ABL 2019: Post-Game Analysis – Fubon Braves VS KL DRAGONS
ABL: KLD 91 – 90 Fubon Braves post game analysis
A great start to our new season as we defeat the Taipei Fubon Braves 91-90 on the road!
Amir Bell gave us a positive start with back to back baskets to give us an early lead which we held to the midway point of the first quarter before the Braves went on a 9-0 run to take the lead.
7 ft 5 behemoth, Sim Bhullar was instrumental to this run as we found no answer to match his size. Bhullar closed out the first quarter with a thunderous dunk to give the Braves a 27-20 advantage.
Chang Po-Wei pushed the lead to 11 for the Braves early in the second quarter as they threatened to take control of the game. However, our team showed immense heart for the fightback as we clawed our way to eventually regained the lead thanks to an Amir Bell fast break layup late in the quarter.
Unfortunately for us, OJ Mayo showed his mettle by completing a three point play to regain the lead for the Braves going into the half. The score at the half was 49-48 in favour of the home team.
Chin Cheng Wah’s three pointer opened our scoring for the third quarter and inspired us to a strong quarter as we regained the lead off a Will Artino basket. A stellar showing both on offense and defense in the third saw us take the 75-68 lead going into the final quarter.
The Braves started the fourth quarter on fire with OJ Mayo sparking a 7-0 run to quickly tie the game. Off the timeout, a timely Will Artino three pointer gave us a bit of breathing space.
We managed to keep the Braves at bay for most of the fourth and a big three pointer from Cade Davis gave us a seven point lead with less than two minutes to go.
It proved tough to put the Braves away as a jumper from OJ Mayo and a three point play from Lin Chih-Chieh made it only a two point game with 31 seconds remaining.
Coming out of our final timeout of the game, we kept our composure and our veteran forward Cade Davis sealed the game for us with the tip in basket off the miss from Amir Bell.
Charles Garcia’s final three pointer wasn’t enough for the Braves as held firm for the 91-90 win over the team labeled by many as the early season favorites for the championship.
Our top performer for the game was Will Artino with 25 points, 20 rebounds and 3 blocks. Cade Davis made his impact felt with 23 points (5 three pointers) and 6 assists while our point guard Amir Bell contributed 21 points and 9 assists.
Nicholas Tem Zhen Jie also had a fine ABL debut with 9 points.
After the game, Head Coach Jamie Pearlman said, “We’re extremely happy to get the win. I’m really happy with our team culture today. We showed resilience to continue to fight when we were down. Our guys made all the little effort plays to keep things going for us all game. At the end of the day, it was the togetherness of our group that got us over the finish line at the end of the day.”
The team will next face Mono Vampire Basketball Club on the road on the 28th of November (7.00 PM Malaysian time) at Stadium 29, Nonthaburi, Thailand.
Mono Vampire made an impactful new signing in Ryan Watkins, one of last season’s stand out centers with the Macau Black Bears. Their other new signing was 30 year old veteran American guard, Preston Knowles who spent eight years playing across Europe.
Returning to the line up as well are their trio of dangerous Thai-Americans, Tyler Lamb, Moses Morgan and our former player, Freddie Goldstein. All three will be playing their fifth ABL season and together with Mono’s resident marquee import, Mike Singletary, Mono Vampire will prove to be a very dangerous team to face.
Fans can catch the game live on ASEAN Basketball League’s YouTube and Facebook page with repeats on Astro Arena.
