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.

Satria Muda’s Antoine Broxsie finds himself surrounded as he looks for an outlet pass. Broxsie had 20 points and led his team with 17 rebounds. (Photo 1 courtesy of ABL)

Jakarta, Saturday, November 6, 2010 — Despite leading for most of the game, the Singapore Slingers were eventually stunned 88-83 in overtime by bottom club Satria Muda in the 6th round of the ASEAN Basketball League.

The Jakarta club were on a three-game losing skid before this game and their victory improves their win-loss record to 2-5. The Slingers slip to 3-3 and have yet to win on the road this season.

Leading by eight points in the fourth quarter at 75-67 with 5:00 to go, the Slingers saw their lead disappear gradually. Satria Muda eventually tied it up with 32 seconds left when Antoine Broxsie stole the ball and was fouled in the resulting play. Broxsie sank one of two free throws to tie the game at 77-77 and when Kyle Jeffers missed a two-point opportunity with 12 seconds to go, the game was headed to overtime.

That’s when the Slingers’ shooting deserted them as they missed seven of nine 3-point attempts while Satria Muda managed seven points from the field, including one 3-pointer by Mario Wuysang.

Marcus Morrison had a double-double for Satria Muda with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Four Satria Muda players were in double-digit scoring territory.

The Slingers were again led by Leo Avenido with 24 points and 10 rebounds while Marcus Skinner had 21 pionts.

The Slingers continue their road trip in Brunei with a game against the Barracudas (2-4) on Wednesday, November 10th.

Satria Muda will fly to Kuala Lumpur to take on the Dragons (3-4) on Saturday, November 6th.

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The victory is the third in a row for the Dragons and improved their win-loss record to 3-3. For Satria Muda, it is their fourth consecutive defeat and they remain anchored to the bottom of the table.

Satria Muda again saw good production from their imports, with Francis Adriano leading the Jakarta club with 22 points. Marcus Morrison registered a double-double, scoring 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Satria Muda were again reliant on their starting five of Mario Wuysang (34:14), Antoine Broxsie (37:02), Celedon Camaso (32:36), Morrison (39:42) and Adriano (33:35) to carry the load.

The Dragons on the other hand saw strong contributions from their bench, with Yoong Jing Kwaan registering a surprise team-high 15 points. The dynamic duo of Nakiea Miller and Alex Hartman, who played in the colours of Satria Muda during the first ABL season, returned to their old stomping ground to do damage with 13 and 12 points respectively. Miller and Hartman also had 15 and 10 rebounds.

The Dragons started their season with three straight losses and that convinced their management to go out and hire the services of Miller and Hartman. Since their inclusion, the Dragons have been unbeaten in three games.

The Dragons continue their road trip with a game against the Thailand Slammers (3-2) on Sunday, November 7th. Satria Muda will entertain the Singapore Slingers (3-2) on Saturday, November 6th.

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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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Ramsey Williams of the Barracudas goes for two. He finished with 9 points. (Photo 1 by Rogelio Amat, courtesy of ABL)

Jakarta, Saturday, October 23, 2010 — The visiting Brunei Barracudas won their first game of the ASEAN Basketball League season when they beat home team Satria Muda 87-70.

The Barracudas were led by Chris Commons who scored a game-high 36 points. Commons also had two teammates contributed a double-double each, with Chris Garnett scoring 18 points and 21 rebounds, while Bryan Faundo had 16 and 17.

After losing their first three games of the season, the Barracudas welcomed back former head coach Bong Ramos to lead the team again.

Bong said that he just had three session of practice with his team before facing Satria Muda.

“I just told the players my philosophy in basketball at first practice. Then I just organizing small things in offense so that they can execute well. In my opinion if I can make the field goal up to 40 percent, we will win this game and actually my prediction is right,” said Bong after the game. The Barracudas shot 42% (34-of-81) from field-goal range.

Bong watched Satria Muda play against Slammers last weekend but he said he was not spying on Satria Muda.

“Barracudas asked me to join on Monday. I had some business to do last week [in Jakarata],” he continued.

Chris Commons said the presence of Bong made the offense run well.

“It seems that I could scored very easy but it wasn’t. It’s just my teammate helped me much to got the open space to execute like the coach asked,” said Commons.

Satria Muda assistant coach Tri Adnyanaadi Lokatanaya said that their strategy didn’t run well.

“We planned to make one of the Barracudas starters foul out by attacking straight to the basket individually. But they managed to escape the foul until the end of the game,” he said.

