As a basketball fan, the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is surely a great development in the local and regional basketball scene. Pitting the best teams in the region against each other, it is the ASEAN basketball equivalent of football’s Champions League, where the best in Europe play-off for the prestigious European title.

In ABL, the home and away system introduces fans to quality international basketball at their home arenas. Since the teams carry the name of their countries and fans often bring nationalism elements in supporting their teams, this would then raise this question: How much really are the local players of each team involved in their teams’ quest for success?

ABL rule permits teams to have a maximum of 5 foreign players consisting of two international and three ASEAN imports. Philippines have been known as a basketball powerhouse in the region, so as a casual observer I think it is not too far off to assume that teams would use two US players and three Filipino players. Just with that rule alone teams can have an all-foreign starting lineups.

From data available on the ABL official site I’ve chosen to pick a sample of games played during weeks 7, 8, and 9. In a full basketball game the total minutes played by players will be 4 quarters x 10 mins x 5 players = 200 total minutes played. From the box score I added up below, the fraction of minutes played by the local players and compared it against the total 200 mins played.

For example, if Satria Muda played its locals for 100 minutes out of total 200, they would have played their locals for 50% of the time. Statistics for the Philippines Patriots are not included in this analysis.

Week 7 results:
Brunei Barracudas (20mins, 10%) vs Singapore Slingers (54mins, 27%)
Brunei Barracudas (6mins, 3%) vs Thailand Slammers (98 mins, 49%)
Satria Muda (60mins, 30%) vs KL Dragons (57mins, 29%)
Singapore Slingers (48mins, 24%) vs Philippine Patriots (N/A)

Week 8 results:
Satria Muda (60mins, 30%) vs Brunei Barracudas (2mins, 1%)
Thailand Slammers (77mins, 39%) vs Philippine Patriots (N/A)
Singapore Slingers (47mins, 24%) vs Brunei Barracudas (8mins, 4%)

Week 9 results:
Thailand Slammers (96mins, 48%) vs Satria Muda (71mins, 36%)
KL Dragons (59 mins, 30%) vs Philippine Patriots (N/A)

A more thorough analysis would include all the games played, but I think it is reasonable to draw some insights from these 3 weeks. On average, teams other than the Patriots played their locals about 25 percent of the time. The Slammers have been doing a pretty good job mixing up their rotations, with the Dragons, Satria Muda, and Slingers following in a tight pack. The Barracudas’ numbers are startling: facing SMB, they only played their local player for 2 minutes!

This question is raised because ABL mandates that teams “maintain a strong youth development program to ensure the long term growth of the sport in the ASEAN region.” So that goal has to be put into question when teams are playing their local players for only a quarter of the total minutes available each game.

The goal of any competition is to make players better by playing against better players and gain more experience in the process. That learning experience is best earned when players are thrown in the heat of the battle. Obviously you cannot do that by watching from the bench, though some can still argue that it is already exposure in itself by training with the foreign imports. Even so, there is a world of difference between training with imports and playing against them in a competition.

With the imports switching teams within the league and remain being the go-to guys in their teams, it seems like the local players are getting pushed to the side. I am not against the use of internationals as they undoubtedly raise the overall quality of play, but I do believe that more conscious effort need to be put into to involve their local players in order to truly develop them through this league.

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, November 14, 2010 — The Singapore Slingers suffered the heartache of an 85-87 double-overtime loss to the Philippine Patriots in the ASEAN Basketball League.

The Slingers got off to a good start, with Leo Avenido again showing the way for the home team as he went 3-for-3 from 3-point range to lead his team to a 24-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Slingers got even further ahead in the second quarter when they led by as many as 19 points, with Marcus Skinner leading the way with seven second quarter points. By the half-time break, the Slingers were up a commanding 40-26, with Skinner and Avenido combining for 26 of those 40 Slinger points. The Patriots were not helped by having Donald Little collect his fourth personal foul in the second quarter and the big man had to sit out.

