Reece eyes national hopefuls

National coach pleased with talent pool

THE national basketball team have probably found the missing pieces to the puzzle.

The curtains came down on the Aewon Cup 2011 on Saturday night after Le doux Patisserie/Sia N Tang Music defeated Chevrolet Cruze 80-73 in the final at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

Le doux Patisserie/Sia N Tang Music, who are made up mostly of national cagers, went eight for eight in the tournament and eventually won each game by an average margin of almost 30 points in the round-robin stage.

Being such a dominant force in the competition, it was a different affair in the final having to face a 37-40 deficit at halftime but managed to turn things around within a minute in the third quarter with a 10-0 run that settled the tie.

However, the main aim of the tournament was to select players for the upcoming Borneo City Cup to be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah in August.

National basketball coach Kevin Reece was on hand to watch most of the games at the two-week tournament and he felt that there is plenty of talent.

"We're looking for at least three more players from other teams to go with the core members of the squad," said Reece in an interview with The Brunei Times after the final.

"I'm pleased with the production from the under-21 scheme players in the fourth placed team (Lian Fu Restaurant). They have really done a good job," he added.

Reece also mentioned that he is eyeing maybe one or two more players from the runners-up of the competition and also possibly from other teams.

"They can help us and hopefully they will be able to make it to training once selected. It will mean a lot as we will need to get them orientated into the system as soon as possible since the Borneo Cup will be quite soon," said Reece.

"Overall there is some talent out there but is still undernourished. They are quite young with some aged between 16-18 years old only. They should be groomed for the next two to three years as they are the future," added the Los Angeles native.

Reece also gave praise to the national cagers for showing character despite falling behind early after a sluggish start in the final.

"From the final we could see that it was the other young players that stepped up that help in the victory. (Soon Kian) Leong (pic), (Foo Gwen) Tong and (Ching Wei) Ming all contributed to that win," said the American.

"I'll also have to give credit to Max(im Yap) for he did a great job coaching the players. I had little say in coaching the players for the tournament. I only gave suggestions and the rest was up to him on how to put out the players I'm happy for him and hopefully he will continue to do so in doing a great job," concluded the 50-year-old.

The Brunei Times