Slingers prepare for tough Game 2 on the road against Satria Muda

By Erwin Wong and Koh Yizhe/Red Sports.

The Singapore Slingers will travel to Jakarta on Tuesday for Game 2 of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) semi-final play-offs on the back of a resounding 87-68 victory over Satria Muda BritAma in the opening game yesterday, but will go there wary, cautious, and knowing that they have to bring their ´A' game once again in order to come out tops.

"It's not going to be easy. Satria Muda have shown that they are a resilient team, and no matter what happens in the previous game they will always come out strong," said backup centre Pathman Matialakan.

"They have home-court advantage, and the fans are going to be behind them. We got to keep ourselves calm and work on a few things, because playing at home and on the road is not the same. Coach will come out with a plan for us, and as players all we have to do is to execute."

Little went wrong for the Slingers in Game 1. They controlled the boards, stayed out of foul trouble, shot the ball well and were active on defence, while the Indonesian team were overwhelmed and their American imports, Alexander Hartman and Nakiea Miller, were visibly frustrated at the proceedings.

"I think we prepared really well. I thought we tried to have confidence, which I thought was good. The start was good. We understood that they would fight back, and that's what good teams will do in the finals," said Slingers head coach Frank Arsego, on how well things panned out for his charges.

"But we hung in there. We had a bit of a problem against the zone. We haven't play against much zone lately, so that was a bit of an adjustment."

He identified two key aspects of Game 2, which will be played on Wednesday, February 3. "Being able to defend on the road. We've worked extremely hard this year to understand what it takes to perform well on the road, and our 4-3 win-loss record is the best in the league. So we've learnt some good things."

He continued, "I think apart from the defensive side of things, is to be able to handle the emotional environment that we'll be in when you're playing away, in a big game. We had that when we played Brunei in the second-to-last game. It was full-on. But the boys responded beautifully. I think we've had some of that experience and I'm hoping that it'll help us when we get to Jakarta."

"But there's no question that we have to play our best game to get a win over there. We haven't really done that in our last two games there, but we'll be there giving it our best shot."

The Slingers eked out a 61-59 road win against Satria Muda on November 14 last year despite trailing by 10 with three minutes to play, but were well-beaten 67-58 a month later when they met again at the BritAma arena.

Then, Slingers top-scorer Michael LeBlanc had his worst game of the season, missing all ten of his shots and scoring a season-low six points. And he acknowledged that the team could not take a 1-0 series lead for granted.

"It will be tough in Indonesia. We just have to do the things that we do well. We are one of the few teams that have a winning record in the league and that's because we have mental toughness and cohesiveness. In the face of adversity, we don't give up and find a way to get things done."