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We got off to a flying start today with a 98-102 victory over Iran U21. With some of our outside shooters not having the best game shape, rather than running our usual outside offense, we were forced to an inside oriented fist-fight against Iran U21, taking the game straight to them and their $37,000 per week star Center Ramin Hajipour. The verdict? A hard fought game which saw us eke out a 4 point win in the final quarter.

Our boys had a fantastic night on offense, scoring at a highly efficient 50/40/90 clip. However, we still had trouble setting up against the Iranian defense as our boys struggled with possession, turning over the ball 15 times. Thankfully we had the upper hand on the boards, which allowed us to retain possession on offense while limiting their second chances. Our defense was also tidier, not giving off too many fouls. In return, while their aggressive smashmouth defense caused us to lose the ball quite often, it worked against them as they gifted us a massive 20 attempts from the charity stripe, of which our boys converted all but one.

Charlie Teo was once again the best player in our team. With the rest of our team clicking on offense, he was allowed to focus on scoring, and he certainly did not disappoint, hitting 13 of his 20 shots to finish the game with a game high 32 points. He was so hard to guard that opposite number Sina Gilabadi got fouled out late in the game. Zhang Long Yew also had a good game, hitting double digits in a competitive U21 game for the first time. He finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and was active on defense with 3 blocks and 1 steal. Meanwhile Abdul Chaudri continued to display his pin sharp passes and amazing vision by dishing out 9 assists.

That said, despite the heroics of the starting unit, it was the depth on our bench which won us the game. With Iran U21 only dressing 8 players, our second units came out at the right time to push their players further while letting our starters catch their breath. Taking advantage of their fresh legs, our second unit hit the ground running, and most of them finished the game with a +/- of 7. It's even more amazing that almost all of them will still be in the team next season, with only Liew Yau De being the only 21 year old on the bench.

With a fantastic opening victory in the second stage, our boys will face another stern test next week, China U21. Let's hope the stars are aligned for us next week so we can get something out of it.

After last week, with China U21's highest paid player out and injured, and another top player facing game shape issues, I legit thought we could have pulled off an upset. Fast forward to yesterday, our hopes were dashed as he came back.

Well maybe we never stood a chance after all.

Our boys were held back on offense most of the game. Despite having 4 players score double digits, Zhang Long Yew was the only one out of six players with 5 or more attempts to score more than half of their shots, and he was above 50%. He was also the only starter to do so. His efficiency spread to the charity stripe as well as he hit all 4 of his free throw attempts, being the only player to not miss a free throw, and was a menace on defense, rejecting 7 shots. However, he was constantly bullied on the boards, and managed to only pull down 4 rebounds.

Abdul Chaudri was our best offensive player in terms of stats, as he finished the game with a team high 14 points and 3 assists. However, he evidently is more comfortable playing at point and orchestrating the offense, as his shooting splits of 20-10-60 saw him have the worse efficiency of the team. However, it wasn't all dark clouds on offense. LDS duo Chow Choon Dong and Chng Siong Chin shot pretty well from distance, while Tong Puay Jia hit all his field goals, despite missing 2 of 6 free throws.

Our boys played pretty decent defense, despite the huge shortcomings on offense. Although we allowed China to hit 47% of their 3s, thanks to substitute Zhang Minhua hitting all of his attempts from the arc, and that we conceded 30 or more points in the third or fourth quarter, however our boys were pretty tidy on defense. Yes, there were no outstanding defensive performance outside of Zhang Long Yew's 7 blocks, however our players did not commit too many fouls, only allow our opponents to shoot 11 free throws. Meanwhile, our boys had 21 free throw attempts, but sadly, most of them were squandered.

We shall face a more equal opponent next, in the form of Thailand U21. Let's hope everything goes well this time.

Closer - that's the role our team captain Abdul Chaudri grew into, and the role he embraced very well today.

Down by 2 with 58 seconds left, New Zealand U21 shooting guard Cornelius Rabot missed a jumper to extend the lead, and Zhang Long Yew mustered all his strength to regain possession for a time out. The plan was simple - feed Chaudri the ball and have him drive to the basket. No good. He missed the layup and saw Stacy Boulton hit one over Charlie from outside. But he made sure he didn't make the same mistake. He hit his next drive, then kicked out to Abhishek Singh who nailed it from downtown to tie the game. And finally, put us ahead with 2 seconds to go with another driving layup.

WE DID IT!

The game was so intense that I have just calmed down from watching it. The whole game was frustrating from the start. Having our best post player injured in the first minute, and one of our top shooters join him in the medicine bay slightly later on, it seemed like the Kiwis were destined to win this game. Abdul Chaudri had an inspiring run early in the 2nd, but that still couldn't stop our opponents from racing to a 14 point lead as our boys failed to score anything in the last 2 minutes. The same happened in the 3rd, where despite shaving off a huge chunk of the lead, poor performance in the final 2 minutes of the quarter saw them keep us at arm's length. Thankfully, despite having 2 unsubable players, we came up tops.

Abdul Chaudri was our best player of the game, hitting a game high 33 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. He was also active on defense, with 2 steals and a block. Chow Choon Dong was equally impressive, scoring 31 points and pulling down 5 rebounds. He took over the playmaking duties today, dishing out a game high 5 assists. However his 4 turnovers mean he still has quite a bit to work on before he can be considered a primary ball handler.

Abhishek Singh also had an impressive game, finishing with a double-double from a stat line of 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. He was really efficient on offense, hitting 57% from the field and 50% from 3. Meanwhile Zhang Long Yew endured a gruelling 47 minute match to put up some impressive defensive numbers with 14 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. However, he was non existent on offense, missing all 7 of his field goals, and only making 1 out of 2 free throws.

Our next game will be against Taiwan U21. Since Iran U21 beat China U21 today, the next game will legitimately be our best shot to make it into the semifinals since season 36. Let's give it our all!

Our boys' fairytale run ended on a low note last night as we fell 73-98 to Taiwan U21. Charlie Teo and Guamg Yeow Shun posted similar stat lines to carry our boys, but their efforts weren't enough. Charlie ended the game with a double double from 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead the team in both categories, while Guang Yeow Shun was just behind, posting 14 points and 13 rebounds. He also blocked 4 shots. It was a wonderful performance to cap off the final game for both players, both who have contributed a lot to our team.

Meanwhile, all eyes were on Abdul Chaudri, after his amazing game winning performance against New Zealand U21. Unfortunately, that included our opponents, who reduced him to just 1 of 8 from field. However, he still managed to contribute despite having shooting woes, as he dished out 4 assists and was active on defense, notching up 3 steals and 1 block. Sharing his load of running the offense was Tong Puay Jia, who dished out a team high 5 assists. However, he had a bad shooting day as well, only hitting 1 of his 10 field goal attempts.

The loss means we finish the group in 4th place, tied in game record with China U21 and Iran U21, but behind on point difference.

Starting next week, I will be trying out new blood in preparation for next season. Stay tuned to find out who makes the cut.

at least C. Choon Dong didnt perform badly on this game.. haha

Oh yeah. He played pretty well, getting double figures despite coming off the bench. Best rating too! Hope he makes the senior NT one day.