | *Jamal Daryl Brown | 11 | 3/7 | 1/3 | 4/5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 34:19 |
| 33 | Chee Li Wei | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9:03 |
| 88 | Guganeswaran S. Batumalai | 2 | 1/4 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 27:31 |
Philippine Patriots Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total | 70 | 22/64 | 6/26 | 20/25 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 15 | 200 | |
| 0 | John Paul Alcaraz | 7 | 2/7 | 1/3 | 2/4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24:01 |
| 3 | Warren Ybanez | 5 | 1/9 | 1/5 | 2/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 24:26 |
| 4 | *Christian Coronel | 5 | 2/5 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 15:34 |
| 5 | *Robert Wainwright | 6 | 2/4 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 25:26 |
| 8 | *Val Acuna | 0 | 0/2 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12:54 |
| 9 | Elmer Espiritu | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 14 | Khasim Mirza | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 16 | Jerwin Gaco | 6 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14:34 |
| 21 | Siverino Jr. Baclao | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:09 |
| 25 | *Gabriel Freeman | 17 | 6/18 | 1/10 | 4/6 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 40:00 |
| 34 | Erwin Romme Sta. Maria | 2 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3:05 |
| 42 | *Jason Dixon | 22 | 6/13 | 0/0 | 10/11 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36:51 |
Dragon Rudy Lingganay comes up against Christian Coronel of the Patriots. Coronel had 13 points on the night while Coronel had five. (Photo 2 courtesy of ABL)
Dragon Chris Kuete drives past Gabe Freeman. Kuete made up for a poor first game with an improved performance, shutting down Freeman defensively. (Photo 3 courtesy of ABL)
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the reason kl dragons was able to lead the first 3 quarter was because freeman was cold from behind the arc.
1-10, hahaha i enjoy cheering for him to shoot the ball from 3pt range.
but then again, he made the most crucial baskets to win the game, kudos patriots!
it was a good game and i already enjoy my fair share of the league!
the Patriots fought to the end after being down by 16 in the 2nd quarter in KL while the Slingers couldn’t wait to get back to Singapore after the 2nd quarter vs Satria Muda.
The Patriots indeed started the game sluggish. The KL Dragons, on the other hand, played well in the first 15 minutes of the game building leads as high as 16 points. I thought it would a blow-out in the making. I also noticed that the first 15 minutes of the game, the Dragons was able to hold their own with their zone defense, and limiting the offensive rebounding of the Patriots (10 offensive rebounds overall), which made huge damage in game 1. Patriots hauled down 28 offensive boards.
What I noticed the most is the Dragons’ bench. The bench didn’t provide the needed production, only 2 points — compared to the Patriots’ 20. That probably led to coach Goh Cheng Huat to rely more on his starters. As observed in the opening quarter, Coach Goh didn’t make a single substitution. Upon noticing that, I begin to have a hunch that KL would only use eight players, at most (turned out I was wrong hehehe). At any rate, I felt that KL lost because the starters does not have the needed energy down the stretch.
Ironically, I left the game when Patriots cut the lead to 14 on a Gabe Freeman drive mid-way in the 2nd quarter. I expect a reply from mislan stating that I should have stayed in the entire game because I could be the jinx for the Patriots. LOL!
Over all, it was a good game, and my hats off to the Dragons. They have nothing to lose in this yet everything to gain. KL showed some resilience, and made a statement that they are a playoff contender next season. I am sure that the nucleus of the team will be back next year with some minor changes in their line-up. As for the Patriots, a good win, and it’s great to take that extra four days of rest.
Espiritu, Mirza,not play:
Baclao,Acuna = 0?
Baguion missing in action?
@irangel: were you in the stadium or watch it LIVE from the broadcast?
@jan,@les: i probably had the best time out of kl dragons and abl as a fan, my facebook page is the prove of it hahahaha (u guys do know that mislan is not my real name right? lol)
and having the best and coolest team owner in abl just make my first kl dragons season even more meaningful!
p/s: i beg to dato wira (KL Dragons team owner) to give me his jersey and he did! its like having a mark cuban + kobe bryant jersey!! aahhhhh
yoyo check me out, i’m dragons #9 =D
@mislan – so what happened after the game last night? what was the reaction of the Dragon fans?
mixed reaction i guess. we lost the momentum starting from the halftime.
after the strong performance in first half, everyone was too relaxed and didnt focus, this include the fans too, i bet irangel agree with me on this lol.
after roel hugnatan was fouled out early in the 3rd quarter, everything just went from bad to worst as JB join in with 5 fouls and Shee Fai injured his knee (the game practically over with Shee Fai’s injury).
