Story contributed by Red Hoops reader Louis Richard R. Angeles
In the finals, both Patriots and Satria Muda are expected to gain significant contributions from their locals and their bench players. The Patriots will certainly bank on Jerwin Gaco, Noynoy Baclao (#21, in blue) and company to complement the efforts of the imports Gabe Freeman and Jason Dixon. (Photo © Red Sports file photo)
On February 12, 2010, the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) will tip off the inaugural championship final series between the Philippine Patriots and Satria Muda BritAma at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, Philippines. This best-of-five series is expected to be an exciting one with both teams putting a lot on line for reasons of pride, tradition, and bragging rights.
Satria Muda, a team that has been together for years before the formation of the ABL, won four Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) titles in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2009. Satria Muda also proved to the Southeast Asian region that they are a force to be reckoned with by winning the SEABA Champions Cup in 2008 in Jakarta. Satria Muda will certainly want to keep that tradition and take it to a whole new level.
The Philippine Patriots, on the other hand, were formed only a month before the ABL tipped off and do not have a tradition to back them up. However, they’re a team from Philippines. The Philippines, having a rich basketball tradition and culture in Asia which dates back from the early 1900s when the United States colonized the country, with numerous titles in the Asian region from the early 50s to the mid-80s, including a bronze medal in the 1954 FIBA World Championships (the best finish of any Asian country to date).
The Philippines is also the dominant force in Southeast Asia having won almost every SEABA and SEA Games tournament for men and junior men at the national and club level. Thus, Philippine basketball tradition and pride will be at stake here and anything less than a championship in the ASEAN region is a failure.
We should also expect to see a battle of two owners who pride themselves on winning: Erik Thohir of Satria Muda, and co-owner Mikee Romero of the Philippine Patriots. Both owners are actually tied in their head-to-head encounter in championship series. The Mikee Romero owned Harbour Centre beat Satria Muda 85-67 in their 2007 SEABA Champions Cup encounter in Jakarta.
The following year, Satria Muda came back and beat Harbour Centre 93-85 also in Jakarta. Therefore, the ABL championship series will reignite a historical rivalry between the owners.
Both teams faced off in the ABL regular season with the Philippine Patriots winning all three of their head-to-head matches. However, that was then and this is now.
Back then, there was no Gabe Freeman for the Philippine Patriots, and no Mario Wuysang for Satria Muda. Brandon Powell is gone for the Patriots and so is Rensy Bajar for Satria Muda. So things will be a little bit different now, which makes it a little bit unpredictable.
The Patriots will bank on their home-court advantage over Satria Muda on games one and two (and game 5 if necessary), having been undefeated at home all season long (8-0) and beating teams by an average winning margin of 14 points, including a 34-point thrashing of the KL Dragons in game 1 of their semi-final playoff series.
The KL Dragons, ironically, is also the team that posted the smallest losing margin (loosing by six on December 19) in Manila.
“We have to win the first two home games. That’s a must. Because we have home-court advantage, if we don’t then we’re just wasting our time,” said Freeman on ABS-CBN News. The Patriots defense is also the league’s best at 67 points per game (including the playoffs) compared to Satria Muda’s 71.
The Patriots are banking on the momentum of a four-game winning streak since Gabe Freeman first suited up for the Patriots against the Thailand Tigers on January 17th. Since then, the Patriots have improved their offensive output from 72 ppg (points per game) to 81.5 ppg with Freeman averaging double figures in every game.
Satria Muda also have a momentum that they have built up in the last two games. A grueling semi-final series with the Singapore Slingers saw Nakiea Miller and Alex Hartman anchor their team with impressive numbers.
Jason Dixon of the Patriots spoke about the Indonesian imports on ABS-CBN News saying that, “The key to stopping them is to stop their imports from having big-time games. We can’t allow them to score 20-30 points.”
Dixon’s comments were also echoed by Coach Louie Alas.
“The Indonesian team is a disciplined team and boasts of two imports in Alexander Hartman and Nakiea Miller who can explode at any point in the game,” said Alas to GMA News TV.
