By Stella Oo/ABL
Jakarta, Sunday, February 21, 2010 – The inaugural ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) season drew to a close as the Philippine Patriots displayed their all-round supremacy on the hardwood to defeat Satria Muda BritAma 75-67 and earn a much-deserved 3-0 series sweep to claim the title of champions.
The emphasis of the entire season has been about the strength in depth of the Patriots and game three was no exception. While their dynamic scorer Gabe Freeman had one of his poorer shooting nights, his American counterpart Jason Dixon was simply unstoppable with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
That’s not to belittle Freeman’s effort either. He ended up with 17 points and 19 rebounds and played some simply suffocating defense on Alex Hartman, a key factor in the series win. In fact, the extent of Freeman’s impact on this team cannot be overstated enough. Since he joined the team with two games to go in the regular season, the Patriots have been undefeated.
Freeman and Dixon are undoubtedly the league’s most potent 1-2 punch and they showed their mettle again by comprehensively outplaying the Satria Muda import duo of Hartman and Nakiea Miller who finished with 14 and 13 points respectively.
After the Patriots had won the first two games, the series shifted to Jakarta where SMB coach Fictor Roring was hoping for a shift in momentum. The intensity and atmosphere generated by their home crowd seemed to lift the Indonesians as they stormed to an early nine-point lead at 14-5.
But their momentum was halted when Miller had to take a seat after being inadvertently poked in the eye by Patriots forward Jerwin Gaco while battling for a rebound. His absence gave the Patriots impetus to start mounting a comeback, which the champions duly obliged by looking for Dixon to establish his superiority inside.
Miller did return for the second quarter but at that point, Dixon had clearly found his rhythm torching the Indonesians for 12 markers in that crucial second period, mixing an array of inside moves and some deft outside shooting.
With a four-point lead at the half, the Patriots came out in the third quarter with more intensity, starting out the period with a 7-0 run and building an 11-point lead that SMB were simply unable to dig themselves out of.
Not that SMB gave up. They did everything possible to come back but in the end it was just too much firepower from the Patriots as they coasted home to an impressive victory and the inaugural ABL championship.
There has been a lot of mention about the imports in the series but a lot of credit has to go to local Indonesian Rony Gunawan who may have been his team’s player of the series. He had strong efforts in the first two games and Game 3 was no exception as he finished with 20 points and 7 rebounds in a losing effort.
His effort kept SMB close and he should hold his head up high after establishing himself as a true quality basketball player and if SMB can add a few more pieces next year, they could go even further.
As for now, the moment belongs to the Patriots who have been the league’s best team all season and have once again shown the Philippines’ supremacy when it comes to basketball in Southeast Asia.
The league will undoubtedly go a long way towards closing the gap between the Philippines and the rest of the countries but that is still in the future. The present and the reality is that the Philippines have more basketball talent than the other countries and SMB can be proud of pushing the Patriots as hard as they did.
“This has been a fantastic start to our inaugural season and the league can only get stronger from here on out,” said Kuhan Foo, chief executive officer of the ABL.
“We’ve already made a huge impact with our games televised live across the South East Asia and being streamed live on the internet in Europe, the United States and North Asia. We‘re looking at adding more teams to the league and we are working closely with the South East Asian Basketball Association making this league stronger in its second season that will start in October this year,” he added.
