Patriots sweep Satria Muda to win ABL finals
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 |
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
congrats to the Patriots!
bring on the M. Lhuillier-Cebu Niños next season! as great as the Patriots were, i felt that the relied too much on Freeman’s intensity and Dixon’s experience to win games… just like how Satria Muda Britama depended on Miller and Hartman on everything. remember that the Patriots are just a newly-formed club of unsigned PBA free agents and college players waiting to be drafted in the PBA. the Niños have been together much longer. just give them 2 imports who play good defense and a better-looking stadium in Cebu, i’d like to see how they fare against Satria Muda Britama, the Slingers, and the Dragons.
typo error
*they relied…*
@Sinigangsta (I hope you don’t mind if I shortcut your screen name, and end up sounding like a gangsta rapper.) Adrax and I are actually chatting about the Cebu Niños for next season (at the chatbox). Feel free to chime-in.
Also, I just hope that the core of this team will be together for next season. Freeman, Baclao, Coronel, Gaco, etc., they all should return next season to defend the title.
I am pretty sure that SMB’s team will be back with the same (if not similar) line-up next season, and so as the KL Dragons, Brunei Barracudas, and and Thailand Tigers. Also, something to look for is the Singapore Slingers’ coaching situation.
Off topic.
Coincidentally, as Satria Muda Britama (SMB) yielded the title to the Patriots. Another team that carries the SMB acronym, the San Miguel Beermen of the PBA, yielded a finals berth to the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants. This is certainly not a good day for both SMB teams. What are the odds of having two teams that carry the same acronym to lose and yield a playoff series on the same day?
Another is a contradiction. The George Mason University (GMU) of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in the US NCAA (college basketball) carries the name “Patriots” lost their home assignment against College of Charleston on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Southeast Asia). Seven hours later another Patriot team, the Philippine Patriots, won their game against SMB.
Again, what are the odds of having teams of the same name or acronym scheduled to play within the same 12 hour period. hehehe…
A few points that I noticed in the game and the series:
- The Miller poke in the eye. I think this is the difference maker. I thought this will make look better, but it turned out the other way around.
- 69 points! The most points allowed by the Patriots over Satria Muda in the six games they played this season. I felt that if Satria Muda needs to win, they have to score at least 70.
- Rony Gunawan. The SMB player who stepped up when both of the imports were being well-defended. His efforts aren’t enough, but he deserves some sort of consolation. SMB should keep this guy for next season.
- Gabe Freeman. Finished his ABL debut without a loss. No doubt that he is the MVP of the finals. On the first two games, Miller and Hartman was not able to outscore his efforts. The best they came up is to tie his output in game two. I hope to see this guy again next year. He is also going to suit up with the San Miguel Beermen for the PBA Fiest Conference.
- Patriots defense. Definitely the key in the series and the whole season. They silenced a highly hostile in Jakarta with their efforts.
- Rob Wainwright. His efforts made him the team’s third scorer after Freeman and Dixon. They will be the trio to watch next season.
- Bench. I guess this is pretty academic. Not much to say here.
- Rebounding. The battle of the boards also played a role especially in the offensive end. SM was mostly held into a one-and-out on almost every possession, while the Patriots got tons of 2nd chance (or even 3rd) points from it.
Overall, a good season and definitely one to remember. I am now excited for the next season.
@lrangels
sure, no problem.
the only way Baclao will be back next year is if he won’t be drafted by a PBA team… very unlikely since he and Acuña gained significant playing time and experience in the ABL (same thing with Lingganay for KL). not sure if Espiritu and Mirza are PBA-ready, but at least they have a team if they go undrafted unless the Patriots get more PBA draftees-in-waiting like Sena of JRU. Freeman should be back since the PBA’s Fiesta Cup doesn’t conflict with the ABL season. same with Dixon unless he plays elsewhere. everyone else should be back next year even if they play for a PBL team or sign a short contract for a PBA team like Vergara last year.
Congratulations to the Patriots, but I feel like the win is hollow because the imports did more than the locals in insuring the game. I hope the team owner gets at least a couple of locals who can dominate the game. Notice how very few people show up during their Patriots games? The local fans don’t feel any ownership of the team because it’s been an imports focused team.It’s terrible but its true.
I think the very reason why there’s not much fan support in Manila because of: too many leagues in Manila, probably poor marketing, and the ABL Finals ran smack with the PBA semi-finals.