Fictor Roring, having learned from Filipino coaches in the past, will be familiar with the Filipino style of play. This will be a concern for Louie Alas.
“I was really expecting the Indonesian team to win because their play is similar to how the Filipinos play,” said Alas.
For both teams, they have to gain significant contributions from their locals and their bench players. This has been the theme all season long. The Patriots will certainly bank on Jerwin Gaco, Noynoy Baclao and company to complement the efforts of Gabe Freeman and Jason Dixon.
Satria Muda will bank on their experienced locals that showed some brilliance in their semi-final series against Singapore. Expect Mario Wuysang (the Mike Cortez look-a-like), Rony Gunawan and company to pick things up were they left off. The bench players will also be a factor since they can provide the quality minutes in the floor to keep their imports well rested.
Overall, it seems that the Patriots have a slight advantage because of the home-court advantage, and a deep roster that can contribute. However, Satria Muda played inspired basketball to beat the Slingers on home court in a playoff series. Notably, the Patriots were not able to do that in Singapore this season.
Expect the games to be close as both teams will lay it all on the line with emotions likely to run to an all-time high. The very first championship is certainly the one that will be remembered in years to come.
As Louie Alas said on Malaya.com.ph, “Nobody remembers the runner-up. That’s why we want to become the champions of the first ABL tournament.”
Fictor Roring would echo the same sentiments.
Popularity: 26% [?]
With the arrival of Mario Wuysang, faisal became bench warmer.
Wuysang play no impact at all. Might be wrong decision of Fictor roring, i still prefer Rensy bajar over mario wuysang.
FYI when satria muda won the seaba cup in 2008 they have 2 western import including hartman both scoring 53 points combined while harbor center’s star import ekwe wasnt allowed to play, forcing them to look for a last minute replacement and guess who they got.. michael le blanc
leaving phil with 1 lone import the whole tournament
heres the article back in 2008 1 year before the abl:
http://teampilipinas.info/2008/04/harbour-centre-rp-dethroned-in-seaba.html
FYI when satria muda won the seaba cup in 2008 they have 2 western import including hartman both scoring 53 points combined while harbor center’s star import ekwe wasnt allowed to play, forcing them to look for a last minute replacement and guess who they got.. michael le blanc
leaving phil with 1 lone import the whole tournament
heres the article back in 2008 1 year before the abl:
http://teampilipinas.info/2008/04/harbour-centre-rp-dethroned-in-seaba.html
Some thoughts on head-to-head advantages:
1) Dixon vs. Miller – If both play to potential, I think they will cancel each other out. Both can score and defend. Both can get into foul trouble, as well. No clear advantage for either side. However, Miller has recently shown that he can get distracetd by hostile crowds. He needs to keep this in check, otherwise, Dixon is smart enough to turn this to his advantage.
2)Freeman vs. Hartman – both will score and carry most of the offensive load. The key is that Freeman will get help defending Hartman. Rob Wainright is often forgotten but he plays emotionally and will take the main duties to guard Hartman, freeing up Freeman to concentrate on scoring. Advantage to Freeman in this regard simply beacuse he has to work less to get his shots. Other than Hartman, who will or can help guard him?
3)Locals – clearly the Patriots have a deeper bench. But they are also richer at point guard. Ybanez, Baguion, and Coronel are about equal in skill and can platoon. SMB now starts Wuysang. While Wuysang shows that he can score, he is less adept at finding the open man. I actually think that Faisal would make a greater impact as he has proven in the earlier games that he can both score and run the team.
Also, the bigger local Patriot players are more prolific scorers and more physical than the SMB locals and are true alternative scoring threats. They are more aggressive under the basket. Even if the imports cancel each other out, if SMB does not check Gaco, Baclao, or Espiritu from getting followup baskets, the game will be over. Gunawan is not strong enough against any of the three as he plays a small forward game. Sitepu maybe, but he is out injured. SMB do not have true local power forwards, whereas the Pats can field 3 or 4.
