Delvin's got game
Malaysian club struggle, but Singapore import's a star
In his first stint as a foreign player, his team finished with the wooden spoon, but Delvin Goh's performances for the Beruang Blazers did not go unnoticed.
The 21-year-old centre, the first Singaporean basketball player to sign for a foreign team, picked up an award for being the best blocker in the Yuwang East Malaysia Basketball League (EBL) last week.
Averaging 1.8 blocks per game, Goh was a defensive star who also delivered at the other end of the court, averaging 11.5 points and 10 rebounds in 13 games.
Unfortunately, the Bruneian side he played for mustered just three wins out of 12 games during the regular season before an 87-78 defeat by the Labuan Wasps consigned them to last place out of the four teams.
The Kuching Lord Tigers went on to retain their title by beating the Wasps 75-58 in the final, completing the season with 13 straight victories.
Goh told The New Paper: "It was definitely a good experience, although it was disappointing to win just three out of 13 games.
"Everyone on the team treated me well and it was a real eye-opener because I saw some really good Malaysian state players that I previously did not know of.
"I thought I played pretty bad in my first three games. I didn't have a scoring mentality and tried to make my teammates look good.
"But after that, I played better in offence and was often scoring double digits.
"Overall, we have a decent team and played well in some matches."
Goh will be enlisting for National Service on Oct 7, which throws up uncertainty over his continued development as a professional and national basketballer.
Singapore Slingers coach Neo Beng Siang has previously expressed his hope that Goh would be released to train and play for his team in the Asean Basketball League, which tips off in November, and the player is keen to make a return as well.
"I hope to play for the Slingers as they are my first team and I hope something can be worked out," said Goh, who was also approached to play for Thailand Basketball League's Dunkin Raptors earlier this year, but missed the chance to do so over uncertainty over his enlistment date.
"As for playing for another foreign team, I'm definitely up for it because I'm still young and it is not every day that we get the opportunity to play and learn overseas.
"The Blazers have asked me to return for the next season, but I will be in NS so I'll have to wait and see. I'm definitely keeping my options open."
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