"Basketball doesn't build character, it reveals it." - Anonymous
Basketball: Slingers triumph in last-gasp thriller
By: Nicholas Tan
Published Mar 21, 2016, 5:00 AM SGT
He had a mediocre game by his usual lofty standards, scoring just eight points. Yet the last two of those points were the
most important not just for Wong Wei Long, but also the Singapore Slingers. For it was the 1.74m point guard's shot
at the buzzer that gave the Slingers a crucial 75-73 win over Westports Malaysia Dragons in Game 4 of the Asean Basketball
League (ABL) Finals yesterday. The result at the OCBC Arena meant they tied the best-of-five series at 2-2 to force
a final game. With just 18.7 seconds left in the game, Kris Rosales held on to the ball and ran the clock down before
attacking the basket. An open Wong received the pass before deftly dispatching the ball past Dragons' point guard
Jason Brickman, sending his team-mates and the 2,505-strong capacity crowd into delirium. Wong's heroics in the final
quarter, in which he also scored two timely three-pointers, earned him his second man-of-the-match award in the ABL
play-offs, despite team-mates Justin Howard (31) and Xavier Alexander (15) contributing the bulk of the team's points.
The 27-year-old, who was recently named the ABL's Most Valuable Player (local) for the second season running, said:
"I was the open man, so when Kris passed it to me, I had to get the job done. "I felt confident on my last shot,
when it left my hand I felt so comfortable, I thought, 'Oh man, we're going to Game 5'. I'm very happy with the result."
Slingers coach Neo Beng Siang said: "We told him to just work on team defence and stop Brickman, he came back on
and did a good job on that. Eight points in this quarter is big, that's why we got this win. "The team stuck to the
plan defensively, after the loss in Game 3 (on Friday) we really worked on doubling down on (Reginald) Johnson, it
worked today." Johnson, the Slingers' chief tormentor in Game 3 with 34 points, was frustrated by stoic defending
and pressure from the raucous home fans. A tussle with Alexander - they had to be separated by team-mates - in the
second quarter compounded his miserable outing, in which he scored just 12 points. Eager to bounce back from Friday's
poor display, the Slingers mostly led, but the margin never hit double digits. A series of mistakes and rushed shots
allowed the Dragons to claw back to 73-73, when Johnson converted the first of two free throws. Fortunately for the
hosts, the usually reliable centre missed his second, before Wong stole the show. Big man Howard bounced back from
a wretched Game 3 (he scored a meagre five points) to top the overall scoring. He also had 13 rebounds. Calvin Godfrey
(25) and Matthew Wright (23) led the visitors. With Saturday's Game 5 back in the Dragons' lair in Kuala Lumpur,
Slingers' assistant coach Michael Johnson said: "We've got to get more loose balls, they seem to have been beating
us to that the whole series. When we get to Malaysia with their crowd, we need to rebound and get every loose ball,
do what we need to do." Dragons' coach Ariel Vanguardia was gutted by the manner of defeat, but maintained that there
were positives to take from the game. He said: "The good thing is we didn't give up, we were down most of the game
but we kept the gap close. "It (the loss) hurts, but it's not the end of the world. We're going home next, I hope
to see the crowd behind us in the next game... we're going to protect our advantage."
Coach Neo earns the respect of his own private army
By: Nicholas Tan
Published Mar 21, 2016, 5:00 AM SGT
Mention Neo Beng Siang's name to anyone in the local basketball fraternity and some might quiver at the sound of his name.
For the Slingers coach is known as a tough disciplinarian, courtesy of his time in the army. But his no-nonsense
approach to the game has earned him the respect of his players in the Slingers and the national team, which he helmed
for more than 12 years before stepping down last month. Point guard Wong Wei Long, 27, who has been under Neo's charge
since he was 18, said: "On court he's very disciplined and very systematic, sometimes too systematic to the extent
we think… 'Wow, okay'." Neo attributes his tough-as-nails approach to his own mentors when he was a national player,
as well as his time as a commando during national service, where he was once named best in physical training. He
said: "The commanders were hard on us all the time. When I started off coaching, I built on that as well, as I learnt
from my army life that 'no pain, no gain'." Indeed, in his early days as a coach, training during the season was
as hard as pre-season. There was no easing up on intensity and it was "hard all the way", he said. Fortunately, Neo
has since mellowed and learnt not to perennially push his players from former Slingers coaches such as Gordon McLeod
and Frank Arsego, whom he assisted before replacing the latter as head coach in 2010. Going for overseas courses
also helped him build other approaches to training. For example, at a junior coaching programme at the Australian
Institute of Sport in 2006, he noticed how Australians treated warm-ups with the same intensity as training instead
of "going through the motions". He decided to implement that in the national set-up as well but realised it was difficult
to enforce it. He then decided to compromise, saying: "Perhaps I was too soft on that, I could have demanded it.
But I felt as long as they were serious during training, I'm fine with that." Being more malleable worked a treat
and lifted his players' spirits. And Neo went on to lead the national team to two bronze medals at the 2013 and 2015
SEA Games. He described the 2013 medal as his "proudest moment as a coach", as it was the Republic's first at the
multi-sport event in 34 years. But behind the stern, serious demeanour lies a caring individual. Slingers and national
team captain Desmond Oh described Neo as a "second father", saying: "I used to have a bad attitude, I had no respect
for others. But he taught me how to be a better person on and off the court, and to be humble." Being the only son
in a family with five daughters, Neo explained that he was pretty much a "Lone Ranger" as a youngster, barely interacting
with his siblings. Initially squeezing in with all of them in a single room in their Boon Lay flat, he decided to
sleep in the living room when he was a little older, and even went out to watch movies on his own. Now married with
three daughters - Ying Xue, 23, Ying Qi, 22, Ying Min, 18 - the 48-year-old admits with a chuckle: "I've been surrounded
by girls all my life, even now with my daughters." From an all-action point guard to a vein-bursting coach, Neo has
devoted much of his life to the sport he loves - but it has come at a cost. Lamenting the lack of time spent with
his family, he said: "Usually after the Slingers' season is over, I need to turn my attention to the national team.
