First 1 In The Win Column

The KL Dragons put on a good performance while hosting the Singapore Slingers at home this Saturday afternoon, mainly because they won the contest. The team’s back was against the wall having already lost 3 straight games since the start of the 2010/2011 season.

In a previous post I suggested the Dragons would continue to suffer defeat, unless they found a way to challenge opponents inside the paint both offensively and defensively. This message must have been telepathically conveyed from me to the KL Dragons’ head coach, Goh Cheng Huat, because tonight’s win was a direct result of acquiring Alex Hartman & Nakiea Miller. Both Hartman and Miller were absent from the Dragons’ rooster prior to today’s contest, but now that they are on the team presumably for the remainder of the season, ooh what a difference they make.

Hartman is a versatile scorer that can hit from beyond the arc, or drive the ball straight to the rim. He is likely to be a double figure scorer in most games, and he will help the Dragons’ cause by throwing in some assists, steals and rebounds.

Miller is more of an opportunistic scorer that skirts and bangs his way to the basket. He sinks the eight-ball the hard way. But more importantly, Miller is an outstanding rebounder and shot blocker. When he wasn’t able to block the shots of the Slingers, he was forcing their penetrating dribblers to make poor interior passes, or alter their shot selections.

Hartman & Miller combined for 44 points out of a total of 81 points, which represents 54% of the offense in the Dragons’ first win this season. Individually, Hartman finished the game with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Miller recorded a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. In addition he also had 6 blocked shots and 2 steals.

Guganeswaran Batumalai came off the bench strong and dropped in 12 points, while the rest of the Dragons combined for 25 points.

All and all it was a good outing for the Dragons, who hope to burn it up again in their next contest against the Brunei Barracudas next Saturday, 30 October at the MABA Stadium, K. Lumpur (game time 4:00 P.M.)