Petronas caught in a whirlpool

29/04/1998

PETRONAS threw away a chance of reaching the semifinals of the Asian
Basketball Confederation (ABC) championship when they were hammered by a
seven-man China Hanwei 90-63 at Stadium Negara yesterday.
Hanwei, who came to KL with nine players, only had two reserves on the
bench as Zhoung Shen Sheng and Liang Da are down with injuries suffered
against South Korea's Hyundai Dynat on Monday. Hanwei won that match 83-
66.
Now Petronas, a Malaysian outfit, are drawn into a do-or-die mission
when they take Hyundai Dynat today.
"Five minutes into the match, I knew that there was no way that we could
beat China Hanwei," said Petronas coach Brian Lester.
"So I started resting the top players and the imports to prepare for our
match against Hyundai tomorrow (today)."
Hanwei coach Li Xin, the first woman to coach an ABC men's team, agrees
that Petronas will have a tough time making the semis.
"The Koreans are a more defensive team than us, so I think it would be
very difficult for Petronas if they play an open game like they did today
(yesterday)," said Lin Xin.
Petronas just could not get their act together in the first 10 minutes
after Hanwei, powered by imports Eric Wilson and Erick Dortck, opened up a
26-15 lead.
With five minutes left in the first half, Petronas' Justin Wimmer tried
to go baseline on the left but was cut off by Dortck who had an easy
breakway slam at the other end to leave Petronas down 40-20.
Chai Tze Kiong and Teh Choon Yean, who had a splendid outing against
Uzbekistan MHSK on Monday, were lost as the game became more aggressive.
With Wimmer seemingly giving his all, Petronas tried to narrow the gap
by shooting three which missed badly.
The first half score stood at 43-26.
When play resumed, Hanwei's Ma Jian and Gong Hai took over from their
imports and Petronas were caught committing cheap fouls and turnovers.
In an earlier match, China Regal of Hong Kong beat Toshiba Red Thunders
of Japan 75-64 for their third straight win. Yung Kam Wah topscored for
Regal with 25 points while Wayman Strickland scored 17 points.
Stephen Bardo scored 19 for Toshiba.
China Regal, the pre-tournament favourites, top Group A with three wins
and are already in the semis.
RESULTS: China Regal 75 Toshiba Red Thunders 64; Uzbekistan MHSK 89
PanAsia 77; Petronas 60 China Hanwei 93.
(END)