S’pore’s cagers aim for SEA Games gold in 2015

SINGAPORE — Fresh off their bronze medal victory at last December’s South-east Asian Games in Myanmar, the Republic’s basketballers are gunning for gold in 2015, when the games will be held in Singapore.

The Basketball Association of Singapore (BAS) has outlined its game plan for the next 18 months, as the Republic’s cagers attempt to usurp reigning champions and regional giant the Philippines in their bid for the nation’s first SEA Games gold in basketball.

“We did extremely well last year — we expected to win the bronze and the team achieved it,” said BAS President David Ong on the sidelines of the SEA Games appreciation dinner at Roland Restaurant on Saturday.

“They have brought enthusiasm and interest in basketball back to Singapore. We have to make sure our national players play in enough high-level tournaments consistently and have lined up a busy schedule for the year.

“We have a young team with an average height of 1.84m. We need to look at their training programme and make them stronger physically and mentally.”

National captain Desmond Oh is all geared up for the task. “We want to get the gold ... it will be very difficult but, if we work hard, we will get there,” he said.

“Right now, we need more exposure against professional teams and training tours in countries such as the Philippines and China. We can match our South-east Asian rivals in skills, but we need to strengthen our defence and work on rebounds.”

The 2014 season will include the inaugural Men’s Invitational tournament next month, which will involve three local and two foreign clubs from Malaysia and Thailand, followed by the SEABA Stankovic Cup in May to earn qualification for the FIBA Asia Cup in July.

Besides overseas training tours, Ong said the BAS could look into recruiting foreign sports talent from the ASEAN Basketball League’s Singapore Slingers franchise.

He declined to reveal names, but said: “Some of the players are considering playing for Singapore. We welcome it and are open to it if we have a good playmaker or players who can contribute to the team.”

All 12 cagers from the SEA Games team also received an early Chinese New Year red packet of S$1,000 each from former BAS Vice-President Pang Chin Keong as a bonus for their SEA Games feat.

Pang also pledged to give each player a minimum of S$5,000 each if the team wins the gold medal in 2015. LOW LIN FHOONG