THE Malaysia Basketball Association (Maba) have accepted that it is fair for critics to label their Sea Games campaign a failure.

Maba secretary-general Tan Kee Hian said this was not due to lack of effort as both the men’s and women’s teams had played their hearts out.

The women’s team delivered praiseworthy performances in beating formidable sides like Thailand and the Philippines to secure a bronze.

The men’s team finished fifth with two wins and four defeats.

“It wasn’t that inaccurate to label this as a failure because we had targeted a silver and two bronze medals,” said Kee Hian.

The disappointment, however, came in the 3×3 competition where both of Malaysia’s men’s and women’s teams finished fourth.

“We had some hope for the 3×3 teams to deliver because they really prepared hard for it.

“Unfortunately, 3×3 is like a carnival event and anything can happen on the day. I guess we were just a little unlucky in that aspect.

“We’re not going to make excuses because on paper we did not meet our medal target.

“But I’m still incredibly proud of the women’s 5×5 team as they gave their best even though their condition was not as good compared to the others.”

Kee Hian said Maba will look into measures to improve the standards of Malaysian basketball.

“We are looking to get a league started and going, hopefully by July this year.

“The idea is not to be too ambitious and to start small first and let the league grow.

“Hopefully, we can at least get a development league under way and ensure that it becomes a self sustaining league in the future.”