Manila is home of the NCAA, UAAP, PBL, NCRAA, and of course the PBA, which has gained a lot of fan support in comparison with the ABL, which is still relatively new. So fans as of this time is still divided. That’s why a lot of the Filipino fans here are viewing it that a team from Cebu or someone outside Manila is the most logical choice which is a lot easier to market and a better likelihood of game attendance.
As read from some comments here at redhoops and at the PBA forum, the league was not properly marketed in Manila with some of the people doesn’t even know that the league even exist. A forumer from the PBA forum named razerman said, that he learned that the Patriots management are more focused on building a championship caliber team. That’s because it’s a lot easier to market the team and the league if you have a team who is winning and is a champion, which at some level does make sense.
Lastly, the ABL seemed to challenge the PBA in Manila. The PBA schedule for the playoffs ran at the same date with the ABL playoffs — Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Due to the poor marketing of the ABL in Manila and with Ginebra playing in the playoffs, which hyped it more because of the Talk ‘n Text walkout, it would be very difficult for the ABL to go head-to-head with the PBA.
Those three elements I mentioned above is something that the Patriots ownership needs to address for next season. Not much on the Xs and Os of their team and their game. Although, I still hope that the nucleus of their team the imports, and some key additions to their team will certainly increase their chances for a back-to-back championships.
I am looking forward to have other Asean member to join the ABL tournament and 2nd option only get another team from Phils and Indonesia. But it seems , only Vietnam get have a decent team other than that there is very remote possibilities to come-up from other Asean members. I dont think Cambodia, Laos or even Myanmar can put up a decent teams, since they are not keen on this sports but more on Football. The current roster of teams should be expanded to 8 first then to 10. And I am not keen to invite yet Taiwanese or Australian teams that may dominate the league and lost the thrill and excitement. Remember , during the 1st season , every team got lost to another. Even Patriots the strongest, lost twice to Slingers. It means, there still balance in the league.
oh-well.. heres my post after game 2..and as i predicted game 3
“surprised?? do you even think its not part of their plan to let the locals go for the shot instead of the top scoring imports that migth spark a run, do you wonder why they can held hartman and miller to a few points and not gunawan.. its been a strategy used for so long and yet they dont have a clue.. and i bet coach roring will use gunawan more and let him score more thinking he migth be the savior next game which is exactly what coach alas want to happen.. ”
-and thats exactly what roring did today..haay.. heres what i realized today.. aside from the big difference talentwise, the coaching smarts of filipino coaches is still far beyond that of our asean neighbors.. if arsego is coaching the smb we may actually have a different ending in this story.
You don’t know basketball. Rony Gunawan is our MVP and former NT player.
Patriots are dirty player.
Gunawan is Indonesia’s MVP? Is he the best that they can offer? I would rather pick Don Camaso of the barracudas instead of him.
the only reason why Gunawan scored 20 points is that the Patriots’ defense forced Miller and Hartman to give up the ball. most of Gunawan’s baskets were tough shots so it means he may be a skilled player, but he’s not a smart player.
the fact is the ABL champs are a bunch of players that no one wants in the PBA and college players who haven’t proven themselves (+2 imports, take out everyone else’s imports and let’s see what happens). this win might not even make it to the sports page of newspapers in Manila. if this whole ABL season is any indication of how the rest of Southeast Asia is catching up with the Philippines… they have a very, very, long way to go.
@ck.. how does it feel to see your team fall in front of your faces? we ate your dinner and party in your own house..and you cant do anything to stop us… six games and your team never won once… not once!!
Sondakh is a better player for me than Gunawan. Wuysang’s shorts was always pulled down by coronel on the entire game.. what a disgrace for the SMB team.
Mga kabayan, brothers, please let us not rub it in. Everybody knows that we know our basketball so please let us stop the chest beating. Instead, let us offer humility. That is who we are, that is taught to us by our parents, that’s what we teach to our children and that is what we ask from anybody. Since it is obvious that most hoop fans from other countries are not yet technically adept with the intricacies of basketball let us then go out of our way to explain it to our ASEAN compatriots.
@CK, I know Gunawan is a good player but I beg to disagree that the Patriots are dirty players. In more developed leagues around the world, play-offs usually goes on a no harm no foul mode. In the Phils and in FIBA, there is more physicality during games. Defense is given more premium, defense wins championships.(If in doubt search the net about this:). SMB in the coming years will adopt to this brand of basketball if they won’t they fail miserably in the ABL.
