Dragons ready for ABL campaign

PETALING JAYA: The Westports Malaysia Dragons have finally put together a team for the eighth season of the Asean Basketball League (ABL) and they hope to make amends for last season’s failure to reach the playoffs.

The Dragons have brought in two worldclass imports in Americans Solomon Jones and Marcus Marshall.

The 2.08m Jones is 33 years old and played in the NBA for nine seasons, featuring for teams like Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, LA Clippers and Orlando Magic.

The 23-year-old Marshall is a combo guard who had just graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno.

The Dragons have also signed up 31-yearold Reil Cervantes. The Filipino power forward is a five-year veteran in the Philippines Basketball Association (PBA) and last played for the Blackwater Elite.

The Dragons also roped in five local players from NS Matrix – Ivan Yeo, Kuek Tian Yuan, Teo Kok Hou, Wong Yi Hou and Ting Chun Hong – and two veterans in Loh Shee Fai and John Ng.

The 28-year-old Shee Fai has featured for the Dragons for seven seasons while the 36-year-old John has impressed since coming out of retirement to help the KL Dragons Basketball Academy finish runners-up at the recent Malaysia Pro League (MPL).

The Dragons have also included two talented youngsters from the MPL – 16-year-old Phan Wee Chen and 19-year-old Heng Yee Tong.

“We were a bit picky about the players we wanted and coach Chris (Thomas) did a thorough job on the imports,” explained Dragons’ general manager Yakub Hussaini.

“We’re also glad that Matrix decided to release their players. The five will join us by Nov 20. Making the playoffs is our target this time. It won’t be easy as the league has expanded to nine teams.”

The Dragons will have their first official practice at the Maba Stadium tomorrow. Their first match is an away game against the Mono Vampire Basketball Club of Thailand on Nov 25. The ABL will begin on Nov 17, with the Nanhai Kung Fu Basketball Club of China hosting the Singapore Slingers.