ASEAN Basketball League Finals: Singapore Slingers versus Westports Malaysia Dragons

 

The Singapore Slingers and Westports Malaysia Dragons go head-to-head in the 2015-2016 ASEAN Basketball League Finals.

The Slingers and Dragons ended the ABL regular season with identical 16-4 records, with the latter gaining first place via the quotient system.

This is the first ABL Finals appearance of the Slingers while this is Malaysia’s second. The Dragons lost to the Hi-Tech Bangkok City last year, 2-0 who had Filipino Head Coach Jing Ruiz.

Singapore is led by Head Coach Neo Beng Siang, who initially served as an assistant coach during the league’s first season and then promoted to the Slingers’ head coaching duties since Season 2. Last year’s Local MVP Wong Wei Long (11.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists) has been with the team since 2009 along with fellow Singaporean Desmond Oh (4.5 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists).

Malaysia on the other hand has Coach Ariel Vanguardia on the sidelines. Vanguardia is a Filipino coach and has been with the Dragons since Season 2 as an assistant. He became the Head Coach a year later in Season 3, replacing Coach Goh Cheng Huat.

The Slingers and Dragons faced four times this season. In their first meeting last November 13, the Slingers banked on a 45-point performance from Justin Howard to defeat the Dragons, 88-85. The Dragons bounced back in the second game two days after, 84-79. Singapore won the third meeting, 78-71, last December 19. The Dragons claimed the top seed with a 89-80 win over the Slingers last February 14.

3 ASEAN Heritage Imports suiting up in the Finals, all trace their roots to the Philippines. Dragons’ Matthew Wright is Filipino – Canadian, who previously suited up for the Philippines in the FIBA Asia Under 18 Championships in Tehran back in 2008. Wright had a stellar first season with 23.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.4 assists for the Dragons.

Filipino-American Jason Brickman, who led the NCAA (Div I) in assists per game in 2013 and 2014 while playing for LIU (Long Island University) - Brooklyn. Brickman led the league in passing with 10.7 assists while also netting 13.2 points and 5.6 rebounds.

Singapore Slingers’ Kris Rosales (Krismoir Rosales), drafted in the 2nd round in last year’s PBA draft by Barako Bull, round up the Filipino talent in the ABL. Rosales averaged 9.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists during the season.

The Singapore Slingers and Malaysia Dragons are both in their sixth seasons in the ABL and are the only two original teams remaining since the league’s inception in 2009. Both are gunning for their first ABL title.