Even after a poor start, Mono Vampire confident that they can still rally late in the elimination round and get a spot in the ABL playoffs. It’s a much different path that they’ll have to travel as they were safely in the middle of the pack when they made a deep run last season, finishing a win short of winning the ABL championship.
With Mono Vampire chasing the Westports Malaysia Dragons for the eighth spot and the BTN CLS Knights Indonesia trying to hang on to the sixth spot, it’s an important game between the two squads especially this late in the elimination round.
BTN CLS has already come up with their big run to give them a comfortable spot and Mono Vampire is hoping for a similar streak to inch them closer to their goals.
The departure of main point guard Jason Brickman opened the door for Mono Vampire to acquire Romeo Travis and this also coincided with the arrival of Tyler Lamb, who’s playing as a local for the first time.
Travis is a leader on the floor as he always makes the correct plays even if it means giving up a makeable shot as long as a better one is available for his teammates. After winning a championship in the PBA, Travis flew back to Asia knowing what to expect from the continent’s brand of basketball.
Lamb has also been a big reason for their upswing as his teammates now know that they can have another option outside their two imports to rely upon for scoring or playmaking. Lamb has always been an impressive shooter and a tenacious defender and that’s what exactly what Mono Vampire needs right now.
The Thai squad has won two straight games and their last one was against a tough foe in the Singapore Slingers. Mono Vampire dictated the tempo for much of the game but fizzled out in the end game to allow the Slingers to sneak their way back. However, Mono Vampire was able to hang on to take home the victory.
The BTN CLS Knights Indonesia are also coming off a game against Singapore but their result was very different. The Knights went to the OCBC Arena carrying a seven-game winning streak but flew out only with another loss to their tally. Singapore prepared really well for the fiery offense of the Knights and it showed in their game.
Wong Wei Long was the biggest victim of his former’s teams defense as he struggled all game long with his shooting. This should only help the former ABL MVP to recover and map out a thorough plan on how he can bounce back from the poor performance.
The Knights will also rely on Douglas Herring to help them out against Mono Vampire as they’ll need his defense to be locked in against Freddie Lish or even Lamb.
Both teams will also be hoping to get steady contributions from Mike Singletary and Malcolm White for Mono Vampire and Maxie Esho and Daryl Watkins for the Knights.