as for the fans, i dont know. it was a good game. we do know and admit that philippines are the best in this region when it comes to basketball, for now. so to me, as long as the dragons played their heart out, i’d be satisfied. beside i couldn’t get my eyes off of the pretty ladies all over the floor lol.
its ok, we’ll come back next season with better line up and stronger squad.
one thing for sure though, kl dragons do attract more female audiences and basketball has been the more interesting sports for them to watch compare to football/soccer, and this is coming from a nation where football/soccer is the #1 sports, then badminton, then hockey then netball then bla bla bla..umm i basically have no idea basketball belong to which number.
ok i admit, i always have hidden agenda and motive not related to basketball when it comes to basketball lol
Upset, comes from behind win.
KL Dragons things ro do for next year season.Acquire 7ft center,they will be on champ squad. Import Chris Kuete is good player, been there to luanda,cabinda and soyo for almost a year,the country is competing in FIBA and olympics.
mislan….can u ask a jersey fo me also??plz……hehehe
the game was good, the reff was blind, a lot of late/ bad call been done and even bad positioning!!!hehehe….but as a team, the dragon play it good. i’m proud of what i see and hope that the team can improve more in next season.plz dont cool down the effort if this season!!!!
if li wei can muscle up, than the center position is more interesting .heheheheh
@mislan, good hidden agenda!!
@mislan: I agree with you on the fans not being focused after halftime… our cheers were drowned out by noises from the small contingent of Pinoy fans. This is a serious dent to our reputation of being the loudest arena in the ABL… hahaha…
Does anyone know the terms of the contracts signed by the Dragons’ players? Or is there a standard contract signed by all players across the ABL? With the stellar individual performances by some of the Dragons this year (esp. Rudy Lingganay and Chris Kuete), I worry that some other team with deep pockets might snap them up…
@mislan, thebigticket: The maba stadium is a cosy stadium. Makes for a great atmosphere. : )
@mislan. I was watching the game live online. How I wish to watch the game live in KL.
For the fans, I just got a tip from a fellow forumer at forums.pba.ph that you can watch live streaming video of the ABL playoffs for free at fibatv.com. The video quality is good, but expect some hiccups or lags on your end because of poor bandwidth of your ISP or a lot of people watching the game.
Les, I’m sorry I can’t help but post this.I think the reporter of this article needs to learn the game of basketball and its nuances. I am appalled as to how the article ignored the huge contributions of Rudy Lingganay.
For the readers to get the real essence of the game, the 13 crucial points contributed by Rudy (did the reporter see the ankle breaker move of Lingganay?), his steals, his defensive stops and most of all his steady manning of the point contributed in making the KL Dragon competitive through out the game.
To add insult to the injury, she heaped praises on Lo Shee Fai. While the guy managed to score 12 points, he did not create those points, most of it were from feeds. I am not sure about this but if he was the guy who fumbled at least 3 times near/under the basket during the end game, then i should say that this reporter does not know an iota about basketball. Those three errors would have been six easy points and it could have turned the game around.The game should have been defined by that story.
Maybe the writer wants to be patriotic, a rah rah girl of sort for Malaysia but that is not helping the KL Dragons. Hugnatan and Lingganay through the game gave their all, it’s amazing to see Filipino ballers fight to the death for their commitment even if they’re against a team from their motherland. C’mon let’s be fair and square. In basketball, it ain’t about your color, your race, your nationality, it’s about the game.
Long live the ABL!
Remember there are so many fans out there who know the game. Don’t write about hoops if you don’t know its intricacies.
Any news about nate robinson? if he can play for smart gilas?
@Hanoi, I just read a news from Manila Bulletin that SMART-Gilas (or Team Philippines) brought Darian Townes (Arkansas) to town to try-out with the team.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/241939/3rd-import-gilas-town
@mislan, I agree with you about the crowd and most especially the fouling out of Roel Hugnatan. At the beginning, Hugnatan seemed to be unstoppable in the low block (or low post) in offense, but foul troubles and eventual disqualification cost it.
With the great crowd support and a strong finish to the season, do you think the Dragons will be playing in a much bigger venue next season?
nate robinson claims of 20% filipino heritage
Hi Les.
just saying hi…
hey Les, will my post see the light of day?
thanks.
Hey, Jerby. Feel free to send stories of your own if you like about the games you’ve watched. Everyone entitled to their opinion here. : )
You send it, we post it.
