Slingers take Game 1

In the game of basketball, like Michael Jordan's habit of wearing North Caroline Tarheel shorts beneath his NBA shorts for games, there are trends or traditions which sometimes are observed and avoided at all cost. So after a couple of trends seen this season, I was getting superstitious.

Each time Boston, Nuggets and my team Spartans lost, the Slingers would get beaten. My silly superstitions were recorded here and here.

Therefore on Saturday morning, after Boston lost to Atlanta 100-91 and Nuggets got whipped 101-64 by Oklahoma Thunders... Spartans really need to win our evening game against the #1 team Taman CSC in the Jammers league right now, they have yet to lose and the last team I remembered, that played them lost 38-130. Errr.. I was suppose to rest my injuries but due to a lack of players, I had to play and for at least the first quarter, we fought hard with what little teammates we had, matching them in defense and scores. But their physical play proved too much for us as we lost by 41 points finally but they never reached 100! So, the fears start to set in for the Slingers game on Sunday, but...the outcome:   Was outstanding!

Singapore Slingers 87 - 68 Satria Muda BritAma

This was a big win for us at home with almost a maximum 20% discount off at Botak Jones with your ticket stubs, Desmond Oh had 4 chances at the free throw line in the final minutes to bring the lead frm 18 to 20, but only shot 1 in. But overall it was a great game from our boys. With all the starters scoring double digits, and the locals contributed notably Pathman was perfect from the charity strip 4-4. The boys played tough and appeared to be a better local side than the Indonesians. Hartman and Miller were the only one scoring double digits and shooting off 21 and 18 points respectively; they were also shooting off their mouths with their whines...

A win this Wednesday at Indonesia will seal the finals for the Slingers. Otherwise, we play home next Sunday 7 Feb at same time and same place! Do bring all your friends to support the Slingers!

Jeffers was a monster tonight as I will return soon with more pictures and a full review. For now enjoy this.
 

 Jeffers' great off the board block, which the referee deemed a goal tending.

 

Jeffers with a put back one-hand dunk after a missed layup from Marcus, frightening Hartman! 

In the other ABL semi-finals, the scoreline was a little more scary than ours as both teams try to send out signals. Philippine Patriots 77 - 43 KL Dragons was a vindicated win with a strong signal to their finals opponent, they meant Business (with a capital bold B).Patriots won by 34 points and held the Dragons to a ABL season low of just 43 points. More of the defense Patriots put up over at this review.

Finally a persevered win - Spartans vs VS

Photo courtesy of PK, owner of Jammers league.

I never blogged in detail of my amateur league games before. But for the benefit of many of my teammates who were away, and the fact I only played 4mins with injured wrists and had to focus on coaching or in my own ways strategically managing the team - this is my account of what happened resulting in an 3-point upset 55-52 over last season's #1 team.

Jammers league timing inconsistent

So I turned up late for last week's game..pissed off with myself but in fact it was a change in timing which I did not noticed. It changes so often on Jammers' website, I think I should shift my attention on getting pissed with them instead. I mean timing and location was planned out long ago, how come games can change within the coming week? Are these changes made to accommodate teams' line ups or because of court booking? Hope the league can explain this...pissing me off.

Here is the original schedule

New schedule

So from 1220pm vs Sunday Old Folks at Balestier, we now play 115pm against Braddell Eagles at Queenstown... man I miss playing at Balestier. Hope we don't lose more of our squad since myself and Jase won't be playing this week.

(Thanks to my blog reader who brought this to my attention for the inconsistencies)

Happy Halloween!

Have a good scare tonight everyone!

I just had one myself...first 20-pt game in my basketball career in a full match. 6 treys and a pull up jumper on a fast break..freaking scared myself. Haha at least my pre-warmups of 3 treys were not just for show..
shit and this wasn't an official game and no video recording...damn

Anyway, we lost but to a great team. sad that the opponents O2 will be pulling out of the Jammers league. Nice guys who played cohesively well and always friendly off the court. Hope they come back together soon.

Local Basketball Amateur league

Having just completed our first season at Jammers League, I am so looking forward to the next season with my amateur league team - Spartans, which will begin in Nov after a month of rest. We did well to achieve our personal winning goal of 50%, in fact 55% of 11 wins and 9 losses and to finish 5th place out of 11 teams. The ride was enjoyable and so far we are limiting the team to only our friends and work colleagues as we tend to shout and scream, support and encourage each other. The need to have harmony in the team is crucial to a having a fun time since we are only here to try our best while enjoying our games.

My team Spartans have been playing together for about 5 years for now and we have played in the BBAXN league as well for a good 4 years. Quite often it was upsetting with the referees being "short-sighted" and sometimes we get "blind" ones as well. Haha but the league over there is rather competitive and hardly warm in feeling - we saw many fights and injuries over the years. Anyway we finally shut down our 1st team in that league and concentrate in the Jammers league which we found new friends and a hell lot more fun!

The Jammers League is endorsed by the Singapore Sports Council and organised by Project Hoopz. They try to bring a fun and enjoyable environment to the many basketball fanatics in Singapore. Project Hoopz organises basketball all year round, be it tournaments, leagues or scrimmages and also provide services such as customised jersey design and production. So do check out their website, if you are interested in joining a team or starting one. Hope to meet you guys on the court someday.

For some video clips of the fun we are having, please go to the jammers youtube channel.