In spite of the losses of the other teams, this season has shown that anybody in ASEAN can be a hoop star, Lingganay,Gunawan, Attaporn (did i spell it right?), et al. After a decade or so basketball competency will even up in the ASEAN. Most ASEAN countries are open to new basketball technology, hiring foreign coaches and consultants while the Philippines ‘cept for the NT, is stucked to it’s almost pariah sensitivity to basketball.Hiring coaches from other countries is far fetched on most basketball organizations.
Mabuhay ang ABL!
@jerby – Classy comment. Thanks for the spirit of goodwill and respect you are sharing with the rest.
After seeing the ASEAN Basketball League facebook page go down in flames to the trolls, it’s nice to have a pleasant conversations with folks here on Red Hoops.
@jerby – by the way, in the Philippines, teams don’t like to hire outsiders to coach?
Les, my apologies, seems like I have a couple of typos on my post.
It has become more of a culture for most basketball organizations in the Philippines.Maybe they think that they can save more if they hire local. However, most basketball critics say that our coaching style has deteriorated since most coaches follow plays that they see in the PBA or have been using dated techniques that hark back in the days when the country lorded over anyone in Asia.
Compounding the issue is an organization of coaches in the Philippines that always criticize hiring of foreign coaches and consultants. They actually go to courts to ban foreign coaches. While we have foreigners on the hoops scene, they are not like the ones you see in other countries. These basketball professionals are either married to a Filipina or has decided to live and retire in the country and they are very few.
Lately, the SBP, our country’s basketball organization, shook the system by hiring Serbian coach Rajko Toroman. As expected, the coaches association assailed the move. The SBP held their grounds and it seems like they have proven themselves right. Now the Philippine NT, which is devoid of PBA players was able to place 3rd in the DUBAI invitationals wherein Arab teams, now the strongest in Asia, fielded NT players.While all teams were reinforced by 3 imports, the Philippines played all local. The feat has been acknowledged to Toroman’s European style of basketball.
Thanks for the comment Les.
@CK – no no no, philippine patriots are not dirty players, though if you meant ‘the patriots have a dirty player’, I would have to agree. Coronel does play a smothering physical defense, though he’s not dirty. Same with Baclao, Wainwright and Espiritu. Jerwin Gaco, though, is known since his college days as a tough, rugged, physical player who sometimes resort to dirty tactics. The finger to Millers eye was clearly unintentional, but the two elbows to Gunawans head was intentional and should have merited an ejection and a fine. He was clearly trying to hurt his opponent. That was worst than Ranidel De Ocampos supposed ‘flagrant 2 elbow foul’. Did you see Gunawans black eye?
speaking of dubai invitationals heres the documentary of the smart gilas on that tournament.
http://teampilipinas.info/2010/02/smart-gilas-pilipinas-documentary-video.html
at least Indonesia has a rising star in FERDINAND who is currently playing for DLSU in the UAAP who’ll become a 2nd or 3rd scoring option in his last year and at 6’5” he was giving Espuritu and Baclao fits and at one point he managed to posterize Baclao. so I guess if the Indonesians have a light of hope then look to this guy.
sir nards, can we invite Gilas and Toroman to Tacloban? just to inspire the kids. They don’t have to play, maybe give a small clinic to the kids. And a introduction to Toroman style of coaching, like an hour’s talk, whatever.. How much will it cost to bring at least 5 members of the team. It’ll be graduation time and I think the team will inspire a lot of kids here. Do you think they can squeeze in a schedule for us here? travel is only 50 minutes from manila by plane. we will shoulder everytrhing. thanks
Also how much will it cost me to use the gilas logo on caps, t-shirts, jerseys etc? is it possible?
thanks again
@jerby: I am neither affiliated with the SBP nor the PBA. I am just a freelance writer by trade who happened to be exposed in the world of basketball.
Smart has a very tight schedule consisting of International tourneys etc.
Slingers had 3 imports who could take over the game at one point, but could not handle a very physical team, without imports like in SEABA by them you were whipped around by 40+ points by Philippines and whipped around by everyone else in competition the role of the imports are to provide the leveling of the playing field.
@nick..whatever you say man..haha… its all over!