However, any illusions that the Slingers could beat the league leaders were shattered in the third quarter. The Patriots exploded for a 15-5 run in the first five minutes of the third and brought large sections of their vocal supporters into the game. With Little thrown back into the fray by Patriots head coach Louie Alas, Slingers found themselves outscored 23-13 in the quarter and their once comfortable 19-point lead had shrunk to four at 53-49.

There was an air of inevitability when the Patriots finally took the lead at 6:42 at 56-55 but there were still more twists in the tale to come. Little finally fouled out with 2:29 to go with the Patriots ahead 63-59, leading coach Alas to pound the arena floor in frustration as he contemplated the loss of a 17-rebound performer.

The Patriots then lost more key men in quick succession. First, new import Rasheim Wright hobbled off with a recurrence of a hamstring injury, then Chito Jaime picked up his fifth personal foul and was out of the game.

Skinner made a two-pointer with 37 seconds left and the Slingers trailed only by one at 64-65. Al Vergara then had a splendid chance to win the game for the Slingers with a breakaway layup but his attempt was blocked by Santiago Cabatu. Cabatu then made one of two free throws to reestablish a two-point lead at 66-64 for the Patriots.

The Slingers still had one last chance and they took it. Skinner went to the line for two free throws and when he missed the first one, the stadium held its collective breath, expecting him to miss the next one to give his teammates a chance for a put back. True enough, he missed and a mad scramble ensued for the rebound. Slinger Kyle Jeffers missed the first put back and it was Avenido who grabbed the second opportunity to stick it in to tie the game 66-66 and send it into overtime.

Jeffers tore off his jersey as he celebrated with Avenido and the rest of the Slingers, while the Patriots bench contemplated their second overtime game for the season, their first coming in the victory against the Brunei Barracudas.

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Brunei, Saturday, November 6, 2010 — The Brunei Barracudas worked off the frustration from their blowout loss to the KL Dragons last weekend to hand the league’s best team, the Philippine Patriots, a 71-56 defeat in Round 6 of the ASEAN Basketball League.

This was the first defeat for the Patriots after they had won their opening five games of the season. They fall to 5-1 while the Barracudas improve to 2-4.

The Patriots were all at sea in the first quarter, scoring only two points while Chris Commons, Bryan Faundo and Christopher Garnett of the Barracudas collectively made 16 points.

Thunderous crowd chants together with the Barradrummers amplified the visibly shakened Patriots’ plight. However, with the guidance of Coach Louie Alas, the Patriots rallied back in the second quarter. A huge 3-pointer from Ernesto Billiones coupled with the combined efforts of Chito Jaime, Donald Little and Santiago Cabatu gathered 19 points against the Barracudas 12. The Patriots were quickly learning how to swim in the Barracudas’ sea, trailing only by by seven (21-28) at the half.

The third quarter though was an entirely different story. With deadly intent, Ramsey Williams, wearing jersey number 35 for the Barracudas, delivered 3-pointer upon 3-pointer which even the Patriots’ well-known defensive prowess could not stop. Williams sank three of his four 3-pointers in the third quarter to lead the Barracudas to a 51-36 lead at the end of the third as the Patriots were out-scored 23-15.

The fourth quarter was a see-saw battle with both teams scoring 20 points but their poor first quarter eventually cost the Patriots the game.

The Patriots will need to work on their long range shooting as they only made 3 out of 19 attempts (16%). The In contrast, the Barracudas sank 8 out 28 3-pointers (29%) but the difference between the two teams was in the area of assists, with the Barracudas notching 13, while the Patriots only had six.

Ramsey Williams led with 23 points for the Barracudas while Patriots’ Billiones had 19 points. Donald Little had a double-double, 11-point, 12-rebound showing for the Patriots.

The Barracudas will next entertain the visiting Singapore Slingers (3-3) on Wednesday, November 10th. The Slingers will then return home to welcome the Patriots on Sunday, November 14th.

For more stats, go to next page

By reader Jayson Valencia

Anthony Johnson is out of the Philippine Patriots and in comes Sammy Monroe. The question is — what is the impact of this move with regard to the defending champions’ bid for their second consecutive championship?

