Anyway much love to Nic and Daphne as always for indulging me with the best seat in the house - by the courtside. Together with Jase who was on ESPN by the way ... in case you watched..he was in pink, you can't miss him. Since I was late and had bad positioning, here are his great pics and complete review.
Jeffers going strong to the basket.
From the start, it was a match-up of 2 great unbeaten teams, so it was a day when one team has to go home to rethink their strategies. The imports of Patriots were #42 Dixon and #1 Powell were drawing quick 4 points each in the first quarter scoring 8 of the 11 for the team, while Slingers were up 5 points with 3 of our foreign imports (Marcus, Michael and Kyle) scoring 4 points each.
Marcus with the ball....
Marcus losing the ball... Patriots point guard #4 Coronel applying pressure
But it was clear from the start that the Patriots guards were fast and had quick defensive movements, creating 23 Turn Overs in our game. This was something that we need to work on - ball handling. But then again our guards ain't push overs, as we created 21 TOs as well.
Michael's tight Defense as our local supporters look on.
#5 Wei Long shooting over #27 Baguion
The final 35 secs of the first half was the play of the day for me, as I found out Wei Long shot 2 air balls earlier in the game, but he redeemed himself with a guts-wrenching 7 points! He reminded me of T-Mac who scored 13 points in final 35 secs to help Houston with over Spurs. Wei Long gave us a 4 point lead into the pumped up Slingers' locker room at half time: 34-30.
#5 Wei Long was hit to the ground, after his passionate cry, he calmly shot in the ensuing FT
(Look at the fans way on the other side)
Wei Long elated with his 2nd trey...look at the crowd in the foreground
So the fans had fun sharing the joys of our players...and many were coming for the games despite it being aired live on ESPN. Seriously nothing beats a live game. When we were in US watching a live game, you are always looking out for celebrities. So apparently Fly Entertainment has a box. And we had our far share of celebs in the house! Guess who came?
Apparently Joanna Peh sprained her foot during half time games...she tweet about it here.
@flyirene I sprained my foot during our half time game. Haha!7:50 AM Oct 19th from Tweetie
This match was exciting to the last minute as both team returned from 2nd half. Our boys were relentless in their defense. And look at the following pictures as we start to also turn up the offense 11-4 run scoring 45-34 in the final 5 mins of the 3rd quarter.
Weijian's tight defense on the Patriot guards.
4 against 1 ..are you sure Dixon? FYI this ball never went in, Jeffers got the rebound.
The joys of watching a live game...see Irene Ang doing her bit as a Slingers fan!
Kyle Jeffers shooting high
I thought only the Filipinos like to boo bad refereeing..I was wrong...haha
The Filipino that we all love - #19 Al Vergara for a fast break layup
Spotted again was the #1 Slingers fan, asking for the elusive free t-shirt slingshot out by the cheerleaders. He has been here since the team started? Met him in the 2nd half and told him of the title I gave him. Haha... Slingers is fortunate to have guys like him who supported the team whole heartedly, he is wearing the Pathman jersey by the way.
I feel this is quite a good way to give out freebies, compared to the American games where they shoot out the tees single-handedly. Here you have a bunch of gals aiming at you!
As the fourth quarter started, tensions rise as the Patriots are not going down without a fight.
The 2 point guards going at each other after a hard foul call on #5 Wei Long by #4 Coronel.
We are here to play ball..shake hands and make up! Sportsmanship guys....
This is how you play dirty, yet smart not enough to get a foul.
#19 Al with the fast layup over #1 Powell. (Almost the whole team in fact)
#31 Kyle Jeffers with a beautiful outreach lay up.
But the Patriots never gave up...#3 Warren Ibanez who was injured earlier, came back with a vengence.
Shooting a trey which got the whole bench up!
Earlier #3 Warren Ibanez was hit in the nose and bled.
Had to be carried off the court.
So even in the final minute of the game, it griped the crowd with anticipation as #3 Warren Ibanez led the charge to have the Patriots come within 4, 69-65. But Kyle drove the last nail into the coffin as he grabbed a loose ball which ended up into the hands of Marcus who had a 2 handed-jam. Which I had the referees' ass instead of that wonderful dunk of the night.
Marcus jams in the last shot of the night to close out 74-69
I am glad today's attendance of Slinger supporters was far greater than I had expected. They need more fans, but it is obvious as they work their ass off to bring victories for us, you will see the greater the returns.
The Slinger fans know it best if heart is played out there on the courts.
I learnt this week that when you have been at your best trying to beat a top team, sometimes being number #2 ain't that bad. So try hard in everything to succeed, sometimes when you don't win, being number #2 isn't far from being #1. Look at Jordan with Malone and Stockton being inducted into the Hall of Fame at the same time, one has 6 rings, while the other 2 had none. But their reputation isn't less well known, well not to me at least.
For more of my higher res pictures - here.