Congrats to Satria Muda for winning the 2nd place.We proud of our team.
@ nick- i told you no one remembers a team who didnt reach the finals. what matters the most is which team got the chance to hold the inaugural trophy of the ABL, while the rest, including your team are on the sidelines..No one will remember your team that was overated by their own fans.
Satria muda are the worthy opponents for the patriots, not your team..whats the name of your team again??
@nolah: “The one that beat you 2 games out of 3 and you can’t take that away from us.”
to be honest,the phillipines is definitely a class above the rest in southeast-asia.well it is proven,they sweep every series in the playoffs.imports wise,i feel before freeman joined the patriots.we,slingers have the best imports in jeffers,marcus and michael.We may have beaten the patriots twice but freeman wasn’t in the team yet.
To improve the standards of this league,there must be more teams.probably 10 next season?and in another 5 years,20?We should also invite australians and the taiwanese to come and play with us.I mean if a non-PBA players from phillipnes plus 2 imports can win the championship,making it look so easy,sweeping SMB in 3 games,than something is wrong.Why is phillipines so much better?simple.They treat the game more seriously.I mean,even me as a slingers fan I don’t expect them to win the championship.Why?cos (1)locals does not have enough exposure,(2)simply not good enough,no offense lim wai sian?prasad?no way are they gonna make it if they dont get bigger and more agile. (3)the standard of the youth is atrocious.the youths are our future but looking at the singapore youth,the only stand-out i see is russell low but even he,with that kind of lousy fitness level,will not make it far.The boy has got talent but somebody gotta tell him to work on his fitness.He is 195cm with an amazing dribbling ability.He is the future of Singapore basketball.Delvin Goh?he is simply using his height against opponents much shorter than him so he is a no-no.jabez su will be able to go far if he is able to play as point.he is a really quick player.Just take hong wei jian for example,forward 1m80cm?he look so small.he will get pushed around.who cares if he can dunk?a lot of people can DUNK.i always say “dont fix it if it aint broke” but apparently singapore basketball is already broken and unless we do something bout it.we will never be on par with the phillipines or indonesians.dont push the blame on lack of talents.if we can make our youth work their ass of.nothing is impossible.it is about how much you want it.
I don’t think there is any great desire to beat Philippines or Indonesia in basketball in Singapore. That is the reality in Singapore.
Most Singaporeans don’t lose much sleep even when the national team comes back from SEABA in last place. Partly because they don’t even know about the tournament when it is on, and partly because it doesn’t make any difference to them.
Even though many Singaporean ballers know of Michael Wong, Hong Weijian and company, they don’t really make the effort to pack out a 10,000 seater Singapore Indoor Stadium. The biggest crowd the whole season was 2,800.
At the present moment, there is a much greater and constant desire among Singaporean youth ballers to get an education so that they can get a job as a manager, executive, professional.
From a Singaporean point of view, better to be first in economics and last in sports, than the other way around.
If the ABL stays around long enough and provides decent, maybe even lucrative professional basketball jobs, perhaps that may change.
But we’ll see.
alright slingtown fan, savor it..beating a team from the philippines is indeed an achievement for any asean country.
Perhaps stating again that this is a club tournament is futile but the ABL is not a country vs country championship, and so I think all this nationalism is somewhat misplaced.
Slingers beat the Patriots 2 out of 3 times. It was one club vs another club.
Patriots went 7-0 when they brought in an American, Gabe Freeman, two games before the end of the regular season. Smart of them.
If the rest of the league couldn’t and didn’t want to bring in reinforcements, then, well, that’s how the cookie crumbles.
We should be humble what ever our team Patriot achieve today. One day will come that an Asean team will beat us in crucial games just like those middle eastern countries have done to our PBA reinforce team in the last 5 years. Congratulations to Patriot and thank you Satria Muda team. See you next time in ABL 2nd season. Slingers should keep Vergara.
Good comment, Mer jeddah.
* applause *
@les..”Most Singaporeans don’t lose much sleep even when the national team comes back from SEABA in last place. Partly because they don’t even know about the tournament when it is on, and partly because it doesn’t make any difference to them.”
-whenever you compete internationally you wear your countrys name and your flag colors, even if you are not fan of the sport but if you know its your country in the newspaper that placed last it makes a difference..maybe not on everyone but to those who not just love the sport but love their country.. if it doesnt make a difference why bother sending them in the first place..