Scoring Breakdown by Quarter
Satria Muda v Patriots
1st Q: 17-13
2nd Q: 14-22
3rd Q: 21-29
4th Q: 15-11
Satria Muda BritAma Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total | 67 | 22/64 | 11/34 | 12/22 | 12 | 25 | 37 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 16 | 200 | |
| 5 | Faisal Achmad Julius | 0 | 0/3 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5:10 |
| 6 | Wendha Wijaya | 1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1:12 |
| 7 | Amin Prihantono | 9 | 3/5 | 3/4 | 0/0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 20:19 |
| 8 | *Alexander Gordon Hartman | 14 | 5/18 | 3/9 | 1/3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 35:09 |
| 9 | *Youbel Sondakh | 8 | 2/6 | 0/2 | 4/6 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 31:22 |
| 11 | Galank Gunawan | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 12 | Bonanza Siregar | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 13 | *Rony Gunawan | 20 | 8/11 | 3/4 | 1/5 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 37:26 |
| 14 | Welyanson Situmorang | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4:46 |
| 18 | *Mario Wuysang | 2 | 1/8 | 0/6 | 0/0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 29:22 |
| 43 | *Nakiea Miller | 13 | 3/12 | 2/6 | 5/6 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 35:14 |
| 61 | Fattah Arifin | DNP |
Philippine Patriots Game Box Score
| # | Name | PTS | FG | 3PT | FT | OR | DR | TR | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| total | 75 | 31/82 | 8/24 | 5/6 | 22 | 29 | 51 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 22 | 200 | |
| 0 | *John Paul Alcaraz | 0 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11:11 |
| 3 | *Warren Ybanez | 7 | 3/6 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19:07 |
| 4 | Christian Coronel | 2 | 1/5 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 18:46 |
| 5 | *Robert Wainwright | 9 | 3/7 | 3/5 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 24:50 |
| 8 | Val Acuna | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Elmer Espiritu | 0 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9:10 |
| 14 | Khazim Mirza | DNP | ||||||||||||
| 16 | *Jerwin Gaco | 9 | 4/4 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 21:25 |
| 21 | Siverino Jr. Baclao | 0 | 0/4 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 14:02 |
| 25 | *Gabriel Freeman | 17 | 6/27 | 3/11 | 2/3 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 38:40 |
| 34 | Erwin Romme Sta. Maria | 3 | 1/2 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2:49 |
| 42 | *Jason Lamar Dixon | 28 | 13/22 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 40:00 |
Popularity: 45% [?]
We can beat all the strongest team remains in asia like korea,japan,kazakhstan,taiwan,philipines.
how can you call my nationalism misplaced when the “ballclub” is named after my country?? as long as i see the name philippines there i will be patriotic… if its not country to country why are we using the name of our countries?? why are they using their national team? why are we using the home and away??? why use the term “locals”? and why theres a lot of people brag about their countrys wealth, and compare talents from each nation??? practice what you preach people.
yes, and fiba asian championships will take place in doha around april or may.
Here’s what I am curious with the upcoming FIBA-Asia Champions Cup (for clubs), is Philippines sending two teams: the Philippine Patriots and Smart-Gilas Team Pilipinas?
From what I know, the ABL champions gains a berth to the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup. It has also been circulating around the news that Smart-Gilas will also be playing in Doha. Is this possible? Two teams from one country?
could be both or it could be that the Patriots will give away its berth to Smart-Gilas or that Smart will represent the PBA while the Patriots will represent ABL.
with respect to the PBA’s existence as Asia’s first pioneering basketball league
Send the PBA teams, its like sending soldiers to battlefield without gun
Can send the best in philipino players.
Philipine basketball team had already ban by fiba in 2005.
unless they sort out their internal problems,disastrous it will bring in their national team. they will only limit their capabilities in south east asian
Hi Ben,
the ban has been lifted already.. it’s been 2 years. 
khalifa- from what country did you came from? smart gilas pilipinas will be the headache of all mid east and west asian countries comes fiba asia competition..
@Nards. Thanks for your insight on the possibility of having two teams on the upcomong FIBA-Asia Champions Cup.
What I can think for now is that if the Patriots won’t participate, it should be Satria Muda to take the spot since they’re the runner-up.
What make you think that patriots won’t participate?
I think coach Louie will take the opportunity to test his wards in thew tournament representing ASEAN, I presume he’ll take pride on that albeit they’ll field Jason Dixon as import while Freeman will play for the San Miguel Beermen (the Older, Stronger and more solid SMB).
Espiritu, Baclao and Acuna might take another look into the future once they experience this kind of competition.
@Alvin. My primary concern basically is FIBA-Asia would allow having two teams from the same country? It’s always been one team per country.
Also, it’s basically more of a hunch than what I think that the Patriots “might” yield to Smart-Gilas (Team Philippines) because of Smart-Gilas’ goal is more important than the Patriots, which is to gain an Olympic berth.
On the other hand, if the Team Philippines would yield to the Patriots, who is going to be the second import for the Patriots? It’s definitely not Gabe Freeman because the schedule of the Champions Cup conflicts with the PBA. Why is the PBA now a nuisance to international competitions? LOL!
Of course, I would love to see both teams, but I think we should wait and see on how FIBA-Asia would handle this because it certainly is unfair for other countries.
