Tip off 6pm local time, Thai-Japanese Association Gym, Thailand.
Saigon Heat will try to continue their climb up the standings table in this match up on Saturday after recording one of the most dramatic wins in AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League history on Wednesday. Heat were down by 8 points to Indonesia Warriors with 30 seconds left in the game but managed to pull a miracle comeback at Tan Binh Stadium to upset the Warriors 88-86.
Jahmar Thorpe led the Heat with 23 points but the Heat received a big boost from Robert Sanz who scored 17 points. Heat’ guards Minh Trieu and and John Smith also came up big at the end by hitting back to back three-point shots to tie the game. Both Trieu and Smith finished with 11 points each. Trieu played a big role last night off the Heat’s bench. Trieu excited the fans by making big plays and this could be a great confidence boost for him.
This will be the third and last meeting between Saigon Heat and Chang Thailand Slammers. Their last time meeting was on February 26th when the Heat beat the Slammers 60-55 at Tan Binh Stadium for their first win of the season. Saturday’s game will be crucial for both teams with the playoffs getting closer. The Heat are now on seventh position with a record of 5 wins and 9 losses, overtaking the Slammers who are now eighth with a record of 5 wins and 10 losses.
The Slammers are coming off a 68-89 loss to the AirAsia Philippine Patriots. Despite the outcome, Calvin Williams had a huge game, finishing with a monster double-double with 27 points and 20 rebounds while Chris Garnett added 15 points to the tally. The Slammers will be looking forward to having a better month in April after losing 4 out of their 6 games played in March.
It has been a rollercoaster season for the Slammers with all the changes they made during the season. The Slammers will seek for contributions from other players like the newly recruited Alexander Angeles and Attaporn Lertmalaiporn to get the win on Saturday.
Sunday 8th April 2012
Game 62: Westports Malaysia Dragons vs San Miguel Beermen
Tip off 3pm local time, MABA Stadium, Malaysia.
San Miguel Beermen continue to beef up their squad in anticipation of the upcoming playoffs. They have just added a new weapon to their arsenal by recruiting the former 34th overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft, Nick Fazekas. The 6 feet 11 inch center is very versatile with his shooting from behind the line.
Fazekas arrived in Manila on Tuesday to join the Beermen’s practice. “Nick (Fazekas) is a great player but it’s just a matter of howquickly he can jell with the team. I think he will be able to compliment Duke Crews who is more of a scorer.” said Beermen coach Bobby Parks about Fazekas.
The Beermen are coming off a 71-69 win over Indonesia Warriors on the road last Saturday. Leo Avenido came up big again for the Beermen, making the game winning lay-up to secure Beermen’s 11th win of the season. Crews finished with a double-double by scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in his debut with the Beermen.
Coach Parks will be hoping that the third time’s a charm as they have lost their first two meetings with the Westports Malaysia Dragons. Their last match-up was on February 25th when the Dragons beat the Beermen 73-70 at Ynares Sports Arena. “It’s kind of payback time for us. They beat us in both games and I’m sure they will be prepared for this one.” said coach Parks about Easter Sunday’s match-up.
The Dragons have yet to win a game since their 82-79 win over Indonesia Warriors on March 3rd at MABA Stadium. They arecurrently on a five-game losing streak after going down 70-81 to JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers on Sunday.
“The chemistry was not there. It was tough but we fought through and gave it our best effort. They only recorded 4 assists and it shows that we struggled playing with each other.” said coach Vanguardia.
The Dragons are still plagued with injuries. Brian Williams’ return to the lineup is still uncertain as he is still rehabbing his knee and although Tiras Wade has been in practice, he is still being listed as just probable for this game. The Dragons played their last match-up with Devon Sullivan and Cheyenne Moore as reinforcements. Sullivan had 16 points but Moore only finished with 7 points and struggled with his shot, missing 25 of his 32 attempts in his first two games with the Dragons.
Coach Vanguardia is aware of all the changes in the Beermen’s squad. “San Miguel is a tough opponent. They have made a lot of moves to get better. The Beermen will have extra motivation to beat us because we are 2-0 against them. We must hold up the fort because they will come hard at us. It will be a game of adjustments. Our goal is to stay close and have a chance to steal it in the endgame.”
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