4) Others – Who will guard Wainright? If Hartman picks him up, Freeman is free and vice=versa. Wainright can score 3s, and even Val Acuna. Hartman cannot be in two places at the same time, as good as he is. He may run himself ragged if he does not get help.
Lastly, DEFENSE. The Patriots play a swarming defense. SMB needs to score from outside early and consistently, otherwise their offense will be shut down by the Pats interior defense (Miller, Gaco, Baclao, etc.). Offense can come and go, but defense is consistent.
So bottomline is that the SMB locals need to step up. Otherwise, it will be three games and out. This is especially true because of the Pats home court advantage. While the ABL playoff will not be taken as seriously as the other Philippine leagues by the fans as it is new, the Manila fans will be more intimidating than the Singapore crowd. Take note of that Miller. To both teams, play hard and play safe. Good luck.
Fairly insightful analysis by gym rat, which I agree to largely.
some additional comments…..
SMB beat Singapore in a game of attrition in their deciding game, their bench had better quality. The reverse will be true in the next series. If the teams exchange fouls in a highly charged and physical game, the Patriots will have more bodies of fairly equal quality to throw at SMB. SMB has shown that they can play well when they are fired up…lets see if they can play equally well when they need to keep a cool head and manage their front rotation resources.
To me, the Patriots do not look and play like a team yet….they are a bunch of talented individuals…but I have a feeling..many are playing for themselves. So when things go well….they are rocking. But from the 2 games in singapore, maybe when things are not going so well…when some players don’t share the ball as much…or are taking shots despite not hitting them…some of the players will zone out…and have less hussle….and the team can go into a funk.
Maybe things are different since its been a while since I last saw them here in Singapore. It’ll be interesting.
But everyone needs to keep in mind..its not Philippines vs Indonesia…it SMB vs PP. If the clubs (not countries), are to compete and be successsful beyond this series…then their off court efforts also need to be factored in.
Winning over more fans. Getting these to pay for tickets. Recruiting corporate sponsors. Filling up their financial war chests, to pay salaries to attract higher calibre players. Building up a good feeder network for local talents..and having decent scouting to know which imported talent to target.
All in all a good thing for the ASEAN basketball scene…for fans.
Play hard…be safe. Its a sport (and a business).
However, Satria Muda played inspired basketball to beat the Slingers on home court in a playoff series – the one thing the Philippine Patriots have not been able to duplicate this season.
But haven’t the Patriots won in KL during the semis to punch a ticket to the finals? A come from behind victory away from their home court? I think that’s inspired basketball too unless you are referring to the Patriots not beating the Slingers in their home court..
Hartman can only score 10 pts, he will be guarded by Coronel.
Miller can score only 5 pts, he will be guarded by Andaya,
Wuysang will eat dust from Ybanez and baguion.
Sitepu will erase by Gaco.
does this series need any further analysis? so much has been said.
SMB – i agree with Dixon, if either Hartman or Miller have a bad game. they have no chance of winning. their locals will have a hard time offensively against the Patriots’ defense. they have a better shot at winning if they push the ball and force the Patriots to run.
PP – the Patriots can have a bad shooting game but still pull off a win because of their defense. they just have to control the rebound and out-hustle SMB to beat them. there’s nothing special about them offensively because they’re all capable of scoring when left open or played soft.
@jonathan. My bad. I’ll edit it better. Let me fix it. : )
I think most of you was underestimated SM’s local, but still each team have 5 player in court. I think local gonna blow on final, coz everyone especially pats was expected that miller and hartman became a key player.
Just read some articles from a couple of sources. Imports Jason Dixon (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/183510/patriots-confident-of-winning-abl-crown) and Alex Hartman (http://www.mb.com.ph/node/242860/indon) that the series would end 3 games to 1 in their (respective teams) favor.
no one seemed to remember, Prihantono…i think he was a big factor on game three with 3/5 from rainbow distance. If he can wax hot, he could lighten up the burden on the imports. other than him and wuysang though, i don’t think SMB has other potential threats which kinda makes this finals match-up easy to analyze… a sweep or a 3-1 win for the Patriots.
one of the excutives said onthe halftime interview that another team from the Philippines is joining….does anybody which team is it????
