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Next one will be an uphill task ><

My only hope is damage reduction. Hahaha. Let's hope we pull something off.

Although it was more or less confirmed after last week's game against South Korea U21, but tonight I am glad to announce to everyone: "WE MADE IT!"

After the shocking loss to New Zealand U21, our boys were handed a second consecutive loss against group favourites Hong Kong U21. It was a terrible blowout loss for our team, even with Ma Kuan Min carrying the team with a game high 34 points. That was probably the only positive out of the game, as despite trying to catch our opponent's defense off target, we fell to an embarrassing 60-87 loss.

Our boys bounced back the next game to go second in Pool A by beating South Korea U21 104-77. The Koreans owned the boards on both sides, reducing us to a measly 31 rebounds in the game while grabbing 20 boards on our side. However, our smooth defensive play forced a lot of turnovers on their side (19 turnovers in total, with their star PG Dong-Yul Kang losing the ball 7 times) to get possession back to our side. Ma Kuan Min once again burst into form and dropped team high 23 points with 71% shooting, alongside fellow teammate Dhisna Chaddha. Team captain Seet Woon Loong once again had a pretty quiet game, however his presence on the field was also important, as he dished out a game high of 4 assists.

With the Koreans facing group leaders Hong Kong U21 tonight, we went into tonight's game with one foot in the next round and without pressure. However our boys might have been too relaxed as our neighbours raced to an early lead in the first quarter. Malaysia U21 manager Nicholas seemed to have been watching our team closely, as he dispatch Willy Gatut, who was like Marcus Smart tonight. Despite hitting 3 of 12 shots from the field, he was strategically placed to defend our best shooters. Thus Ma Kuan Min was suddenly brought down to earth, shooting 3 of 16 from the field and losing the ball 3 times. Then Kwok Yi Wee took over the game. Finishing the game with a double double, game high in points (19), rebounds (15), and assists (5) while picking up a team high 3 blocks, Yi Wee's fine performance let our boys overcome the early deficit, and weathered the storm that could have come after Seet Woon Loong left the court injured.

With New Zealand U21 crashing to a second consecutive defeat, we make the next round together with our neighbours Malaysia U21, and probably Philippines U21, Japan U21, Taiwan U21 and Iran U21. Despite only having to face one Pool champion, our chances in the knockout stages are bleak, as Taiwan U21 and Iran U21 are as good as any pool champion.

things are looking good! good job

Thank you!

I should say that it's all thanks to the managers training the players in our team. Their game shape has been pretty good lately, kinda giving me a selection dilemma at times. Well, it's a problem I won't mind having more often. Hahaha

u did well coach. we are sitting at 2nd place in the division. good luck on next round.

Thank you. My hopes aren't too high for the next round tho. I hope we can at least come in 4th. Top 3 will be too hard to break.

4th will be the most reasonable. Iran is also hard to compete with.

Well the schedule is out. We play Japan U21 next. Yellowcake is an experienced manager, he's been there since like, forever I think xD

Certainly won't be an easy game. Let's hope everything goes well!

Game 1 of the second round of the Asia U21 Championship tournament has begun, and after a gruelsome 48 minutes of game time, we picked up a first victory against Japan U21! The week started out pretty bad with out outside players having a game shape drop, forcing a change in tactics which saw forward Hong Jun Kwang play as a guard. However, we were lucky to have taken advantage of GDP, it proved the decisive factor in a very close game.

Yap Chu Seng was the unexpected hero of the night, scoring a team high 17 points of the bench with 7 of 8 shooting, including a 3 pointer over opposite number Makoto Kinugasa. He was also active on defense, rejecting 2 shots. Hong Jun Kwang also stood out tonight. Playing out of position, he swatted away 3 shots while locking down Japanese guards Kohzoh Okimoto and Kohzoh Motoori to a combined 15% shooting. He also drew fouls late on and hit 5 of 6 from the charity stripe.

Meanwhile Tang Yeow's fantastic night was cut short after he was taken out my opposing bigman Takahisa Ariwara near the end of the game. The 20 year old floor general had created two back to back shots to bring his tally to 7 assists before the Japanese felt that it was enough, and were forced to send him to the infirmary in order to contain him. However despite being forced out of the game, he was cleared to fly back to France and will be ready for Tuesday's league game. Seet Woon Loong also had a mixed night. Despite posting a double double (16 points, 13 rebounds), he failed to hit a lot of his shots despite being marked by a much inferior opponent, making only 8 of 21 from field. He also canned all 4 of his free throws. However his contribution on the boards and his playmaking was vital to our team.

Our next 3 games will be gruesome - with Taiwan U21, Iran U21 and Philippines U21 lined up consecutively. Damage limitation will be our priority.

LET GO LION! show taiwan we are not pushover!

LET GO LION! show taiwan we are not pushover!

Thanks to these words of encouragement, our boys pushed Taiwan U21 all the way to the final quarter. Yes, we were not a pushover at all by the 3rd quarter, clawing back from the 10 point defeat, but the final lap proved too much for our boys. We ended up losing by 10-3 points, conceding a massive 38 points in the final quarter (for the record, we held them to 34 points in total for the previous two quarters).

Credits to the manager of Taiwan U21, LEGGO, who decided to suddenly switch up his tactics this match. Previously Taiwan U21 ran by two modes. The inside oriented LI/LP for top teams, and outside isolation for lower tier teams (with the exception of Saudi Arabia U21). Comparing the levels of the teams, we were closer to the level of Indonesia U21, UAE U21 and Lebanon U21, so I had sort of predicted them to use outside isolation. However, they switched up to Motion, which made our GDP not too effective (we only got pace correct). Still, it was a fair outcome, and we had nothing to lose (since the roster quality difference between both teams were so huge).

Neo Ah Lee had a fairly horrible shooting night, making only 9 of 23 (including 2 of 4 from downtown), however he finished the night with a team high 24 points and 10 rebounds to earn himself a double double. Seet Woon Loong also had a double double, picking up 19 points and 10 rebounds. He was also our best player in defense, picking up two blocks. Meanwhile the dynamic duo Woo Feng An and Dhisna Chaddha totaled 11 assists between them as they commanded our offense well, allowing us to out-assist Taiwan U21 by 7. Unfortunately, the teamwork between our boys was still not enough to overcome the individual brilliance of our opponents.

Our next match will be against Iran U21, a team that is not too far ahead of us in world rankings, but very much ahead of us in terms of roster quality. Let's hope our boys bring their fighting spirit and put up a good game. We may not win, but at least we put on a good show.