Frank Arsego was disappointed not to have made the ABL finals, but the Slingers coach could take consolation from his players' growth.

By Vincent Lai

The Singapore Slingers were eliminated from the ASEAN Basketball League Playoffs by Satria Muda BritAma, losing Game 3 86-76 in their first round semi-final series.

"I think we could not sustain the high level required throughout the whole game," Arsego told ESPNSTAR.com after the game. "There were time when we created some good chances for ourselves, but we just couldn't finish, and they were able to come down and make some difficult shots."

Arsego conceded that the match was lost in the final quarter of the game, after the Slingers were tied 62-62 with Satria Muda, following three quarters of intense playoff basketball action.

"In the last quarter when we needed to be keen and sharp, we had far too many turnovers," the Slingers coach added. "As the pressure builds in these sort of games, you have to make good decisions, and I think we let ourselves down a little in that area near the end of the game."

"We probably didn't make the right decisions enough to get the ball up on the rim."

The Slingers coach did take consolation from a good inaugural ABL season in which the Slingers won ten of their 15 league matches during the regular season.

"I'm very proud of the boys," Arsego said of his players. "For this first season, we've finished second [in the regular season]."

"We didn't get the chance to maximise the homecourt, but I really feel in some way that we've brought basketball back to Singapore, and that's quite an achievement in itself."

"The boys should be commended on their total commitment in trying to be successful."

"If I walk away and sit down, I will still feel that we're the team that can push the Patriots."

Coach Frank did highlight the team's needs for the Slingers second season, and it did centre around the "lack of experience" cited by ABL commentator Chuck Shriner.

"At the end of the day, we do look for people to step up, be confident; and in this environment, for many of our young players, it's going to be one of those learning experiences that we can take away from this season."

"With more hard work and more improvement, we hope that the team can bring more confidence to games," concluded Arsego.