@wayklaro. I agree! That is so reminiscent of the KL Dragons game last week. KL is clicking on the outside that’s why they’re able to build a 16 point lead. If Satria Muda get their outside shots, man!, that will free up a lot of real-estate for Hartman and Miller to operate, and the Patriots are going to have a long night.
I also want to know which team from Philippines is joining.
@Les
That’s ok
@Irangels
maybe the Cebu M.Lhuillier? They have a pretty strong team there, can even beat PBA teams mano-a-mano, plus the local crowd are very supportive of their team in there.
@wayklaro just reminded me of Prihantono. You’re right. He is a quiet player that can be underestimated. I still see him in a small forward role, similar to Gunawan though. SMB’s problem is matching up at power forward. I also do still think that Faisal should be used more as he is a scorer with an unorthodox style that is tricky to guard. Where SMB has a distinct advantage is the fact that most of the players have played and won together before, so they have definite team chemistry, whereas the Pats are a collection of talent as has been mentioned by others. I liken this matchup to the US-Spain Olympic game in Beijing, where the US had greater talent, but the Spanish played better team-ball. You can draw your own conclusions based on that result.
@Jonathan. A team owned by the Lhuillier family and have it based in Cebu would make a lot of sense. Having another Manila based team isn’t worth the money (IMO). That should also diversify the fan base around the country as well, and get rid of that so-called “national” team perception.
I always wanted to see a Manila-Cebu rivalry to be seen by our Southeast Asian neighbors.
A Manila-Cebu rivalry is very exciting per se, few people ever get to see these players in action, and you will never know of the crowd support in Cebu, the KL crowd will just pale in comparison the these Cebuano fans, I know because I have been there before…
for my redhoops freind, i’ll ask my big boss mr tony fernandez about the new philippines teams aight
lol so many typo hahahaha
@mislan. What do you think of the prospect of another team from Malaysia? Say in JB?
Thing here is that, the weak patriots team will beat the best in all SEA region.
Patriots will sweep 3-0!..
question: if they will add another team from phil isnt it a lil confusing that patriots use the countrys name and the other team use a province name from that country.. maybe they can change it first to manila patriots before they can add another team from phil.
Johor bahru, questionable. I prefer to have 3 teams from Phils, 2 from Indo, 1 from Vietnam!
Philippine team:
1. Patriots
2. Cebu or Pampanga
3. True grassroots filipino player,fresh from HS or small intertown, never play in any major league (NCAA,UAAP,PBL,Liga,ie)! Ekwe and R.Al husseini is out of any team..
Raj Toroman and Gilas are driving wrong distance.. During time of Ron Jacobs, Denis still is then only a prospect to play for NCAA, when he banner for NCC that beat all asian team in Fiba.
Another team from the Philippines?
I hope it will be the Talk N Text team.
I hope MVP really gets pissed off by the PBA (especially the 1 Million peso fine for the walk out) that he will withdraw his team and join the ABL.
But right now, ABL may not be very appealing to Talk N Text:
Talk N Text (how does it differ from SMART?) product is sold/used only in the Philippines -unless it is also sold to OFWs.
Unless it caters to Indonesia and Malaysia market, then it makes sense.
i’d rather see the Gokongwei’s sponsor a basketball team in Cebu (where they lived) since they also own an airline just like Tony Fernandes and transportation to KL, Singapore, Jakarta, and Bangkok won’t be a problem.
@ les can you rank the players of each position as to who do you think has the best performance this season.
@ jake I think the Red Hoops all-star voting is doing a better job. Wisdom of the crowd. ; )
I think the Patriots will have to change their team name to Manila patriots next season. If Cebu joins, then they’ll have the only sell-out and the loudest home crowd in ABL. Cebuano’s are the craziest basketball fans in the Philippines specially because their team always parades local talents, most of which haven’t had a chance to play in the PBA. if Junmar Fajardo plays, then they’ll also have the best ASEAN player in the league.
LAguna is another possible addition for abl.
