RP Patriots Face Acid Test vs Slingers

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Patriots get their first acid test of the season when they take on the Singapore Slingers this Saturday as the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League Season 2 resumes at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Eager to play better than their previous encounter, the squad co-owned by Harbour Centre's Mikee Romero and Tony Boy Cojuangco goes for win No. 2 against the fancied Slingers at 8 p.m.

Both squads posted slim victories over separate rivals to kick off their campaign in the second season of this regional league that has brought in six nations from Southeast Asia.

The Patriots overcame the stubborn Brunei Barracudas, 71-62, on Sunday while the Slingers edged past Satria Muda BritAma of Indonesia, 94-93, at home on the same day.

In a game where coach Louie Alas admits to be an ugly win, the Patriots overcame a sluggish defense by playing well offensively to defeat the Barracudas.

After enduring Brunei's reinforcements Chris Garnett and Chris Commons, they will face the daunting task of shutting down Singapore's Kyle Jeffers and Marcus Skinner.

“Our game against the Slingers will be our acid test defensively since they have two imports who are very tricky in the shaded lane. They are also good from the perimeter so this will a big challenge to us,” said Alas.

Anthony Johnson, who made 24 points and 12 rebounds, is expected to provide another scoring spark for the team but the team is banking on 6-foot-11 center Donald Little to add a little aggressiveness to his game. He only had 11 points and eight boards in his debut.

“Little did OK in our first game but he has to be more aggressive if we have to win this game,” said Romero. “We have to play with more passion.”

Jeffers, a holdover from last season's squad, and Skinner had 19 points each while grabbing 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively, for the Slingers in beating BritAma in the rematch of last year's semifinals.

Alas is also banking on his locals led by Junjun Cabatu, Erwin Sta. Maria, Warren Ybañez and Chito Jaime to shut down the rest of the Singapore squads that will be also led by Filipinos Al Vergara and Leo Avenido.

“They have to help each other well inside, so communication is also important,” added Alas who is expected to task veteran JP Alcaraz and Egay Billiones to man Avenido in the hope of limiting his production.

Avenido, signed by the team after playing last season in Brunei, led Singapore with 20 points on five triples while Vergara, a member of the squad for the last two seasons, produced 17 markers.

Jonas Terrado, Manila Bulletin