(ABL) KL Dragons 88 - Thailand Tigers 69 / (Sea Game Laos 09) Malaysia 2 - Thailand 1

What a great week for Malaysian sports indeed !!

The atmosphere was electrifying in the MABA stadium Aka the KL Dragons Den. It was the Dragons against the Thailand Tigers, fourth home game of the inaugural  Asean Basketball League (ABL). Malaysian football team had defeated the defending champion, Thailand 2-1, some two days ago in Laos Sea Games 2009. I was hoping the same tonight in the Dragons Den. Thailand has always been a dominant force in sports of Asean region.

It was great to witness that the Malaysian basketball has finally break the chinese dominant cycle. Basketball is no longer a one race sports any more. I noticed a lot of non-chinese join in to watch the match, to shout for the team. It was brilliant to see the whole Malaysia under one roof and with only one goal. This is the true spirit of 1 Malaysia.

Chen Li Wei, Dragons Center/Forward doing the interview during pre match. I'm amazed with the dedication and effort that has been drawn into the marketing of the game itself. Brilliant pre match event, which almost like a carnival. We have rappers performance, KL drum squad, the not so sexy cheerleaders, our national anthem by Fly FM DJ, Hunny Madu plus not forgetting our KL Dragons Fans Club which is a huge success. It maybe commercialize. But that is the trend of current sports industry. I will say the more commercialize your are, the more attention you get.  Well planned marketing bring us almost 2000 full house fans each home games. The club merchandises are selling hot too. Those are the phenomena that our Malaysia football "professional" league can only dream of. I sincerely hope for many years to come with the KL Dragons & Asean Basketball League.

 

This was my second attendance out of the four home matches. The previous one was against the pinoy. Which i reckoned the Dragons played brilliantly but their effort does not paid off. They lost to the Philippines Patriots by slight margin. I prayed for a return tonight.

 

The KL Dragons fielded Jamal Brown, Kok Way Tek, Chai Chze Hian, Chris Kuete, B. Guganeswaran as the starting five.

 

I'm happy to see coach Goh playing Chze Hian, a fellow Sarawakian from a basketball family in Kuching. He was not getting even a second during the last home game against the Philippines. Tonight, he contributed points & assists. He has done his part well against the Tigers.

 

The dragons do not have the best start as usual. The Tigers were leading 7 - 0. Then, Jamal Brown started to hit in jump shot and penetrating the paint. Conquering both offensive & defensive rebound. The dragons managed to move on the right track. When non-shooter like Li Wei is hitting three-pointer, you know that tonight will be a good night for the team & the fans. The Dragons show massive confidence through the court. We continue our lead with no turning back. 88 - 69 was the final score. A margin of nearly 20 points. Keep it up, KL Dragons. We need to start hitting back to back wins.

 

And my pick on man of the match.  I reckoned Chris Kuete yet again. This dude was showing some sick moves as usual. He should be leading the team scoring chart too. Decent.

 

Last but not least, kudos to our Malaysian Football team. This is a long awaited moment. Lets do the nation proud by winning the semifinal against Laos. Best of  luck.

Malaysia last won the football gold medal in the biennial SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1989.