The seat for the top spot in the ABL standings is still pretty wide open. That could change in this game.
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After going through 75% of all the games in this season, the Singapore Slingers have a full 2 games ahead of the defending champions, Hitech Bangkok City. There are only a couple of games left in the season and both teams will be making their last push for the top spot and home court advantage throughout the ABL Playoffs.
At the very least, both teams have secured a top 3 spot. But between these two teams and the KL Dragons, it’s still up in the air as to who will land in which order.
It’s been 82 days since the Singapore Slingers have lost a game. Plenty of teams have taken their punches at the Slingers to steal a victory (and some have come close) but no one has been able to close the deal.
Here are some fun fact about the Slingers: Before the New Years break, from all 10 games they had only one where they made at least 6 three point shots made. Since the New Year break, they have made at least 6 in every single game. Throughout the last six games, the Slingers have shot below 30.0% from the three point line once at 27.3%. In the 10 games before that, they’ve never shot more than 27%.
The transformation that the Slingers have gone through have made them an even more complete team. But they aren’t completely unbeatable.
Hitech Bangkok City might have the right ingredients to deliver the Slingers their third loss. All of their players are still the same since that season opening game when they beat the Slingers by 10. In that game, I think the Slingers might have been caught by surprise by the Heritage Imports. They had never seen Tyler Lamb and Freddie Goldstein play in an ABL game before and found it hard to stop them. But after that game, the Slingers had done well to contain both of Hitech’s high firepower weapons.
That’s what this Hitech Bangkok City team has to adjust if they want to make a significant claim for the top spot. Lamb and Goldstein are as talented as anyone in this league, but the Slingers have figured out how to cope with their scoring. You can see that the Slingers have decided to live with Lamb/Goldstein taking difficult shots, rather than allowing them to be able to pass the ball around.
If Hitech are going to win this game, they need to get more of their players involved.
X-Factor: Attaporn Lertmalaiporn
Hitech has plenty of wings to rotate around. Dasom, Jaisanook, Piroon and Lamb have occupied the majority of the minutes on the wing. Attaporn Lertmalaiporn has played sparingly here and there and he might have aged, but I think he still has a couple of big games left in him. Everyone can still remember his memorable season opening game last season and his big three point shot to seal the championship.
The former Local MVP can still contribute large and I feel like this is the game that he gets his shine.
Bold Prediction
There is certainly something magical about OCBC Arena, especially when it comes to playing against Hitech. In all of the past three games, Hitech has lost be an exact 3 points each game. That’s just weird.
And with that being said, I think the Slingers will take this game by 3 points.
Games Details
Thai TV Channel: N/A
Internet Live Stream: ASEAN Basketball League Youtube Channel or abl.mthai.com
Venue: OCBC Arena
Time: 5/2/2016 8:00 PM (GMT +8)
Feature Picture from Kuk Onvisa Thewphaingarm
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