So far, we’ve seen that the Patriots are good enough to win games with only one import playing on several occasions. Donald Little is proving to be an asset as far as defense for the Patriots is concerned. And likewise, the locals with the likes of Billiones — otherwise known as “the richest man in the PBA” — are stepping up. (His name literally translates to “billions”.)

However, we’ve seen several near misses and come-from-behind games in the last few matches, which indicates that the Patriots may not get away with their weaknesses any longer. Thus, the Patriots management have found it necessary to let go of Johnson, one of the most prolific scorers in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

To answer our original question on how valuable Sammy Monroe is to the Patriots, it is absolutely necessary to examine his past.

Sammy Monroe is a veteran import of the Barako Bulls team in the PBA. He is the team’s main offensive threat. I’ve seen his name float around forums as one of the best import in the PBA. But, just like Superman, Monroe has his own kryptonite. He is sometimes accused of not only having shaky chemistry with his teammates but also of being a “ball hog”. In his defence though, his stats on team assist says otherwise.

He leads the Barako in points, rebounds, steals and blocks. So, aside from his offensive prowess, the new guy is also a defensive wall. On the negative side, he also leads the stats in turnovers (probably because he handles the ball more than anybody?).

With Sammy Monroe’s addition to the Patriots roster, I think the chances of clinching a second consecutive ABL championship just went up a notch.

For those of you who wants to know more about who the new guy is, below is his profile:

Position: Forward
Height: 1′98(6’7) Weight: 215
Date of birth: 20/02/1985
Birthplace: Jacksonville, NC (USA)
Nationality: USA

Awards/Achievements
All-Region X Second Team as freshman
Led Clinton JC to 22-10 record and Conference Championship
Led team in rebounds (6.5 rpg) and blocks (1.0 bpg) junior season
Second on team in points (14.2 ppg) as junior
Scored 20 points or more six times and posted four double-doubles junior season
Selected by Sioux Falls Skyforce in 9th round (118th overall) of 2007 NBDL Draft
2009 PBL All-Playoff Team
2009 PBL Playoff Co-MVP

Sammy Monroe Acrobatic Shot vs. Aces Defender

Manila, Saturday, October 30, 2010 — The visiting Satria Muda led at the end of each of the first three quarters but could not finish off the Philippine Patriots as they succumbed 69-75 to the unbeaten league leaders.

The Patriots are a perfect 5-0 for this second ASEAN Basketball League season while Satria Muda are 1-4 and find themselves propping up the six-team league.

The Patriots’ head coach was still not satisfied with what he saw.

“We played inconsistently. We had a lousy practice during the week, but I told the players they can’t just come into a game and play. They have to earn victory,” coach Alas was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe.

Hampered by a domestic ruling that prevents them from fielding the same player in two concurrent tournaments, Satria Muda have been forced to go with a lean team in the ABL while competing at the same time in the Indonesian Basketball League. As a result, the Jakarta club are beginning to resemble the Brunei Barracudas from the first season.

Satria Muda played only with a seven-man roster, with imports Mario Wuysang (37:03), Marcus Morrison (40:00), Francis Adriano (38:35), Celedon Camaso (31:35), Antoine Broxsie (40:00) playing the bulk of the game. Doni Ristanto (8:16), Robert Sanz (0:29) and Fattah Arifin (4:22) contributed minimally. Sanz is a replacement for fellow Filipino Ronald Capati who was dropped.

Satria Muda’s Marcus Morrison had a game-high 35 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. His teammate Mario Wuysang was also in double digits with 13 points.

Ernesto Billiones led the Patriots with 20 points while his teammate Donald Little contributed a double-double with 11 points and 19 rebounds.

Trailing by six (53-59) at the start of the fourth quarter, the Patriots tied it up at 63-63 with 4:06 to go. A 12-6 run as the clock wound down secured them victory in a fourth quarter where the scored a total of 22 points while limiting Satria Muda to only 10.

