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http://www.tnp.sg/sports/all-other-sports/slingers-face-mighty-sports-semis



SLINGERS TO FACE MIGHTY SPORTS IN SEMIS

AGAINST TOP QUALITY, NEO'S SLINGERS HOLD THEIR OWN FOR MUCH OF THE WAY

   
Sep 24, 2016 6:00am


BY DAVID LEE



SINGAPORE SLINGERS 67

SHANGHAI SHARKS 89


They faced a team that featured a former NBA player and another standout who was selected 16th overall in the 2016 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics.

Other members of the Shanghai Sharks basketball club were either current or former Chinese internationals.

Few would have given the Singapore Slingers any chance of pulling off a victory, but the local franchise played their hearts out in what in the end was an 89-67 defeat at the OCBC Arena Hall 1 last night.

The Slingers led for most of the first quarter of the Merlion Cup encounter and even clawed back a 10-point deficit to level the tie at 43-43 in the third quarter, before the favourites pulled away in the final quarter.

With two wins out of two matches, the Sharks top Group A and will take on Group B runners-up Seoul Samsung Thunders of South Korea in the semi-finals tonight. The Slingers, the Group A runners-up, will take on Filipino side Mighty Sports.

Speaking after last night's tough encounter, Slingers coach Neo Beng Siang said: "We did well for most parts and then fell apart. We showed good fighting spirit right up to the third quarter.

"The turning points were the unsportsmanlike foul, the three pointers and they converted almost all their free throws."

With more than four minutes to go in the third quarter and the match finely-poised at 47-45 in favour of the visitors, Slingers swingman Xavier Alexander was adjudged to have intentionally fouled Sharks forward Cai Liang.

Alexander had scored 10 points in the quarter at that point, but with two free throws and possession awarded to the Sharks, the Slingers lost their momentum.

The 27-year-old American, who posted 20 points and 10 rebounds by the end of the game, said: "I don't think there was much in that incident, but their physicality off all positions took a toll on us. By the end of the third quarter, we didn't respond.

"We could have finished better but I love the way we fought for most of the match. We don't play teams of this calibre in the Asean Basketball League and this will only be good for me and the team."

Indeed, the Sharks' illustrious imports played a big role in their win.

American guard Jimmer Fredette, who played for the Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans and the New York Knicks, and French power forward Guerschon Yabusele, who recently turned down a contract from the Boston Celtics, both contributed a game-high 29 points.

Fredette made nine out of 10 free throws, while Yabusele was a beast under both baskets, pulling down 13 rebounds.

"The Slingers are a good team and we needed to be more aggressive in offence and defence, get more rebounds and make them foul more to win," said the 20-year-old Yabusele.

Current China international, point guard Liu Xiaoyu, contributed five points, four rebounds and three assists, while 2.21m former China centre Zhang Zhaoxu chipped in six points and six rebounds.

As Neo pointed out, the Sharks converted 29 of 35 free throws while the Slingers managed only 16 out of 20. Beyond the arc, the hosts dropped just three three-pointers from 17 attempts compared to eight-for-22 for the visitors.

These are areas the Slingers have to improve ahead of tonight's semi-final, and Neo said: "Mighty Sports are a very strong and athletic team. They also have a strong bench. We have to be ready for possibly a tougher match than the one we had against the Sharks."



bob


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https://youtu.be/DnjDJdTZJ14

international wrote:https://youtu.be/DnjDJdTZJ14

International,

Thanks. What a great world we live in that a resident of California can be a member of a board focused on a Boston team and can watch a game played in Singapore while in Spain.

Yabu playing well, hitting 3s, running the floor and attacking the boards like a monster. On the other hand, Jimmer Fredette looks like a young Steve Nash and we know where he fits in on the NBA pecking order. That tells me something about the level of competition.

bob


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You are welcome Bob.
I agree with you about the weak level of competition Yabu is facing,but we have to think that what he needs at his age is to play many minutes and a lot of practice.You can be sure both will be available for him in this league.He looks slimmer and stronger.

bob

"That tells me something about the level of competition."
Your above statement is extremely important when evaluating performance. Its the key factor that many basketball fans fail to take into consideration when comparing the early years of the nba to later generations.

swish

international wrote:You are welcome Bob.
I agree with you about the weak level of competition Yabu is facing,but we have to think that what he needs at his age is to play many minutes and a lot of practice.You can be sure both will be available for him in this league.He looks slimmer and stronger.

