NONTHABURI ( FIBA Asia Cup 2021 SEABA Pre-Qualifier) - It’s the Final Day of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 SEABA Pre-Qualifiers and there’s still plenty more left to go down in the remaining three games!

There is not a lot of action left, so make sure to not miss a minute of it!

Singapore vs Indonesia 

We start off with the game of the day between Singapore and Indonesia. Both teams were able to collect important victories in the previous day and will look to close out their campaigns with a resounding win.

Singapore did something neither Thailand nor Indonesia could do which was tame Malaysia in the second half, something that Coach Fictor Roring of Indonesia surely has to keep his focus on. Singapore runs a well-oiled offense that rarely creates mistakes (10.5 turnovers per game, least in tournament) so any defense playing against them must be patient. Their downfall so far has been their inability to be a consistent threat from long range (27.6%), though the recent forms of Leon Kwek and Toh Qin Huang looks promising.

Though their record has been perfect, Indonesia have not been as flawless as their record suggests. They were only able to sneak away with a one-point win over Thailand and a two-point win over Malaysia. Foul trouble has kept Coach Roring on the tip of his toes with his rotations and the flow of offense during the game certainly has room for improvement. This all just makes Indonesia an even bigger threat for Singapore. Though Malaysia and Thailand were able to attack them at their weakest links… they were still unable to come away with a win. Indonesia has just been too composed and calm in the final minutes, specifically Xaverius Prawiro. Singapore has to come into this match realizing that they have to pounce at any opportunity to break the lead open because if the game stays close towards the end, Indonesia won’t break.

Key Matchup: If the game ends up going down to the wire, a duel between two cold-blooded guards, Wong Wei Long and Xaverius Prawiro, should be a wonderful showdown.

Thailand vs Cambodia

Thailand’s last game as host of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 SEABA Pre-Qualifiers will be up against Cambodia, an opponent who has been winless so far.

 There shouldn’t be much that Cambodia will be able to do against a team that is hungry to finish the tournament on a high note after a heartbreaking loss. Coach Douglas Marty will surely be more generous with minutes in this game, especially to his seldom used bench players like Tawatchai Suktub or Chatpol Cheungyampim. That should be more than enough to run away with the win against Cambodia.

 Cambodia’s run has been a good look into the future at where they are headed towards in development. The young players play with hustle and display much effort, though it most likely will not be enough in this game in particular. They can hold their heads high and finish off their final game here showing what they can do in order to figure out what they need to work out on.

 Key Matchup: As always, Dominic Dar, will lead the way for Cambodia’s offense and if he hasn’t spent a minute on the bench so far, don’t expect him to sit in the final game. He’ll have plenty of looks at playing against Thailand’s young prospect, Toby Tai Sathitsampun, which might be a matchup to look at.

 The remaining qualifying slot is on the line in this game between Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, so don’t expect a lack of effort from either team. 

Brunei already showcased that they have trouble keeping up with a young team like Cambodia. Malaysia is also running on young legs and are much more skilled, so this might turn into a bloodbath quickly should Malaysia decide to burst out of the gates with their usual uptempo style.

Malaysia still have their Achilles heel of a shaky guard rotation and committing turnovers, so Brunei might look at this angle in particular to take advantage of. However, it’s been a frustrating run for Ong Wei Yong in his expanded minutes at the guard spot so he should be looking to crank it up a level in this game to prove a point.

Key Matchup: Benjamin Sim and Kuek Tian Yuan are the leaders of these two teams. As the last game of the tournament, it should be a nice setting to see how both of them lead their teams with a final qualifying spot at stake.

FIBA