Desmond set for another hurrah

A turbulent season in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) saw the Singapore Slingers crash out of the first round of the play-offs after mustering a fifth-placed finish in the regular season, but the side are determined to rebound from last season's disappointment.

It was the first time in three years that the Singapore side had missed out on the finals of the play-offs, but the bitterness of their journey being cut short early has been replaced with a renewed motivation to prove themselves as worthy contenders for the championship once again.

That was enough to convince Desmond Oh, who has played in all nine seasons of the ABL, to delay his retirement from the sport.

With age and injuries catching up, the 32-year-old guard contemplated wrapping up his days as an athlete at the end of last season, but finishing with a flourish is equally important to the Singaporean.

He said: "My body condition is not that good. I've been through injuries on both knees, but I still love the team, that's why I'm staying on.

"Last year, we did not end where we wanted to and I wanted to end on a high note."

Also ready to leave last season's woes behind and get into the swing of things is Xavier Alexander.

The 29-year-old feels that while the team had a decent season overall, a lack of intensity was what scuppered the side's chances of progressing further.

But the swingman believes things are looking up in the Slingers' camp since training for the upcoming season started two weeks ago.

"It's not a good feeling to lose," said Alexander.

“I’ve been through injuries on both knees, but I still love the team, that’s why I’m staying on.” Desmond Oh, who has played in all nine seasons of the ABL, on why he is delaying his retirement.

"We're on track and building from where we left off the last couple of years.

"It feels like one of the harder working teams since I've been here, so it's a great working environment.

"Everyone's competing every day and we're looking good."

In addition to retaining the services of the American, the Singapore side have also secured their other two world imports: forward John Fields and swing-man Jerran Young.

They will replace American Christien Charles and Canadian-Filipino AJ Mandani.

Slingers coach Neo Beng Siang is confident that the new signings will help to bolster the team on both sides of the court.

He said: "John runs the ball pretty well and he is aggressive under the basket, so it's a good line-up for us.

"Jerran can come out and score and plays good defence. This is what we've been looking for these last couple of years.

"We still are a good defensive team in the ABL and we want to keep on doing that. But we want to give ourselves scoring power too."

Joining the Slingers in training this year is also a developmental squad of five players, who will not feature in the league, but Neo hopes to groom them for the future.

Their inclusion has also enabled more team practices, an improvement from last season when the Slingers were occasionally short of numbers as some players could not attend every training due to other commitments like work.

Oh hopes the team will gel better with the new arrangement and curb the problems that they faced in that aspect last season.

Competition is set to intensify with the entry of an unprecedented 10th team, Zhuhai Wolf Warriors, to the league, but it is a change that Neo welcomes.

He said: "The standard is higher but we definitely are looking forward to challenging every one of them. I also hope that we are one of the contenders for the championship."

• The Slingers open their new season against Taiwan's Formosa Dreamers at OCBC Arena on Nov 18. Tickets on sale at www.apactix.com from Oct 20.