Migrating from a counry based league to a City based league will be good. Should reduce the nationalistic tendencies, and shift focus to regional pride, sense of belonging. It’ll make the league more unique and position it differently from SEABA or the SEA games. Also it will even out the resource competition issues esp for Singapore and Brunei, who have much smaller talent pools.
It would be good to see a Cebu based team. From my time shuttling between Manila and Cebu from 1997 – 2005, I know that there are good players (teams and their fans) outside of Manila who do feel ignored and left out by the Manila based crowd. Defintely, a Cebu vs Manila rivalry would make the league interesting.
“I was really expecting the Indonesian team to win because their play is similar to how the Filipinos play,” said Alas.
Emmm…anyone can tell me, where the similar is ? i need to know more ’bout Indonesian Filipino playing style..
3 Similarities:-
1. Set up games and like to play in half court.
2. No running games.
3. No rigid training for outside shooter.
Both Philippines and Indonesia are scrap,when it comes to FIBA.
@Kelvin and wayklaro. Opening a team in Cebu not only reduces the nationalistic tendencies of the Filipino fans, but it also opens up opportunity for players from Cebu. Over the course of history the Queen City of the south has produced tons of professional basketball players. If I am not mistaken, Rob Wainwright of the Patriots started his career in Cebu when the MBA is still around.
I think accepting 2 more team for expansion would make sense because more than might not be good for business, overhead costs, travel, etc. For me, I prefer one expansion from Philippines (i.e., Cebu), and one from an ASEAN country. It’s cool to have one more from Philippines, say from Mindanao, but it would make more sense if it’s from an ASEAN country because it would help expand the popularity of basketball in the region. After all, that’s the whole purpose of the ABL. Having two more teams from Philippines might not help the league and the region since it’s already a gimme that basketball is popular in Philippines.
@NusaBasket. The very reason why Satria Muda as well as the Indonesian National Basketball team knows or plays similar to the Philippine style of play is that Fictor Roring was mentored by Filipino coaches in the past. The names Bong Ramos, Nat Canson, and David Zamar have come to Indonesia either as a coach in the IBL or in the national team. This resulted in transfer of certain Basketball knowledge or technology.
Wow!if its true that a Cebu City team is the one from Philippines that will join the expansion team of ABL next season,that will be grait.c”,)The Manila(Patriots) vs Cebu(Niños)?? rivalry continues..c”,)Man Cebu has the best fans in the Philippines..cant wait to see this rivalry…
May be we can hype this up!
Hey Lhuillier and Gokongwei! Please either one of you or both form a team based there in Cebu. Unless, you guys are afraid that the Manila boys would lay a smackdown on yah!
*no harm intended, just to hype it up!
MANILA represent!
+ Pampanga or Laguna.
If I’m not mistaken,
Gokongwei used to have a PBA team up to the early 90s. (showcasing their brand Great Taste Coffee, Presto Tivoli). had at least 3 ALl-Filipino Titles. They had 2 of the best gunners in their fold, Ricky Brown – best career scoring average – and Allan Caidic – 3 point shots records.
@mart. Yes, you are right. I think they got themselves into a financial crunch that’s why they pulled out (I might be wrong).
The Zobel de Ayala family also has a franchise in the PBA, Purefoods. However, they sold Purefoods to San Miguel Corporation about ten years ago.
These individuals are certainly open to the possibility of owning an ABL team, but at the end of the day they’re businessmen. They also wanted to see how much money they would earn from it.
Also emphasize by KL dragons team owner, it is a business..
yup yup I agree if Cebu based team joins in it will be exiting by the way Nonoy Baclao is from that region I heard…Also greg Slaughter of Gilas to mention a few. Hope they field in top NCAA or UAAP, PBL regulars, etc(players from other known Collegiate clubs)… rookies too not to mention top picks and maybe Prime PBA players. Umm how bout include Smart Gilas
Gilas will only waste money if u send to ABL.
I agree with Hanoi. I don’t think Gilas will benefit anything from playing in the ABL. Nothing against the ABL, but I think the Philippine team are better off playing against teams outside Southeast Asia.