As training is in the morning and night, I often stayed in the office during the afternoon break because nobody would
be at home anyway." While he has worked since his secondary school days, with basketball his No. 1 priority, his
only other day job was a part-time role selling used cars at his uncle's company Eng Tat Credit. He gave that up
when he took on the role with the Slingers. It is no wonder he is grateful for his wife's unstinting support. "It
was difficult to cope with not seeing him much at first, but I didn't want to stand in his passion's way. Along the
years, I just got used to it," said Serene, his wife since 1991. Having stepped down as national coach after more
than five years juggling that role with the Slingers, Neo is ready to spend more time with his family. He says it
is his current "driving motivation" in life. He said: "I owe them a lot… earlier in my life I spent all my time on
basketball. Now it's time to repay my family's patience with me."
Three reasons why the Slingers will sling it home
By: Stanley Yeo
Published Feb 16, 2016
Is this the year for the Singapore Slingers to finally put their hands on the ASEAN Basketball League title? Stanley Yeo
looks at three reason why it just might be their year! Calibre on the bench The calibre of the local players has reached new heights. It all boils down to coach Neo’s game changing decision
in 2011 to blood the younger players in preparation for the 2015 SEA Games held in Singapore. The impact of this
decision has been phenomenal. Picking up two SEA Games bronze medals in 2013 and 2015, the Singapore players have
matured into formidable pack of young players. Star point guard Wong Wei Long has transformed into a mature intelligent
point guard that the Slingers need. Previously incapable of controlling his ultra speed, Wong is now in full control
of his speed and helps dictate the flow of the game for the Slingers, pulling the strings as a nifty point guard.
Fellow countryman Wu Qing De has stepped up to the plate and even overshadows Wong as the star local player at times,
not that Wong would mind it. Wu has won ASEAN Basketball League’s player of the week for two times this season. Wu
dominates the game with his huge presence on either sides of the floor; playing tenaciously on the defensive end
and putting up high percentages treys on the offensive end. Besides these two standout players, the fact is all other
local players have improved remarkably to form a formidable bench that is capable of stepping up when the first team
is down. Wong, 27, is particularly confident of the ability of the bench players,” We have each other’s back. If
anybody is down, someone is going to come off the bench and contribute.”
Team Chemistry From the get go, every single member of the Slingers family, including the foreign players, has bought into the notion
of a team. Team chemistry is something intangible yet imperative for any team to have a chance at winning the title.
Slingers certainly do not have a problem with that. They are teammates on the court but more importantly, they are
brothers off the court. They take the train to the arena together. They have meals after training together. Such
a special bond between local and foreign players was not common among previous Slingers team. Wong also shared with
us that American import Alexander Xavier was the joker of team, lightening the mood of the team in trainings and
before the game. Wong said, “He’s an amazing guy on and off the court. He is the joker the team. If anybody is down,
he will be the first to pick us up.” Labelled as the team’s comedian, Alexander who is also known as “Professor Xavier”
defended himself, saying that he was just trying to keep everyone relaxed. The 1.98m forward said, “I just try to
keep my teammate loose. I try to give them confidence and keep them loose on the court. That way, we can have a lot
of fun on the court.” Such strong team chemistry has translated to tangible outcomes on the court with Slingers head
coach Neo Beng Siang setting the tone, “Sharing the ball is part of our team philosophy. I asked them to cut down
on individual plays unless the shot clock is running out.” The chemistry built up off the court has led to the foreign
imports trusting the local players to step up when it mattered. Alexander Xavier told us more about the team philosophy:
“That’s the way we want to play (playing team basketball). Coming in as an import, Justin, Kris and me, we are right
there for them. We share the ball we trust in our teammates.” He added, “We give them confidence and they give us
confidence. You know if someone is not having a good game, someone else will pick us up. That is why we are successful.”
And the Slingers have certainly been successful, they are currently tied for top placing in the table with a win-loss
record of 14-4.
Defence first mentality Sensational. Slick. Spectacular. You may think that these adjective fits right in for any title contender but this
is not the case for the Singapore Slingers. Despite a 14-4 record with a ten-game winning streak in the midst of
it, the Slingers were never considered a spectacular team. They have carved out each game with their team defence.
It doesn’t matter if their offense is not clicking, Slingers’ gutsy defence has been the key to their success this
season, forcing an average of 19 turnovers in the past three games. Wong who graduated from NTU last year shared
with us,” Pressure defence is part of our team culture. We have been running up and down the court since day one
of the training camp. Right now, all of us are at our physical peak. We all have each other’s back.” Slingers’ chance
of winning it all is best summed up by Legendary American football coach Bear Bryant who once said, “Offense sells
tickets. Defence wins championships.” Despite dropping the game yesterday to Westport Malaysia Dragons 80-89, the
season remains bright for the Slingers. A bonded team with a much improved bench and a gutsy defensive mind set,
the Slingers have the best chance of bringing home the championship this year.
