Tough season ahead for Dragons
STAM president MALAYSIA Dragons’ apparent lack in depth could see the defending Asean Basketball League champions struggle to retain their title this season.
Friday’s 80-62 defeat to Singapore Slingers, last season’s playoff losing finalists, highlighted the work that is cut out for new Dragons coach Christopher Thomas, named as replacement for Ariel Vanguardia who stepped down after leading the Dragons to their maiden championship trophy.
The Dragons only hired three foreign players this season, and retained none of the previous season’s four imports, as Thomas looks to give the local players more exposure ahead of next year’s Sea Games.
However, injuries meant the Dragons only utilised four players off the bench with American Marcus Melvin forced to suit up despite struggling with a back problem.
Melvin ended up playing for 32 minutes, scoring 15 points and pulling eight rebounds as Freddie Goldstein topscored for the Dragons with 22 points after playing the entire 40 minutes.
Spencer Skylar, who made his Dragons debut at the recent Fiba Asia Champions Cup, managed just seven points on three-for-eight shooting.
Thomas will be particularly concerned with how the Dragons allowed the Slingers to break the game open after going into half-time level at 32-32.
The Slingers dominated the third quarter by outscoring the Dragons 23-9 as the visitors’ defence struggled to cope with the home team’s offence.
“We kept to the game plan in the first half but we did not react defensively in the third quarter,” said Thomas. “It’s a lesson for the team but not one you can learn overnight.”
Of the local players, Kuek Tian Yuan scored 10 points off the bench in under 16 minutes but will be a concern to the Dragons after rolling his ankle in the second half while Wong Yi Hou added six points.
The Slingers, who lost the playoff finals series 3-2 to the Dragons in March, improved their head-tohead record against the Dragons to 11-15 since their first meeting in 2009.
The Dragons return to action on Dec 17 against Saigon Heat in Ho Chi Minh City in their only other game before the end of the year.
By Devinder Singh