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MIDSEASON REPORT
I wasn't kidding when I said this is the deepest U21 team I've ever coached. Sitting at 23rd place of the standings with a 4-2 record, we are enroute to our first knockout round in the U21 Consolation Tournament since season 45. All that is thanks to our second unit for carrying us when our opponents rested their stars.

In the last 4 games, our second unit had very often cut the lead of our opponents or extended our lead beyond our opponents' reach. In our last game, even though our magnificent starters put an awesome defensive game (3 blocks each from Ghanya Subbaraman, Chua How Feng and Mo Shun Ze), it was our second unit who stepped up and left Puerto Rico U21 in the dust. All of them had double digit +/-, with a combined +66 among 5 players, while none of our starters had double digits in +/-, and 3 of them were below +5. Of course, they had a tougher time playing against better opponents, but it was thanks to the effort of the bench that prevented our opponents from staging a comeback.

The 3OT thriller against Czech Republic U21 had a similar scenario, with all subs who played more than 1 minute having positive +/- (I swear I don't know how Chris Jinuli managed a -6 in less than 1 minute), while Lee Tse Yeng was the only starter to join them. Even in the loss against Ireland U21, our starters all had a larger +/- than -5, with the worst being Wong Siong Da with -13, however none of our bench players had a larger +/- than -4.

That said, we've got 2 more matches to go - one with Kazakhstan U21, and another with our lovely neighbors Malaysia U21. I foresee the last matchup to be the crucial one that decides our knockout round qualification, so let's hope everything goes smoothly.

In terms of our early season GS struggles, our boys seem to have gotten back on track, other than Eddie Wally, who seems to be cursed because every franchise he plays for just closes down (well his current team isn't dead yet but he's likely hitting free agency again soon). Mo Shun Ze and Chua How Femg have also sorted out their early season GS struggles, so expect to see them start more often once they keep it up.

ahhh a heart breaking lost. Ang Dan da feel gulity for the last buzzerbeater shot. Really need to ramp up those 2 offensive skill :(

Yea I was crushed. We were practically robbed of the win. If only Chua How Feng didn't get KOed we might have won it comfortably. We certainly didn't deserve the loss after keeping things close throughout the stretch.

That said, thank goodness we still made it into the next round. The gamble paid off and we're off to the next round.

Sadly it looks like PH and TW are frontrunners to win their tie, which means it's very likely we can't win home court advantage for the Asia qualifiers next season. Well, at least we tried. Let's hope our boys put on a good show against Belgium U21.

Our journey finally came to an end against Belgium U21. Our boys tried their best but could not overcome their superior quality.

This season was an interesting one. We didn't have a clear star player like we usually do. But this squad is really the deepest I've ever had. No kidding. We were marred by game shape issues most of the season. Mo Shun Ze only featured for 5 games despite being the highest paid player. Chua How Feng, our best post player, missed some games early in the season due to game shape issues as well. Eddie Wally, while not expected to have a large role was out for most of the season, thanks to his horrible luck at finding a home. Thankfully, the rest of the squad stepped up.

With our season ending, let's look at the most outstanding players of the team:

Mr Reliable: Ghanya Subbaraman
He's one of the only two players to play every single game this season and started 6 of them. Despite being a playmaker, he expanded his role to the wings and eventually started some games at SF and even led the team in scoring twice. He's definitely the guy who's always there when we need him.

Honorable mention: Ehsanul Qalander. He's the other player who has been ever present for us. However he has a smaller impact than Ghanya.

Hot Shot: Lee Tse Yeng
A reliable servant to the team, Lee Tse Yeng is a great combo guard. Having played 13 games last season, he featured in all but one of our games this season - coincidentally it was the walkover win against Guatemala. He led our team in scoring 3 times this season - once more than Ghanya Subramaniam and Mo Shun Ze. Although that isn't really a big difference, but he also leads our team in points scored (129) and points per game (14.3). It might be a far cry from previous seasons where we had high volume scorers, but in a team where everyone steps up, it is quite a decent performance.

Honorable mention: Mo Shun Ze. His lack of game time might probably be a factor why we see him here. Having only played 5 games, he led the team in scoring twice (which is a whopping 40%) and has an average of 14.2 point per game. His game average might be a bit higher had I not gambled on playing him when he had 7 game shape against Malaysia U21, where he went 0-5 to finish the game scoreless.

Gym Rat: Mo Shun Ze
Starting off as a pure scorer, Mo Shun Ze brushed up his playmaking and defense throughout the season and had the most number of training pops. That said, it would have been useful if he was on court more often. Couldn't really blame his manager tho, he had pretty sufficient minutes week in week out, but he just couldn't get in form.

Honorable mention: Ang An Da. Youth is definitely on his side, but considering he only popped as much as the older Mo Shun Ze, he falls short. That said, he managed to cover his glaring holes in defense while transitioning from an end of the bench player to a regular starter, starting 5 of 9 matches he played in this season. Look forward to see him flourish more next season.

Gate Keeper: Muntahakhan Bhatti
His numbers might be helped by his lack of game time, but it also took an astounding 9 block 2 steal game to bump his season average to 2.75 blocks per game. Just one block shy of a triple double, he put in the most amazing defensive effort our players had this season.

Honorable mention: Chua How Feng. 16 blocks in 9 games might not be what you call impressive, but he has certainly been our most reliable defender so far. It was a tough call between him and the Mo Shun Ze, who's 7 steal performance was pretty spectacular as well. But in the end it is Chua How Feng who brought our team more value on defense.

With the season over, I might be looking to drop some players and bring in some fresh faces for next season. Stay tuned to see if there will be any changes.

thank man. didnt know Ghanya Subbaraman like to score so much.. sad that this is the last season for u21😂

Haha, neither did I expect that. But he stepped up when needed. Even last night he showed some sparks with Ang An Da feeding each other and scoring for a few runs.

Well, I guess his next destination will be the NT!