Thailand, Indonesia stay undefeated leading up to clash

NONTHABURI (FIBA Asia Cup 2021 SEABA Pre-Qualifier) - The home crowd got their money’s worth again as Thailand outdueled Malaysia in a close game as the marquee match up of Day Three of the FIBA Asia 2021 Pre-Qualifiers. Singapore rebounded with a win over Brunei Darussalam, while Indonesia put up the highest scoring output against Cambodia in their third straight win.

 Coach Hsu didn’t even field Delvin Goh into the game to save him for their big match against Malaysia, but it didn’t matteras they rolled on to a 96-40 win.

 Singapore got things going quickly, jumping out to a 19-0 run to start the game and never looked back. Larry Liew had missed action in his first two games and was substituted into this game, finishing with an all-around 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists. Singapore dominated the offensive boards, grabbing 24 in total opposed to Brunei’s 20 defensive rebounds. This resulted in 21 second chance points, most of them belonging to birthday boy Lavin Raj (who just turned 18) ending up with 17 points and 8 offensive rebounds.

 Brunei still struggled in this game, shooting only 29.5% from the field. However, Coach Lim Boon Tek knows this is a process and also took the opportunity to get some of his younger players playing minutes late in the fourth quarter. Those minutes might not have been productive for this game in particular, but it could be the start of development towards the brighter future for Brunei basketball.

 Once again, it wasn’t an easy task for Thailand to take down their opposition but they eventually came through with poise towards the end of the game. They enjoyed a 69-61 advantage, making this their third straight victory.

 Tyler Lamb scorched hot immediately in the first quarter with 12 points to start the game, giving Thailand a 27-14 lead. Chanatip Jakrawan also maintained his defensive dominance from the previous game, swatting away two shots in the opening period. The Thais shot 56.3% from the floor in that quarter and it seemed like they were ready to leave their opponent in the dust.

 Malaysia however had different plans and kept chipping away to come back into the game. They took a leaf out of the books of Singapore’s defensive schemes from the previous game and started to settle in the zone, causing Thailand’s offense to slow down. Thailand were held scoreless for the first 6 minutes of the second quarter, resulting in a 13-0 run by Malaysia to tie the game up.

 The story of the game for Thailand was Chanatip Jakrawan, who finished with a superb 22 points (9-11 FG), 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 steals. He broke the second quarter slump and scored all of Thailand’s 6 points to keep them from losing rhythm. Thailand kept going to Jakrawan and their inside players to build up the lead once again before going away with the win. Jakrawan pretty much sealed the deal for Thailand with two monsterous dunks in the second half to swing the momentum entirely to the home team.

 Malaysia did a good job pressuring on defense, forcing 21 turnovers from Thailand, but stuggled to keep the ball in their hands themselves. Previous injuries to Teo Kok Hou and Heng Yee Tong left Coach Brian Lester with Ong Wei Yong securing most of the point guard minutes. Wei Yong did well enough to lead the change, but his 7 turnovers (and the 25 turnovers of the team in total) stopped Malaysia from gaining much traction. Foul trouble also haunted Malaysia yet again, with both Ivan Yeo and Wong Yi Hou fouling out of the game and Thailand going to the line for 29 free throw attempts.

 Coach Douglas Marty has been generous with his minutes so far in this tournament and though it has disrupted the rhythm of the players on the floor at some times, it should benefit him in the future when they play in games that requires a deep rotation.

 Indonesia flexed their muscles and made it rain from downtown, connecting on a tournament-high 24 three-pointers for a 137-36 win over Cambodia.

 The 137 points and 101-point differential was also the highest record so far in this competition.

 Indonesia were unforgiving to the Cambodia defense, quickly moving the ball up the court and around the perimeter for uncontested shot after uncontested shot. Andakara Prastawa broke the tournament record of 7 threes which he set himself the day before with an unreal 10 triples in this game, as well as setting the single-game scoring high of 31 points.

 In another losing effort from Cambodia, Dominic Dar put in his best effort to keep the team going. He clocked in another complete 40-minute game while posting 15 points and 7 rebounds.

 The wins by Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia in Day Three locks them up for the 4 qualifying slots. Malaysia needs one more win to clinch their own spot, getting their chance tomorrow against rivals Singapore in the first game of the day at 1:00 PM. Brunei Darussalam and Cambodia needs back-to-back wins in their final two games to overtake the 4^th seed, which means only one team can keep their hopes alive when the two teams clash in the final game of Day Four at 6:15 PM.

 The Marquee match up in tomorrow’s game will be between the two undefeated squads, Indonesia and Thailand who play at 3:30 PM.

FIBA