Satria Muda will return home to Jakarta to entertain the KL Dragons (3-2) on Wednesday, November 3rd while the Patriots visit the Brunei Barracudas (1-4) on Saturday, November 6th.

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Bangkok, Saturday, October 23, 2010 — The Thailand Slammers saw their unbeaten record disappear as they went down 48-54 to the visiting Philippine Patriots in the ASEAN Basketball League.

It was a game between the two remaining unbeaten teams in the league and the Slammers certainly missed the scoring of Chris Kuete who has averaged 25 points in the first three games of the season. Kuete is sidelined with an injury sustained in a collision with Satria Muda’s Marcus Morrison in the previous weekend.

It was the Slammers who set the pace, taking a 13-6 lead into a second quarter where they led by as many as 10 points before the Patriots trimmed the deficit back down to five at the half at 29-24.

The Slammers continued to keep their noses in front in the third, with their highest lead at no more than six points in a low-scoring quarter that saw the Slammers put up nine to the Patriots’ 11.

The Patriots finally drew level when Warren Ybanez sank a three-pointer with 6:00 to go to level it 40-40. Ernesto Billiones then gave the Patriots their first lead in a long while with a field goal to make it 42-40 but Froilan Baguion sank a three-pointer with 4:02 to go for the Slammers to lead by one (43-42).

Anthony Johnson then sank a go-ahead three-pointer for the Patriots to lead 45-43 and they never trailed again. Johnson contributed eight points and one steal in the final three and half minutes as the Patriots went on a 9-2 run to seal the victory.

The Slammers fall to 1-3 while the Patriots improve their win-loss record to a league-leading 4-0.

The Slammers will now travel to face the Singapore Slingers next Sunday, October 31st while the Patriots will entertain Satria Muda at home on Saturday, October 30th.

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The Barracudas (yellow) almost beat the Patriots in regulation time but fell short in overtime. (Photo courtesy of ABL)

Brunei, Saturday, October 16, 2010 — The Brunei Barracudas saw a six-point lead with 26 seconds to go in regulation time disappear when Santiago Jr Cabatu sank two consecutive three-pointers to even things up at 61-61 at the buzzer. In overtime, the Barracudas were outscored 11-6 and lost their first ASEAN Basketball League home game 67-72.

The Patriots led by as many as 10 points early in the fourth quarter but the Barracudas tied it up with a Chester Tolomia three-pointer at 55-55 with 4:40 to go.

The Barracudas then kept their noses in front of the Patriots and with less than a minute to go, established a five-point, 60-55 lead on the back of two Williams Ramsey free throws. Another Chris Commons free throw with 24 seconds left gave them a six-point, 61-55 lead but the Patriots replied with Cabatu’s two three-pointers to push the game into overtime.

The Patriots jumped out in front in overtime and led by four at 65-61. The Barracudas tied it up at 67-67 via another Tolomia three-pointer but it was Patriots all the way after that.

Chris Commons led the Barracudas with a double-double, 17-point, 11-rebound performance. Four Barracudas were in double-figures — Commons (17), Tolomia (15), Bryan Faundo (14), Ramsey (14).

They were matched by the Patriots, with Cabatu (16), Ernesto Billiones (14), Donald Little (14) and Benedict III Fernandez (11) in double figures as well. Little also had a double-double with his 13 rebounds.

The win was the Patriots’ third consecutive and they have a spotless 3-0 win-loss record while the luckless Barracudas fall to 0-3.

The Patriots will next play the unbeaten Thailand Slammers in a top-of-the-table clash while the Barracudas will get on a plane to visit Satria Muda in Jakarta.

Pasig City, Saturday, October 9, 2010 — The Philippine Patriots beat the visiting Singapore Slingers 62-59 to secure their second win of the ASEAN Basketball League regular season.

The weakened Patriots, playing without Alex Crisano and American import Anthony Johnson because of injuries, pulled through, with Junjun Cabatu scoring the last five points to secure the win.

