Hong Weijian has cited the Singapore Slingers’ inexperience as the main cause of their defeat to Satria Muda in the ABL Playoffs.

By Vincent Lai

The Slingers fell to Satria Muda 86-76 in Game 3 of their first round semi-final series and Hong believed that his teams' loss was down to shooting and the little things.

"We needed to shoot the ball well to beat Satria Muda's zone defence, but we didn't do that," Hong told ESPNSTAR.com after the game. "We made some silly mistakes that cost us the game."

"I agree that the loss was, in part, down to inexperience. After all, the locals, like me, who don't have much exposure, this is the most prestigious, the most challenging competition I have ever played."

With the Slingers down nine points with less than two minutes to go, it was the guard's four-point run that cut the visitors' lead to five at 81-76. Hong sank a three-pointer with a hand in his face, and made one of two freethrows in Singapore's next possession.

"I was thinking of our last trip to the BritAma arena, I hit two three-pointers in the last thirty seconds of the game and won the contest," Hong said, referring to Singapore's 61-59 last-gasp win in the regular season.

"Coach [Arsego] was also hoping for that to happen as well. That's probably why he kept me in the game; to let me shoot those three-pointers."

"But this time I had someone shadowing me, as they knew that I was going to take those shots. So, I didn't get a chance to shoot much."

Though the ABL season may be over for Hong, affectionate known as 'Fly-boy' by the locals, he is already looking forward to his second season with the Slingers, talking about the improvements he has to make for the team to get better.

"I have to work on my focus and be calmer in the game, the reason being that whenever the defence jumps on me, I get very nervous and I tend to turn the ball over. So I have to have more composure, and be calmer on the ball," concluded the Singaporean swingman.