International,

The good news is that he will play a lot of minutes this year. The bad news is that it will be against inferior competition.

I think I would have preferred he stayed in Europe. The Euro leagues are tougher. Sure, he'd have to earn his minutes but if he can't earn them in Europe what are his chances in the NBA?

I have to trust Danny on this. He, or more precisely his son Austin, knows this stuff.

29 points and 13 rebounds has to make him feel pretty good.


Bob


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For those who just want to see Yabu highlights.





bob


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This is almost as good as a Jaylen thread.

While it is important to remember the competition, it is important also to understand that the Singapore Slingers aren't the competition Guerschon will be facing. They are in an inferior league I believe. He will be in against the elite Chinese league players and he will have elite big man coaching which is probably why he is there and not Europe. This is definitely an upgrade over the French league. While it may be true that none of these foreign leagues are as tough as any Bill Russell led team, not many current NBA teams are either.

mulcogiseng wrote:This is almost as good as a Jaylen thread.

While it is important to remember the competition, it is important also to understand that the Singapore Slingers aren't the competition Guerschon will be facing. They are in an inferior league I believe. He will be in against the elite Chinese league players and he will have elite big man coaching which is probably why he is there and not Europe. This is definitely an upgrade over the French league. While it may be true that none of these foreign leagues are as tough as any Bill Russell led team, not many current NBA teams are either.

Actually those Russell led teams are a perfect example of a generation when the level of play was far inferior to the present game.

swish

My prediction is Yabusele will be playing against NBA teams by October 2nd. Too soon? Wanna bet?

Shanghai Sharks play the Rockets Oct 2nd!

arambone wrote:My prediction is Yabusele will be playing against NBA teams by October 2nd. Too soon? Wanna bet?

Shanghai Sharks play the Rockets Oct 2nd!

Only 9 days away.

It will be nice to see how he plays against stiffer competition.  Granted it is an early pre-season game and he might be playing against Houston bubble players but at least they will be players who were good enough to make it off the summer league bubble and get an invite to an NBA camp

I'm so ready for Celtics basketball I'm even excited about watching a Celtic who is not going to be on the squad play.


bob


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He's a starter now for Shanghai, so he'll be playing against HOU's starters. Ryan Anderson, Clint Capela, Harden, Beverly, etc

Next Sunday, so I guess 6 days away.

This is a bit misleading - "Guerschon Yabusele, who recently turned down a contract from the Boston Celtics."

The Celts still hold the draft rights to Yabu. It works well for us that he is stashed overseas. Any chance he could join our team in 2016-17?

yes, good chance. That's why he signed with a chinese team, because their season ends in March I believe.

I know Swish, that is why I mentioned it. I just happen to think that you are dead wrong. You are like Jerry West, crying every year they didn't win a championship because on paper, according to the statistics, they were clearly the superior team. Your stats mean absolutely nothing when confronted with the reality of human beings playing basketball. You are entitled to your opinion, of course, but before I would believe someone like you, offering an opinion based on stats, I will believe someone like Shaq who sez Bill was the best of all time. Don't get me wrong, stats can be useful, I know, I evaluated school programs for the National Institute of Education for a number of years, I am a published researcher and I've chaired meetings for the American Educational Research Association. Now that I have that off my chest I'll enjoy seeing your opinions based on your precious statistics, some of which I will agree with, many of which I won't, but all of which will help color our discussions as we proceed into this season.

#17goingon18

worcester wrote:This is a bit misleading - "Guerschon Yabusele, who recently turned down a contract from the Boston Celtics."