Cabatu hit a three-pointer with 64 seconds left that gave them a 60-56 lead and even though Slingers’ Al Vergara replied with a trey of his own to reduce the deficit to just one, Cabatu had another answer with a drive to stretch the Patriots lead to 62-59 with 31 seconds on the clock. Slingers rookie Ng Han Bin had a chance to draw level but he could not execute a three-point play.

“Our defense held on especially in the last four possessions. We played much better defensively than the last time out and our locals stepped up,” said Patriots head coach on the official ABL website.

Filipinos Benedict Fernandez and Egay Billiones led the Patriots with 12 and 11 points respectively while their import Donald Little had did not have his best game with 11 turnovers while amassing seven points and nine rebounds.

The Slingers got out to a good start, leading by as much as 10 in the first quarter. Their biggest lead in the second half was seven points and had a slim one-point, 53-52 lead late in the game before Cabatu’s heriocs.

Slinger Leo Avenido led all scoring with 15 points while his teammates Marcus Skinner and Kyle Jeffers had 12 and 10 points.

The Patriots go to a 2-0 win-loss record after their opening weekend win over the Brunei Barracudas while the Slingers are now 1-1, their sole win so far coming over Satria Muda at home last week.

The Patriots will play their first away game of the season against the Barracudas on Saturday, October 16th while the Slingers will entertain the KL Dragons at home on Sunday, October 17th.

Pasig City, Saturday, October 2, 2010 — A new-look Philippine Patriots started off slowly but eventually triumphed 71-62 over the visiting Brunei Barracudas on the opening day of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL).

The Patriots nearly squandered a 12-point lead when the Barracudas went on a scoring spree in the final period but former University of Santo Tomas star Allen Maliksi rose to the occasion to help the team weather the late Barracudas charge.

Maliksi provided the killing blow for the squad co-owned by Harbour Centre boss Mikee Romero and Tony Boy Cojuangco by hitting a huge basket before completing a three-point play.

Those baskets enabled the defending champions to pull away for good to the delight of the crowd.

The win likewise enabled the Patriots to forge a three-way tie for the early lead with the Thailand Slammers and the Singapore Slingers.

The Slammers, behind reinforcements Chris Kuete and former Patriots import Jason Dixon, defeated the KL Dragons in overtime, 79-74, last Saturday while the Slingers edged past last year’s runner-up Satria Muda BritAma of Indonesia, 94-93, also last night.

“We we’re very sluggish defensively. We were up by 12 points (43-31 in the third quarter) and suddenly it became a one-point lead,” said Patriots head coach Louie Alas. “We still don’t have the desire to play defense. Like I told them earlier, don’t make this into a showcase.” 


The Patriots survived a gallant showing by the Barracudas, powered by the massive heft of the bulky Chris Garnett who finished with 23 points and nine rebounds in a no-relief showing.

Anthony Johnson registered a game-high 24 points and 12 rebounds while dishing out three assists in 36 minutes of action. He helped the Patriots take a commanding lead in the second quarter highlighted by two breakaway dunks to take a 39-31 lead at the half.

His partner, 6-foot-11 center Donald Little, overcame a sluggish debut in the paint to finish with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. Alas hopes to see a better showing from him when they battle the Singapore Slingers on Saturday at the same venue.

Ex-pro Junjun Cabatu led all locals in scoring by making all of his nine points in the first quarter as he helped the Patriots overcome a poor start to grab a slim 21-20 advantage.

Also providing the spark were Erwin Sta Maria with nine points and three boards, fellow holdover from last season’s title squad in Warren Ybanez who had three points, five rebounds and six assists and big man Chito Jaime with three points and six boards.

Chris Commons had 15 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and three steals, ex-Letran Knight Bryan Faundo made 11 points and 13 boards and guard Kevin White chipped in 10 markers for the Barracudas.

Scoring by Quarters
Patriots vs Barracudas
1st Q: 21-20
2nd Q: 18-11 (39-31)
3rd Q: 15-16 (54-47)
4th Q: 17-15 (71-62)

Patriots 71 – Johnson 24, Little 11, Cabatu 9, Sta Maria 9, Billones 5, Maliksi 5, Ybanez 3, Jaime 3, Fernandez 2, Salangsang 0, Sta Cruz 0, Alcaraz 0.