“There is a much greater and constant desire among ballers to get an education so that they can get a job as a manager, executive, professional.”
-i think the desire is to be payed doing what they love doing and that is basketball.. they dont desire to work in the office cubicle and be contented on checking basketball sites on their desk computer.. they are forced to do so because of financial sustainability..
“Even though many Singaporean ballers know of Michael Wong, Hong Weijian and company, they don’t really make the effort to pack out a 10,000 seater Singapore Indoor Stadium. The biggest crowd the whole season was 2,800.”
-does it mean they can pack the sis in the rigth effort? you even have a separate sponsor for the playoffs and you even have redhoops based in singapore..
Since certain Philippines Patriots fans on this website never tire of reminding us that: 1) no one else in the ABL can match up with the Philippines Patriots, 2) the Philippines Patriots players are the pathetic refuse of the Philippines’ awesome and awe-inspiring basketball programs and 3) imports should be banned from the ABL– since certain Patriots fans believe these things – maybe the Patriots could take the moral high-road next year and rid their team of any foreign imports for the next season. I would like to see an ABL less dependent on foreign talent, but I would also readily agree that the imports bring a level of excitement and interest in the league that would not be there otherwise. The Patriots could set the standard for the league next year with their new ‘ethnically cleansed’ team.
To the Philippine Patriots basketball team – congratulations on winning the inaugural ABL championship. To certain of the Philippine Patriots fans – can you just tone down the chest-beating a notch. It gets tiresome. Your team won – congratulations already!
@les”Perhaps stating again that this is a club tournament is futile but the ABL is not a country vs country championship, and so I think all this nationalism is somewhat misplaced.”
-but then your the one who post this a few minutes before that
” don’t think there is any great desire to beat Philippines or Indonesia in basketball in Singapore. That is the reality in Singapore.
Most Singaporeans don’t lose much sleep even when the national team comes back from SEABA in last place. Partly because they don’t even know about the tournament when it is on, and partly because it doesn’t make any difference to them.”
-your part of those people who talk about seaba and not ABL.. with all due respect i think your nationalism is also misplaced.. and please dont remove my comment..;)
My comment about national teams was triggered by Slingersfan who wrote:
“… apparently singapore basketball is already broken and unless we do something bout it.we will never be on par with the phillipines or indonesians.”
So I brought up SEABA because that’s the only time the Singapore national team gets to play. They haven’t been able to go to any SEA Games for awhile because in 2007 they weren’t even nominated.
Of course, one should be proud of a national team, regardless of sport. But the reality in Singapore is that most don’t really care. They care more if Liverpool Football Club come to town. 43,000 packed out the National Stadium.
I don’t think the SIS will be packed out for a long time to come for a basketball game.
A playoff sponsor and a site like Red Hoops is just the first sign of green shoots. Perhaps the playoff sponsor is willing to go the distance. I started Red Hoops because I think the ABL is a brilliant idea.
If the ABL fails after two seasons, this site will die with it. I think that’s an honest appraisal of Red Hoops. We are totally dependent on ABL succeeding.
No ABL, no Red Hoops.
If the ABL goes down, we’ll just meet for coffee or a beer and reminisce about the good old days on Red Hoops.
By the way, Freeman is just awesome. I watched Game 3 on ESPN. The guy’s rebounding is just amazing. He made everyone else look so slow.
Team emirates have good showing in 1990 asian games. In 2002 asian games another middleastern develop strong team lebanon with nba player ron seikaly, but still did not participate.
The big revelation starts in doha,when qatar and iran places 2-3, extended until last year 2009 Iran defeat china, with less yao ming, other mideastern like lebanon,jordan,syria also starting to dominate jones cup.
If we can sustain over and above the next 5 years, with new young players come in,far east and south east team will make a run for their money.
talking about misplaced nationalism for pinoy fans before, now the moderator is talking about misplaced topic with regards to basketball against a nations economy, managers, executives and professionals
@nolah – it’s not a misplaced topic. If you read my clarification, I was describing Singapore’s situation (from my perspective) in response to slingersfan reference to national teams.
@sinigang tampines – the ABL seems to be a happy mixture of two things – club-based league with national sentiments woven in because, unlike the NBA, the ABL crosses borders. So while NBA fans I don’t think agonise over the imports and locals question in their clubs (do Americans talk about Gasol being Spanish?), they do for the ABL, because it’s woven into the franchise agreement (max 5 imports, the rest locals).
