"Kuala Lumpur will be the most difficult stage of Saigon Heat at ABL Invitational 2023"
After a 2-week Lunar New Year break, the Southeast Asian Professional Basketball League will officially return this weekend. Taking place from February 3 to the end of February 8, will be stage 3 of ABL Invitational 2023, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The first two stages (held in Singapore and Indonesia) were dramatic and extremely attractive. The representative of Vietnam, Saigon Heat Club, has 6 wins after 8 matches, temporarily ranked 3rd in the rankings.
The teams ranked above “Mr. 30” are Hong Kong Eastern and NS Matrix Deers Malaysia respectively, both with the same 6-2 record as Saigon Heat but better in sub-stats.
At stage 3 of ABL Invitational 2023, Heat will have 3 matches. Notably, two of them will be a rematch with Hong Kong Eastern and NS Matrix Deers Malaysia.
The other match is also the first match in the leg between the representative of Vietnam and the Bangkok Tigers. Although the Thai team is at the bottom of the table, this is not an easy opponent to play because they have just had a series of important changes.
The Cooly Bangkok Tigers changed their head coach at the end of the second stage of the ABL Invitational 2023. And since the new captain, they have played very differently.
Talking about the difficult stage ahead, coach Matt Van Pelt said: “In my opinion, this will be the most difficult stage of Saigon Heat at ABL this year. We have three matches against three strong opponents, we cannot take any of them lightly."
“The start of the race was against the Cooly Bangkok Tigers. Although this team has not had a good record through the first two stages, they have just changed their generals and added some new foreign players.
Particularly, the new head coach has helped them compete with more blood and unity than in the first phase, which will certainly make it difficult for all opponents, not to mention the foreign soldiers who have just arrived.
Although I have won against this representative of Bangkok in the previous stage, I think this will still be a difficult match, "said the captain of Saigon Heat about the opponent his team had defeated with a score of 89-73 in the tournament. leg 2.
The confrontation with Hong Kong Eastern and NS Matrix will be two promising rematches full of difficulties as well as many graces of "Mr. 30". They once won NS Matrix by 4 points in stage 1, then lost. Hong Kong Eastern 8 points (score 82-89) in stage 2.
Matt Van Pelt said both are strong opponents. However, he emphasized on NS Matrix when representing Malaysia having a series of 6 consecutive victories.
"NS Matrix is already the top team in the tournament, they have won 6 games in a row and now have a quality foreign defender", the captain of Saigon Heat shared.
“They were already very strong without this foreign player, now they are expected to become even more uncomfortable with the addition of playing at home. This will be a difficult problem for us in this stage.”
It is known that the new foreigner of NS Matrix - Isaiah Williams - is a fast defender with the ability to throw 3 points very well. Saigon Heat also has a counterweight, Evan Gilyard, promising an attractive competition at MABA Stadium, Kuala Lumpur.
“This will be a pivotal match and means a lot to us. All three games promise to be difficult, but Saigon Heat will not be afraid to take on the challenge. My players and I are ready with the goal of winning every game,” coach Matt Van Pelt concluded.
Stage 3 of ABL Invitational 2023 will take place from February 3 to the end of February 8. After that, the tournament will take a break for 3 days before stage 4 is held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