Barracudas 62 – Garnett 23, Commons 15, Faundo 11, White 10, Tan 3, Tolomia 0, Fong 0, Suhaili 0, Lim 0.

Ed’s note: Full box scores are not available because the organisers said the system went down.

Kuala Lumpur, Tuesday, March 9, 2010 – American Jason Dixon of the Philippines Patriots walked away with the Best ABL Import award at the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) end-of-season dinner last night in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Philippine Patriots also received their championship rings on the night, their reward for sweeping Jakarta-based Satria Muda BritAma 3-0 in the best-of-five finals last month. It was a night of celebration for team owners, sponsors and the organisers of the inaugural league that tipped off in October 2009.

The 6′ 9″ (206cm) big man though, was modest about his award.

“To be honest with you, I personally don’t feel I deserve it,” said Dixon to Red Hoops after the dinner at the Garden Hotel in Mid Valley City. “I personally feel there are various other guys who outperformed me, Gabe Freeman being number one. Nakiea Miller is a guy that you have to give him his credit.

“When you come in number one scorer, number one rebounder, numbers talk. I’m just a guy, I fit in well with my team, I make my team play better. [But] I accept the award, thank you.”

Dixon finished the season with 228 points over 15 games for a 15.2 points-per-game average. Miller, who was brought in after the season started to replace Theo Little in the Satria Muda squad, played 10 games, scoring 207 points for a 20.7 points-per-game average.

For Dixon, who just turned 37 in February, the experience with the Patriots in a new league has been a good one so far.

“With it being a new league, I think every moment is going to be a highlight. I think there’s a lot that they have to learn, but they’ve set their bar so high. It was actually a joy to play for them (Patriots),” said Dixon.

Dixon, a much-travelled professional basketballer who has played in the Philippines, China, Turkey, Cyprus and Europe, was impressed by how the league was run.

“As far as off the court, I have no complaints. We stayed in good hotels. We travelled as well as we could. It was a good league. I was actually surprised at how the league was run,” said Dixon.

“Yes, I have seen [some leagues in my time]. I’ve stayed at some terrible hotels in the leagues that have been established. I’ve seen them treat players like they’re dirt. The ASEAN league has treated the players like they are professionals and that’s a good reputation to have,” Dixon added.

The native of Colorado, USA, is certainly looking forward to resuming his position as centre on the Patriots roster for the upcoming season.

“I am looking forward to seeing how many championships we can win. The thing is when they add more teams, you add more competition. I’m sure the salary cap is going to increase as well. We’ll see what happens,” Dixon said.

Attaporn Lertmalaiporn of the Thailand Tigers won the ABL League MVP award while Patriot Warren Ybanez pipped teammates Robert Wainwright and Jerwin Gaco for the ABL Finals MVP recognition.

Jason Dixon Career Highlights

Guangdong Southern Tigers, Chinese Basketball Association (1998−2001,2002-2009)
- Dixon achieved team-highs of 3908 rebounds, 349 blocks and 498 dunks
- Dixon’s number 15 jersey was retired by the team

Coca-Cola Tigers, Philippine Basketball Association (2008 – Fiesta Conference)

Previous Clubs

1997 – Hapoel Galil Elion, Israel Premier League
1997 – Portland Wave, USBL
1998 – New Jersey Shorecats
1998 – Karsiyaka Izmir Turkiye, Turkey Basketball League
1999 to 2000 – Guangdong Southern Tigers, Chinese Basketball League
2001 – Sodertalje Kings, Sverige Basketligan
2001 – Guangdong Southern Tigers, CBA
2001 – Trotamundos de Carabobo, Venezuela LPB
2001 – Keravnos Keo Nicosia, Cyprus A1
2002 – Huntsville Flight, D-League
2002 – Keravnos Keo Nicosia, Cyprus A1
2003 to 2009 – Guangdong Southern Tigers, CBA

source: www.basketpedya.com