Thanks for the vote of confidence once again. This term will be my 12th term, let's hope we keep climbing up!
I've spent the past week looking through the team. Basically we had a few problems in terms of squad quality last season, but thankfully we have somewhat solved them (although not fully). Now we've finally have an initial 12 men roster! Let's check out our players:
Front Court
Teoh Huat Shi - he might be just 6'5", but our undersized post player plays with a huge heart. Expect to see him pull of plays that are way bigger than himself, like last night where he poured in 14 points in 18 mins.
Li Ying Yao - his offense might not be the loudest, but he does all the scrappy work. Expect him to be the main defensive anchor of the team this season.
Li Fu Feng - an all round bigman with few holes in his skills. Nothing flashy, just solid fundamentals. Imagine Tim Duncan. Put up a solid performance this morning (21 points 9 rebounds on 10 of 12 shooting).
Tan Chee Kang - this is what Klay would look like if he played for us. Solid 3 and D player who can explode with minimal touches. He put up 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting (3 of 3 from the arc).
Poh Da Ying - LDS is famous for training guards, so give them a big dude and you will get Kevin Love. The scariest thing is that he's just 20, he still has another season of U21 under his belt.
Aqil Andy - don't be fooled by his size, he can actually bang with the big guys. Nothing flashy and unpredictable, just pure smash mouth basketball.
Back Court
Chiang Kong Boon - he's a relatively big guard, and he sure knows how to make use of his size. Didn't feature much last night, but would probably appear more as the season goes on.
Lee Nie Beng - 25 points from 11 of 22 shooting this morning solidified his role as our main offensive focal point. He doesn't only shoot too - as shown by his 4 assists. He's one player we can rely on for an offensive punch.
Suen Shek Tong - solid reliable offensive player who is smart with the ball. Doesn't really take risky shots, as showed by his performance this morning (5 points 5 assists 50% shooting).
Arbahrin Gabriel - solid all round player, imagine Russell Westbrook with a better shot selection and less ball hogging. He's definitely going to be a one-two punch alongside Lee Nie Beng.
Tan Kiong Hao - a smart playmaker who reads the game well. His inexperience still shows (2 turnovers and -18 +/- this morning), but it should improve as the season goes.
Lee Shi Leng - surprised? I'm not. He was part of the squad last season, and rightfully so. While Ethan Intiang just came home last weekend, his younger form was already in the U21 since last season. While mini Ethan might not ever reach the heights of the original, he can very well match the latter's legacy when his time is up.
Our first game against Uruguay U21 looked positive. Let's hope we have a good season!