Taiwan’s Formosa Dreamers have to do better and they have a long way to go, head coach Hsu Hao-cheng said after the team slumped to their sixth straight loss, defeated 99-79 by Hong Kong Eastern in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) on Thursday.
The Dreamers are rooted firmly at the bottom of the league of nine teams after round seven, with only one win this season.
Starting forward Wu Sung-wei had an outstanding performance, making all his goal attempts to score 15 points.
Wu led the charge with US imports Lenny Daniel and Ronnie Aguilar, who both finished the game with a double-double.
Daniel scored 19 points with 11 rebounds, while Aguilar netted 14 points with 16 rebounds.
However, they were no match for Eastern’s triple-threat frontline of Christian Standhardinger, who plays on the Philippine national squad, and US players Tyler Lamb and Marcus Elliot.
The trio scored 69 of their team’s 99 points, condemning the Dreamers to extend their losing streak.
“Hong Kong Eastern is the best in the league right now. They battled us in offense and defense. We lost the match because of turnovers in the third quarter, but kept it close in the first half,” Hsu said.
“We are making progress and the players are learning more each game, but it is not enough and we have to do better. Our team still has a long way to go,” he added.
The Dreamers traveled to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday last week to take on the Westports Malaysia Dragons.
It was a home victory for the Dragons, with an 84-74 win over the visitors.
In round-five action, the Dreamers hosted Thailand’s Mono Vampire at Changhua County Stadium, where the Vampire enjoyed a 104-84 triumph over their hosts.
Eastern top the ABL rankings with an 8-1 record, followed by the Vampire on 6-4, the Singapore Slingers on 5-5, China’s Chong Son Kung Fu on 4-1 and Vietnam’s Saigon Heat on 4-3.
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