When the ABL expands to include more teams and when more than one club comes from one country – I’m sure Indonesia and Philippines will be the first countries to have two clubs each in the league – the nationalistic quotient might go down. Or maybe not.
Just as a trivial editorial aside, that’s why when I never describe Satria Muda or the Patriots as Indonesians or Filipinos, because each team has imports. I don’t think the Americans or Canadians (Hartman) will appreciate having their nationality subsumed under another identity. Similarly, I never describe the Slingers as Singaporeans for the same reason. They are simply Jakarta-, Manila- or Singapore-based clubs with a local bench (again because of the franchise rules).
the idea of the ABL being strictly a club tournament more than it is a country versus country affair is entirely misplaced. it’s not like football where supporting a club like Liverpool or Barca created a certain connection (club history, political stands, if you support Madrid or Man U just because they win games… i’d tell you to **** yourself). i certainly connect with the Patriots simply because they’re Filipino. i’m pretty sure the same goes for Singaporeans with the Slingers and every other ASEAN country represented by a club.
in fact, i personally couldn’t connect with a PBA club because they really don’t stand for anything (with the exception of Ginebra, representing the cheap gin-drinking Filipino masses who hate boring games and love action. remember what Caguioa did to Jeffers?). but i support my DLSU Green Archers (UAAP) because i’m a proud product of their educational institution.
simply put, what club tournament? technically, it is. but if people don’t acknowledge that the ABL’s country against country scheme adds spice to the mix, it’s like accepting that the Singapore Slingers are a misnomer (which they were when they were still with the NBL). imports can change anytime, but it’s the Singaporean players that give that club an identity.
Hey all! Let’s take it easy on this.
Obviously, that a lot of us are still treating this as a national team tournament, not a club based tournament or league. I think this is expected because most of us (if not all) are new to this concept. It will take some time.
For me it doesn’t really matter if Patriots won or not. What I am after for is the emergence of this league, and the hope it gave for the sport of basketball in Southeast Asia.
Sure, Philippines is strong now, but as long as the ABL is here and the vision is there, it is only a matter of time that other teams from the region will catch up.
Again, only time will tell.
Salam, Abdulrahman, the arab world will become stronger and stronger,not only in football, but in basketball,we are starting now
Maasalam.
Salam Abdulrahman, there are many players with arab-heritage not only in america,but now also in other parts of asia,like china and philipines.
Mr. les started it
, got pretty excited and defensive perhaps. Well its just normal for everyone to react that way. At least now they know what nationalism (misplaced) means. For me, its still a positive trait for everyone, love your own as they always say.
im a professional here in sg, and a former member of a basketball varsity of my university as well. Point Guard #17.
@nolah – What did I start?
Oh well, I shall take it as the confusion that always happen when there are multiple commentors. I only brought up the nationalism angle because of slingersfan. Anyway, enough said about this topic.
I think Irangels’ point is the one we all can agree on – a sustainable, continuing ABL is good for basketball in the region.
If it grows, it has the potential to give good jobs to those who love basketball, and not just players.
A thriving ABL will generate jobs within each country and across ASEAN in the travel, tourism, sports industry.
Good for all of us who want to work in the sports industry.
@Les
it’s because NBA international players don’t have a distinct gap in talent among American players the way ABL imports have over a local player. the Brunei team is the most extreme case, they play all their imports at the same time for as long as they can. there isn’t a flipside to that spectrum because having imports isn’t just a franchise agreement in the ABL, it’s a necessity. when Nakiea Miller forgot his passport and SMB played the Patriots early in the season, the look on Hartman’s face before tip-off was as if the game was already over.
we have this saying in 9-ball pool: “kita-kita sa finals” (see you at the final). the nationalistic quotient won’t go down if the ABL expands, it might even increase it (unless a region-based club like the Cebu Niños join the ABL, they have their own pride).
i still rest my case. fan bias aside, it doesn’t matter if an “import” plays for a club. if i have connection with that club, i don’t see it that the imports’ nationality is subsumed. it’s understood that they have a job to do. San Beda College had a 6’8 Nigerian student. no one complained when they won NCAA championships with him.
Although China still the tradional strong team, but winning in major asian competiotions is the dawn of new era for basketball in arab world.
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