Go to our contact page to send your stories.
cheers. ; )
it’s understood that fans of other Southeast Asian countries don’t have an eye for the game like Filipino fans. what matters to most of them is a shot going in and who makes it as if scoring a goal in football.
they don’t appreciate the off-ball player movement, don’t see the value of defense (and rebounding/boxing out because maybe they think it’s the import’s job), and can’t tell the difference between players being creative and players being played loose.
hopefully, next year we’ll see more ABL teams that wouldn’t need the services of Filipino players. Brunei is a misnomer with those 3 ex-PBA guys, the Slingers play like a headless chicken without Vergara, and the Dragons become a stagnant team without Lingganay.
Les, what will happen to redhoops during ABL off season
@jerby: This is not a knock on Rudy’s contributions during the match, but he has been that awesome for the Dragons since day 1 when we got him.
As for Shee Fai, he only started coming into his own recently since the away game against the Slingers. He was frustratingly inconsistent before that. Maybe that’s why Shee Fai’s contributions were more obvious to the reporter
BTW, Shee Fai wasn’t the guy who lost the ball under the basket in the closing minutes. He’s the guy who got injured… after colliding with the referee (of all people).
@sinigang: wow, are you trying to say that pinoys fans are the only fans in abl who play basketball and know about basketball?
@jerby: i dont get it, who is trying to be patriotic now? you or the author?
the author just write one sentence about shee fai. and we all know about rudy, infact rudy is the KLD #1 fans fav, the ladies were all over him after the game, they were crazy, “RUDY RUDY RUDY”.
@sinigang: “hopefully, next year we’ll see more ABL teams that wouldn’t need the services of Filipino players.” you such a close minded person. isnt it good if your fellow countrymen able to earn money outside of filipine or outside of pba? why stop them?
jerby is right,”In basketball, it ain’t about your color, your race, your nationality, it’s about the game.”
so theres no need to say that “its amazing …fight to the death for their commitment even if they’re against a team from their motherland”.
they are pro baller, its their job to give it all out.
@irangel: i dont know yet, i’m not an avid fan of maba stadium (its small and an old building) but then again, ironically due to its size, it creates the intense and great atmosphere of a bball game.
to add it up, the fan seat is like one feet away from the court. beside i can roam freely in maba stadium from my seat to the center court and the baseline (where the cheerleaders at) lol, so i dont know.
KLD has plenty of options though.
p/s: after attending all KLD home games (fyi I never miss a single match) i prefer to watch those fan who doesnt know anything about basketball but they give it all out cheering for the KLD despite it was their first time watching a live basketball game rather than watching mr-i-know-it-all-basketball-genius trying to be a side court live commentator.
@mislan, Irangel
I agree with mislan – the smallness of the place makes for a terrific atmosphere. I mean, the numbers at a Slingers game may in the end be higher than the Dragons games but the atmostphere in KL is better because it is an intimate stadium. Better a full 2,000 stadium than 2,000 at a 10,000 Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The players can practically sweat on you in maba stadium. : )
@Hanoi – what would you like us to cover in the off season? Any suggestions?
Just a note to readers, I receive stories from readers and the ABL organisers. This story was received from the ABL as a press release. I put the name of the person who sent it to me.
So she’s not a Red Hoops reporter. And she may not even have been the one who wrote it. That’s why I use the word “Contributed by”.
Again, I’d like to extend an open invitation to anyone who would like to submit a game story to us. We’d be happy to post your story up. It’s obvious some of you know the game very well and so you should think of writing a piece instead of getting upset with anyone else’s piece.
That’s one way to let off steam!
Les,atleast cover SEABA champs, Asian games, jones cup,FIBA etc..
hmm,lucky for prettyboy rudy, generates lady fans in KL..
Just out of curiosity, where do folks like yourself go to online to get basketball news on say SEABA Champs, FIBA World Cup, FIBA Champions Cup?
If anyone else would like to share where you get your news stories, I’d be interested to know. Thanks.
Les, just go to fiba site.
@mislan
how good is your English? i posted “what matters to MOST of them”. that might not apply to you, but ask the typical Pinoy fan about the ABL and they think it’s just a minor league that plays “give-the-ball-to-the-imports-and-watch”. i’m not against fellow countrymen earning money outside the PBA, but it would be nicer to see more players in the region develop their games without Filipino players taking away their minutes. why can’t they do that?
as it stands, other ABL teams need a Filipino player’s experience playing in pressure-packed games. where Lingganay and Hugnatan came from… there’s more intensity and passion than the PBA. Les thinks a full 2000 stadium has a better atmosphere than a 2000 in a 10000 Singapore Indoor Stadium? try 16000 in a 14000 Araneta Coliseum during a UAAP final. heck, if it’s De La Salle – Ateneo, gate attendances reach 23000 and people only sit down (if they have a seat) during timeouts and halftime.
how good pinoy basketball players really are?
i really dont understand why most of us feel so proud on what the filipinos have in terms of basketball. we just dont know how to be humble thats the point. all of these asean (and i mean asean alone, because the koreans, the arabs and the chinese doesn’t see us as a formidable opponent since smart gilas) nations knows how good we play against them, we dont have to keep pressing it to them.
lets give everyone here a chance to play, learn and enjoy the game.