The Celts still hold the draft rights to Yabu. It works well for us that he is stashed overseas. Any chance he could join our team in 2016-17?

Worcester,

European teams' schedules are a little bit ahead of ours but not enough, usually, for a player to make it onto an NBA playoff roster. Chinese leagues do, ad rambone said.


bob
P.S. Finished my first day of the Prado today. Day 2 tomorrow. Also caught the Thiessen Museum. More modern. Matisses, Gauguin and such.


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Bob, The Prado nearly finished me off, too much to see in one day. I really enjoyed the Museo Reina Sophia. Some great art pieces and also films by Bunuel. Keep on keeping on....

arambone,
I would really like to know the real reason he signed in China. There has to be a reason Danny and Austin know that we don't. Does it have anything to do with Yao Ming? Are their coaches superior for some reason? The Chinese regular season ends in Feb and the playoffs go into March. When I checked things out after his signing was announced I was thinking how kewl it would be for him to get a full season in and then come into the NBA around the all star break. I don't know if that is even possible given terms of contracts in these foreign leagues but it sure helped salve my feelings on him not being able to compete for a spot this season.

#17goingon18

$$$...he probably got more money from China..

I know I'd rather bring Zizic over to Boston late in the season than Yabusele. Horford isn't even that big and if he goes down, as he has numerous times, we're stuck back with Olynyk and Zeller and Amir.

Zizic was the best center outside the NBA last year, the FIBA center of the year. As a 19 year old.

Unfortunately, Adriatic League runs pretty late, so a dramatic buyout midseason would be necessary to get him over here.

Watch us lose in the second round of the playoffs because we didn't buy out and sign Zizic last summer as we should have.

I think Danny got too cute there, just like he got too cute in trading Perkins for Jeff Green.

mulcogiseng wrote:I know Swish, that is why I mentioned it. I just happen to think that you are dead wrong. You are like Jerry West, crying every year they didn't win a championship because on paper, according to the statistics, they were clearly the superior team. Your stats mean absolutely nothing when confronted with the reality of human beings playing basketball. You are entitled to your opinion, of course, but before I would believe someone like you, offering an opinion based on stats, I will believe someone like Shaq who sez Bill was the best of all time. Don't get me wrong, stats can be useful, I know, I evaluated school programs for the National Institute of Education for a number of years, I am a published researcher and I've chaired meetings for the American Educational Research Association. Now that I have that off my chest I'll enjoy seeing your opinions based on your precious statistics, some of which I will agree with, many of which I won't, but all of which will help color our discussions as we proceed into this season.

#17goingon18

mulcogiseng,

My opinion of the caliber of play of the 1950's-60's is based on my having viewed - as an adult - the nba of 55-65 years ago. Indeed I use a lot of stats to back my opinions - because I believe it adds credibility to my opinions. If you want to take the time over the next couple months to offer, in detail, your thoughts on this subject , I will be happy to reciprocate.

swish

I liked the Zizic and Yabusele picks BECAUSE they could be stashed for future seasons.

we didn't have roster spots for all the picks and Danny did a nice job of "moving" those picks into future years, IMO.

I hope both young men play VERY well overseas this year and continue to refine their games.

kdp59 wrote:I liked the Zizic and Yabusele picks BECAUSE they could be stashed for future seasons.

we didn't have roster spots for all the picks and Danny did a nice job of "moving" those picks into future years, IMO.

I hope both young men play VERY well overseas this year and continue to refine their games.

I don't think Mickey, Hunter, or Young were good enough to have a lock on a roster spot over the 16th or 23rd or 31st or 35th picks in a draft.

I'm really happy with the Zizic pick, and Yabusele seems like a clear upgrade over Mickey, but none of those three end of roster guys I mentioned should have affected draft strategy. Even the 59th pick, Nader, destroyed all those guys in Summer League. So too would have Henry Ellenson, Tyler Ulis, Ivica Zubac, and a bunch of other guys we passed on throughout the draft.

And I'd rather have Ellenson than Yabusele or freaking Jordan Mickey: