Swine time June 15, 2009
Posted by Darren Ng in Singapore Slingers.3 comments
Ok, so I’ve been a little busy with doctor work at the RAH… Unfortunately, I’ve neglected the blog for a little while. I will try and post more regularly, especially as my half year of being a doctor winds down and basketball starts to pick up a bit more.
It’s been very busy lately in the hospital, especially with the whole Swine Flu thing. For everyone out there – it is really no different to the normal flu, except that it is more infectious. i.e. more people will catch it. The mortality rate is the same if not less than the average flu that circulates each year. A lot of people have been coming in to get checked at the hospital, and during winter (now) many people are getting sick as well.
Currently I am on Orthopaedics and we see a lot of trauma (road accidents, etc). I think we are running at above 100% capacity for beds right now.
As for basketball, our Sturt Sabres team is doing very nicely, sitting in second spot. With the addition of Jacob Holmes, we are pretty dangerous from inside and out. Lately, I have only had to play three quarters of the game, which allows us to rest a bit more. Should be a good stretch to the finals.
ABL round 1 March 16, 2009
Posted by Darren Ng in Singapore Slingers.Tags: abl, adelaide, claybrin mcmath, corey maynard, darren ng, dave bowley, jan warbout, mark bauer, nathan vaughn, north adelaide, pasadena, south adelaide panthers, sturt sabres, todd gower, tom daly
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Our first game of the season was on Saturday night against the South Adelaide Panthers (A reminder that I’m playing for the Sturt Sabres in the Central ABL competition in Adelaide). With pretty much half of our team being new players with myself included it was interesting to see how we would put it all together. The team had been doing a lot of preseason running and fitness so this was the first time we all hit the court together in a game. We are a relatively young side, with four Sturt under 20’s joining the group (Claybrin McMath, Corey Maynard, Jan Warbout, and Tom Daly). These four were a part of the SA 20’s state team and will be exciting to watch.
You can read about the ABL and all of the ins and outs of each team and Boti’s write up.
Now to the game.
We started out quite strongly – starters were Corey, Myself, Mark Bauer, Todd Gower and Claybrin – extending our full court defensive pressure and causing some trouble for the South guards. Claybrin was really strong inside and finished off well, ending up with 20 points for the game. We gradually pulled out the lead to 54-39 at the half, with some good shooting and nice inside play. Size wise, we were fairly similar to South, I just think we had a few more weapons than them and were able to exploit that. South are pretty physical, but we were able to overcome that without too many concerns.
It was a great team effort. Defensively we were strong and cruised to the win 88-69. I thought the young kids were good and controlled the game well. I haven’t played with many juniors that have had that kind of impact immediately for a while. They will only get better as the season goes on. The ‘veteran’ players on the team – Gower, Baz, Bowley, Vaughno – all played solid minutes to keep the scoreboard ticking over and we were able to give the younger guys a run at the end. I think I ended up with 19pts.
Photos of the game can be found at Damrob.
Next week we play North Adelaide at Pasadena on Saturday. Our first home game, so get out and support us if you can!
Off-season February 23, 2009
Posted by Darren Ng in Singapore Slingers.Tags: darren ng, adelaide, RAH, sturt sabres, abl, FIFA 09, PS3, jacob holmes, marcus ng
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I’ve been out to training with the Sturt Sabres in the last couple of weeks. Looking to start the ABL league here in Adelaide, with the first game on the 14/3. It has been a season or two since I played ABL, so it was good to get out there and have a run with the current team. It is a young team, with a lot of promising juniors coming up to join the squad. Also, we have Jacob Holmes (36ers) joining us mid-season so that will strengthen us even more. My brother Marcus is recovering from a knee recon, so he will be playing again soon. It looks as if we will be a strong team at full strength. We are off to Mt. Gambier to play their ABL team on the weekend for a practice match, should be a good hit out.
I haven’t really heard much about the other ABL teams around Adelaide, but I’m sure all the teams will have some suprises in the off season.
Other than that, I’ve been working at the RAH, still relieving and its been pretty good until now. I go back onto Night shift again next week. Also, I’ve been enjoying playing FIFA 09 on my PS3. Been playing online and really hooked on the game. Look out for the name SCHRUTE_HALPERT if you are ever online :)
Work updates February 15, 2009
Posted by Darren Ng in Doctor stuff, General.Tags: abl, darren ng, doctor, RAH, sturt sabres, working
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It’s been a while since I last posted – been pretty hectic at work. Since my first week on Nights, I’ve been working on Gen Medical for a week, cardiothoracic surgery for a week, and last week I was working on Plastic Surgery. It has been a bit annoying working as a reliever because just as I learn the workings of a particular unit, I get shifted on to the next. It has been great working as a doctor after all the years of studying and definitely different to the life of a pro basketballer.
My longest day so far has been 13 hours – start at 7am and finish at 8pm, but at least we don’t have to work 36hr or 48 hr shifts like they used to.
In terms of basketball, I’ve started up training with the Sturt Sabres here in Adelaide, with the ABL season kicking off in about one month. It feels good to get back on court, and especially after working I really look forward to going out to training and the upcoming games. Stay tuned for game reports on those games coming soon. We have a practice match on Tuesday against Southern Tigers, then Norwood the following week and we head to Mt. Gambier for a game soon too.
Its fantastic to be back in Adelaide, in my own house again and driving my car, but I definitely miss those things I love in Singapore. Til next time…
Being a Doctor… January 22, 2009
Posted by Darren Ng in Doctor stuff.Tags: aaron stevenson, brendan kennedy, darren ng, doctor, intern, Khoa phan, night shift, RAH, royal adelaide hospital, surgical, tsai wing ow
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I’ve started working at the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH for short) and my first week was working night shift, which I’ve just finished. Now, starting work as an intern is pretty daunting, let alone finding out that I was starting on nights first. The intern rotations are split into 10-11 weeks terms and the first rotation I am a reliever. This means that I will cover people who are taking sick days, or on annual leave. It’s a pretty good time to be a reliever because nobody is taking any annual leave at the start of the year, and not many people will be sick. So, the lovely roster manager Charmaine rostered me to be the “extra” on nights to give a bit of help to the guys who were starting first week.
I was on ‘Surgical Nights’, which involves looking after all of the problems with Surgical patients on the ward. I think there are about 60-70 surgical patients at a guess. I worked with a guy called Aaron, while there were three interns on ‘Medical Nights’ (Medical patients). Check out our little photo just before we started the first night.
Khoa, Me, Tsai, Aaron and Brendan
This photo was courtesy of Khoa’s LX3 camera and Khoa would like himself identified as the “hotshot doctor who led the crew.” The other guys haven’t requested any description of themselves, so I will quickly do it. Tsai is the “guy who loved to watch me sleep”, Aaron is a “gym junkie, wanna be orthopod who hates delirius patients”, and Brendan is the “trigger happy intern who will gladly prescribe intravenous fluids for whoever, whenever.”
Suffice to say that it was an eventful week on nights and the reward for working one week is one week off, which I have now. Apparently, working night shift reduces our life expectancy, so I’m trying to get my body back into normal day patterns. It was an eye opener into the world of medicine, with everything from prescribing morphine for the first time to patients dying happening over the week. There are not a lot of staff working at night, so much of it is up to us, but there is good support available when we need it.
More on my life as an intern to come…
Game vs India today Cancelled! January 11, 2009
Posted by Darren Ng in Singapore Slingers.10 comments
Indian Team a No-Show for Challenge Series
The Singapore Slingers learned early this morning that the team from India, Sathyabama Stars, to play in the Challenge Series tomorrow would not be arriving.
Sincerely,
Singapore Slingers
Game vs RP Harbour (Philippines) January 8, 2009
Posted by Darren Ng in Singapore Slingers.Tags: armein kirkland, Challenge Series, darren ng, eric sandrin, John Fitzgerald, RP Harbour, sam harris, Singapore Slingers
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Sorry for the delay in getting this up, but on Sunday (4th Jan) we played the RP Harbour PBL team from the Philippines. We won 97-72 in what was a pretty even and maybe slightly below par first three quarters.
You can read a match report on the game and find stats here on the Slingers website. For Jason’s perspective on the game, check it out here.
For us, Eric was spectacular again with 22 points and 22 rebounds. John Fitzgerald was a ton of energy throughout the whole game, scoring 18 pts and grabbing 13 rebounds. Kirkland had 15pts, I had 14pts and Sam had 13pts.
RP Harbour played well to keep up with our size. They were deadly in the mid-range, knocking down any shot that they took. It was not until the fourth quarter, where I think they tired a little and starting missing their shots that we took over. They also had a lot of fouls which hurt them at the end as players were fouled out.
If anyone has video of that alley-oop I threw to Eric in the last quarter, please post it! It definitely stood out as the play of the game in my mind. It was huge. There was a period in the last quarter where we just got stops and ran like we usually do and played our exciting type of basketball.
On Sunday we take on the India Sabres team. This team is bringing three American imports, including one which has played in the NBA, John Wallace.
December 31, 2008
Posted by Darren Ng in Singapore Slingers.5 comments
Happy New Year to Everyone!
I hope 2009 is a good one for you all!
December 29, 2008
Posted by Darren Ng in Singapore Slingers, basketball.Tags: al vergara, Harbour center, jason castro, Melbourne tigers, NBL, rod grizzard, Singapore Slingers
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For those of you who followed the Slingers last season will know Rod Grizzard, one of the talented imports who played here last year. The latest news from the Australian NBL is that he has been cut from the Melbourne Tigers and has been replaced by Dave Thomas. Considering Grizzard had top scored in their last game (a loss to my ex-team the Adelaide 36ers), it might have been a little harsh. He also had signed a three-year deal with the Tigers, so interesting to see him leave so early into that. You can read more about it here.
Our next game is on Sunday 4th Jan at the Indoor Stadium against Phillipine’s team Harbour Centre. This is Al Vergara’s old team and also Jason Castro’s old team for those who saw him in Singapore. Last year, Harbour beat the Slingers here in Singapore at Jurong, so we know that this team can play. We also have the ledger to square with them.
At the moment, we have gotten back to training and our normal daily routine. For me, I have been doing a little bit of medical study, as I will be starting work as a doctor soon – fun times ahead…
Sat Dec. 27th December 27, 2008
Posted by Darren Ng in General, basketball.Tags: boti nagy, darren ng, singapore, the advertiser, Xmas
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I hope everyone had a good Christmas.
Back in Singapore now. Most of the guys are getting back today to start training tomorrow. It was a great break and I feel refreshed and ready to go.
While I was back in Adelaide, Boti Nagy from The Advertiser (Adelaide’s local newspaper) rang me up and did an interview to find out what I’d been up to in the last six or so months. You can check it out at http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24840832-5006371,00.html
It featured on Xmas day and of course we had a Xmas themed photo to suit!
