KL Dragons: Just Short of a Win

I just returned from MABA Stadium where I watched the KL Dragons suffer a season ending loss to the top seeded Philippine Patriots in the ABL (ASEAN Basketball League). Although the Dragons have been effectively eliminated from the playoffs, they scored a moral victory and secured the hearts of basketball fans in KL. Only four days prior to tonight’s contest the Patriots ran the Dragons off the court with a 30-point victory in the Philippines.

This evening in front of a sellout home crowd, a pumped up and gutsy Dragon’s team lost by just 5 points. In fact the Dragons lead the Patriots for most of the game, and only lost their advantage late inside of the fourth period.

Chris Kuete had a standout performance finishing the game with a double-double (20 points and 10 rebounds). While Jamal Brown did an excellent job of defending against the Patriot’s big man and leading scorer, Jason Dixon, until Jamal fouled out of the game with about 2 minutes left in the fourth period.

The Dragons took a 10-point lead going into half time. But it should have been by a lot more, if not for a number of erred passes and ill advised shots taken near the end of the second period. However, the Dragons maintained the lead until about the 3:23 mark in the fourth period. That’s when the wheels fell off the wagon. The Dragon’s inexperience as a first year team including their coaching staff showed by their inability to effectively manage the clock and run a 2-minute drill to be able to close-out the game with a win. It’s the primary reason why the Dragon’s lead over the Patriots wasn’t greater at half time, and why they lost the lead completely and never gained it back in the final period.

With that said, Congratulations to the KL Dragons for an exciting finish to their 2009/2010 debut season. I look forward to seeing what Dragon’s coach, Goh Chen Huat, has in store for fans, myself included, next season.

Shooting the breeze with Jamal Brown after the game.