Philipine Patriots Gilas PBA, who will represent your team in major international tournament?
it is club-based remember the last FIBA-Asia club championships where Gilas represented PBA and Satria Muda represented SEABA? it is just the same today albeit the Patriots represent SEABA and Gilas will represent the PBA.
What do you think of your chances by sending Gilas?
no one in philipine gilas player are under pba team?
@jan- rob wainright is a filipino.The philippine law practice the jus sanguines principle.He was born to a filipino mother, as provided by our 1987 constitution.” Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines.This the basisi of wainright’s citizenship….Dual citizenship is only a new law in the philippines.
@jan jus sanguinis is defined by Law as “citizenship acquired through the citizenships of their parents and since he was born in the US, he is also a recepient of the US concept of jus soli defined as “citizenship acquired through birth in within one state or of its territories” therefore puts rob wainwright in a position to play for the Patriots as both local and player with ASEAN heritage unless the Patriots hire another ASEAN – foreign (neither categorized as filipino in Jus sanguinis/loci).
it therefore puts any protest filed against the Patriots regarding Wainwrights position as local… NULL and VOID
this also puts the Patriots in a position to field fil-ams in the future and if seen fit.
and protests made in the case of fielding Fil-Ams will be also made NULL and VOID due to Art.4, Section 2-3 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution!
Hey all! I just found an article regarding Smart-Gilas’ intent to join the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup. They (Smart-Gilas) have to join the SEABA qualifier. Where? It wasn’t specified in the article.
So I expect teams like Satria-Muda and other ABL teams to join here.
For more, http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=553667&publicationSubCategoryId=69
Enjoy!
lrangels..last time i checked they are not pushing thru with the seaba qualifier its not on the fiba calendar.. abl itself is the qualifier..unless they changed their mind..can you send the link of the article?
so there are 2 SEABA Qualifiers, ABL and this?
then it will be a given
thanks irangels.. that clears up confusion on the possible 2 teams in fiba champions cup
Gilas is on hard training for FIBA,now patriots enter into the scene? which team is the representative of philipine??
Imports! what about player from middleastern, are their roster real local or do they have africans,americans change name become full time citizenship?
It does makes sense to have another SEABA qualifying tourney, it just means that there will be 2 representatives from Southeast Asia, which was the case in the past until 2005-08 where there was only either 1 SEA representative or none!
And I do think it’s perfectly ok to have 2 teams from Philippines, they have come through entirely different qualifying means anyway.
We’ll wait to hear more details about that – it’s probably only a contest between non-ABL teams though – since most ABL imports have gone home and are playing in other leagues elsewhere in the world unless they get new imports?
There are also qualifying tourneys in East Asia, South Asia and Central Asia, so if 2 (or more) clubs from each region qualify, on top of the defending champion, and host, that would make it a 10-team (at least) competition, nice!
Though, I will be interested to see in future IF an ABL champion has a roster of 3 ASEAN imports, will the 3 be allowed to play in the Champions Cup? Given how most ABL teams will be weakened by a notch without the ASEAN imports.
(And okay okay I know all the Pinoy guys will be everso tempted to say “But Patriots will just keep winning the ABL!!!” Hahah..
)
If this tournament will really pushed through as another qualifier for the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup or just a side tournament, I think the SEABA Champions Cup is a good opportunity to feature ABL teams or non-ABL teams or may be a potential ABL teams to participate because various reasons:
- The potential to play in a greater stage in Asia which is the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup.
- Feature new recruits from different teams either be locals or imports. In case some of the imports who might not return, they got a glimpse of a good replacement.
- If the ABL is indeed expanding to two more teams, this is the chance of those potential teams to make an argument.
- The most important is to keep the team (coaching staff, trainers, and players) busy, and keep promoting basketball in the region.
- This will also keep redhoops busy with our comments. I am sorry I tend to be a slave driver. LOL!
- This is also a good way to promote the league too! Refering to the other article.
- And many more!
I think FIBA-Asia wouldn’t mind to field more than one team from a region or country. Think of it as the UEFA Champions League. They allow more than two teams for some country because the level of their play. Just back in 2008, two English teams played in the final — course my team Manchester United won! Anyway, you certainly know what I meant even though I used football as an example.