Malaysia had a good start in the 2nd round by beating UAE 111-93. The UAE coach had instructed their team to play R&G with 3-2 Defensive option. Malaysia anticipated the contest by retaining the previous tactics against the Koreans by playing the safe Push The Ball/ Man To Man option.
Adapting to the coach's orders of playing outside attacking game, the emirates tried to bombard our defensive line with plenty of long range shots, but their wingmen did not do too well from the field, especially their star SG, Hadad who only managed a field goal ratio of 8/27, but still topped the billing as their best scorer with 20 points, with a perfect FT percentage of 4/4.
Their poor shooting output was mainly due to some good defensive display by our guards, especially Samsul who was our best player in the 1st half, with 13 points, 4 assists and 2 blocks, albeit a horror display from the FT line (1/4). Having to withstand the UAE's solid external wall, our main SG, Kwu, suffered the most in the 1st half, by scoring nil from the field, with only 3 assists to show for. He, however, did score 1 consolation point from the line. Another better performer for Malaysia was the evergreen PF, Ithnin, who scored 9 points and caught 9 rebounds.
There were a lot of fouls committed by both teams in the first 2 quarters, with Malaysia's first choice Centre, Halim, accumulated 3 fouls in less than 10 minutes of play. Nasty player, he is. Our back-up Centre, Mustaffa, wasted no time to replace him and showed the coach what he is capable of. The game became so rough until our sub PG, Saleh, who only entered the pitch for a minute or so, was badly injured by the opposite number and had to be carried off with a stretcher.
All the Malaysian players were so concerned because they knew he is one of our top-earners in the country, and we can't afford to lose him now with so many important matches to go. Fortunately for us, the team doctor had issued a clearance during the half-time break, that the injury was not too serious, but he advised that Saleh should no longer play a part in the remaining game. Reserve PG, Zhou, was seen smiling cheekily in the corner of the dressing room, knowing that he would at last have a chance to play some minutes in the 2nd half.
In the 3rd Quarter, Halim again picked up another foul in just 3 minutes of play, and the coach took no risk and subbed him out with Mustaffa. The Malaysian picked up steam in the 2nd half and did brilliantly to stretch the lead to 15 points at the end of the 3rd. In the 4th quarter, the main starters were withdrawn from the game and the back-ups got the chance they have been waiting for. The plan was to slow the game down with maximum ball possession and to try the basket before the shot-clock. It worked well, and Malaysia came home with a comfortable score line in the end, although back-up SG, Farid sprained his ankle in the last minute, and had to be replaced by Feriza.
For subs, worth mentioning was PF Feriza, who scored 10 points in 13 minutes of play and Shawal (SG converted to SF), also contributed in the match with 6 assists and 7 points. Supersub centre, Mustaffa, scored 16 points with 8 rebounds - a pretty decent effort.
Best players for UAE was Hadad with 20 points and PF Hasan doing a double-double, 19 points with 17 rebounds.
Best players for Malaysia was ex-MVP, Ithnin, who also contributed a DD, 19 points with 14 rebounds, as well as Samsul for picking up 9 assists and 16 points. Top scorer for Malaysia was foreign-based Zailizam who notched 20 points.
Kwu cried like a baby as he was so ashamed of himself after the game where he only scored 5 points with 4 assists and 3 steals. He muttered that he had not scored under ten points in a game before, and this was the lowest point of his career. However, he promised to bounce back in the next game, by stating, "I'll be back." with a strange Russian accent.
That's all from the NT Update this time.
Next is Nippon
Last edited by Ahmoi at 9/1/2010 2:15:16 PM