Les, maybe you could cover other leagues around southeast asia. There are leagues in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. As for the Phils, maybe you can focus on minor leagues like Liga ng Bayan, Philippine Basketball League,the CESAFI at Cebu, UAAP and NCCA (forget the PBA..). and then at the same time give updates on major ABL players and then what the teams are doing to prepare for the next season. Also you may have a special feature on the National Team of the Philippines SMART GILAS. I know it might look like you will be giving special interest to this team but I’m looking at the financial returns for your site. There are millions of Pinoy basketball fans out there and for sure SMART GILAS will give you the hits that you need. No one in the Philippines is giving this team exposure. GILAS is becoming popular in the country. They beat the PBA All Stars and was able to place third in the Dubai Invitational even if they played all local against teams with three American imports. SMART GILAS is becoming a good copy. Their goal is to be able to play once again in the Olympics. That’s a tough goal but should they make it their story would be a good material for a book, a movie, etc… Just my two cents.. thanks
@Les, since the UAAP-NCAA starts in mid-July try looking at the PBL since some ABL filipino imports like Lingganay and Bandaying are members of the COBRA team composed of the best guards like Jai Reyes (a Rudy-Shee Fai hybrid) and Paul Lee (unstoppable) and Forwards like Pari Llagas and Nico Salva etc etc…
try watching or covering these events and you might discover which player can potentially bolster the ABL squads
Basketball Schedule in the Philippines:
PBL (Summer) UAAP-NCAA (July-October) and ABL (October-February)
La Liga Pilipinas has an obscure schedule…
PBA has 2 conferences: Fiesta Cup is May-August and All-Filipino is from October-March i guess…
@jerby and Nards. Thanks for the worthy suggestions.
Not sure how I would execute being based in Singapore. However, I think if folks in Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines want to have a platform for their basketball stories, I welcome them on Red Hoops. You send it, we post it! : )
Les, perhaps cover other sports aside from focusing into basketball alone.
@han – the site is named after basketball
but not UAAP or NCAA!
Three points I picked up from the game.
1. How can one centre get fouled out and his opponent plays 35 minutes without a foul (magical clean hands maybe??). I think the refereeing was reasonable and KL lost the game on their own. I just think a bigger awareness of the WHOLE game is needed in the refereeing department of the ABL. You can’t have a good fair post play if one player is on four fouls and the other is on zero.
2. Three very big and obvious hard fouls in that game, I think it was two in the third quarter and one in the last quarter. Two of these were done by a bench player however only a personal foul was called. Was this unsportsmanlike play part of the third quarter turn around hype? I think they need to punish this type of play early in order to keep the league clean and respectable amongst the world basketball community.
3. When you are leading by 10 or more points you need to keep scoring in order to win the game. KL started to play very defensively late in the second quarter, using the whole of the shot clock, lack of inside penetration and complete lack of offensive threat. KL’s response to the 2-2 full court press was shocking and at one stage all five KL players were in the back court trying to get the ball up the floor.
Marcus Ch’ng should be picked up by someone for this league. I believe he has Malaysian heritage and could play as a local or worst case scenario an asean import.
@jiaozi..you obviously dont know much about the sport thats why you ask stupid questions like that (and as if breaking it down in number would add sense to it) and thats understandable.. im not going to attempt to answer your questions bec it will only lead to more nonsense questions id rather suggest that you start with buying some basic basketball strategy books and/or watch nba/euroleage and pay attention to the commentators and how they explain those basic things..
@3stars: i will. haha.
@jiaozi:
1. i bet you’ve never seen a whole lot of centers who play defense with their LEGS. playing defense even with “magical clean hands” alone gives the refs a reason to blow the whistle. Dixon is too experienced to know how fouls are being called.
2. unsportsmanlike fouls are given when the players didn’t go for the ball. much like giving cards in football. anything other than that is just contact. tell them to play chess if they don’t like hard fouls.
3. hahaha… that is just a lack of basketball know-how on your part. play more games (5-on-5 organized ball, not 3-on-3 or H-O-R-S-E) and you’ll find the answer to that yourself.