The Barracudas improve to a 1-3 win-loss record while Satria Muda have now lost two games in a row and fall to 1-3.

The Barracudas will travel to Kuala Lumpur next to face the Dragons on Saturday, October 30th while Satria Muda will face the unbeaten Philippine Patriots in Manila on the same day.

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Jakarta, Saturday, October 16, 2010 — The Thailand Slammers won their first away game today when they crushed Satria Muda 84-63. It was also their third consecutive win and they now have a 3-0 win-loss record and sit top of the ASEAN Basketball League.

The Slammers were up 44-29 at half-time and dominated the third quarter 28-18 to move into the fourth quarter leading by a massive 25 points at 72-47.

The Slammers were 29-of-60 (48%) from field-goal range and sank 10 of 22 (45%) three-point attempts. They outrebounded their hosts 49-29.

It was a poor shooting night for Satria Muda as they went 24-of-72 (33%) from field-goal range and a poor 3-of-28 (11%) from three-point range.

Slammers’ Jason Dixon had a double-double, scoring a game-high 28 points and 18 rebounds. Teammate Piyapong Piroon also stood out with 17 points, including a 5-of-11 performance from beyond the arc.

Satria Muda’s Jamal Holden led his team with a double-double, 17-point and 10-rebound contribution. Teammate Marcus Morrison added 15 points but he struggled from the field, shooting only 6-of-20 and was 1-of-8 from three-point range.

While the Slammers sit joint-top of the table with their unbeaten 3-0 record, Satria Muda drop to 1-2.

The Slammers will entertain the unbeaten Philippine Patriots at home next weekend on Saturday, October 23rd, while Satria Muda will entertain the visiting Brunei Barracudas on the same day.

Dragons’ Guga looks for a way past Mario Wuysang of Satria Muda. (Photo courtesy of ABL)

Kuala Lumpur, Sunday, October 10, 2010 — The KL Dragons fell to their second consecutive defeat when the visiting Satria Muda beat them 77-68. While the Dragons fall to an 0-2 win-loss record, Satria Muda are 1-1, their sole loss so far coming at the hands of the Singapore Slingers last weekend.

Angelus Santos Raymundo led the Dragons with a double-double, scoring 20 points and pulling down 21 rebounds and teammate Rudy Lingganay chipped in with 17. The Dragons shot 26/77 (34%) from field-goal range and pulled down 42 rebounds to Satria Muda’s 28.

However, they were up against a Satria Muda side with four players scoring in the double-digit range. Marcus Morrison led with 20 points with Francis Adriano (19), Jamal Holden (17) and Celedon Camaso (15) backing him up. Camaso in particular stood out with five three-pointers on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Satria Muda were 9/21 (48%) from three-point range on the night while the Dragons were a dismal 4/28 (14%).

Satria Muda’s Morrison, who showed he was willing to have verbal exchanges and taunts with spectators in the game against the Singapore Slingers last weekend, stayed true to character in Kuala Lumpur as he continued with that same behaviour at the MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, the second loss in a row is worrying the Dragons coaching staff.

“We may also be looking to make some player changes if our losses keep mounting,” said Dragons head coach Goh Cheng Huat.

The Dragons make the short trip across the Causeway to Singapore to play the Slingers on Saturday, October 17th while Satria Muda return to Jakarta to entertain the Thailand Slammers on the same day.

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Sunday, October 3, 2010 — The Singapore Slingers started their second ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) season on a brilliant note with a nail-biting 94-93 win over arch-rivals and last year’s runners-up Satria Muda at home.

ASEAN import Leo Avenido led the Slingers with 20 points, including five three-pointers and four rebounds, while Kyle Jeffers and Marcus Skinner got double-doubles with 19 points each together with 10 and 11 boards respectively. Al Vergara scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds while Steven Khoo was the top-performer for the locals with 11 points and two rebounds.

Although Satria Muda, who beat the Slingers in the semi-final playoffs last season, trailed for most of the match, they always kept within striking distance, thanks to new American import Marcus Morrison’s game-high 34 points which included 7-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. ASEAN import Francis Adriano contributed another 23 points for the Jakarta-based team.

However, their efforts were not enough to prevent the Slingers from taking the match by the slimmest of fashion.

The Slingers came out firing on all cylinders at the start of the match as they raced to a 6-0 lead within the first two and a half minutes and thanks to a three-pointer by Leo Avenido, Satria Muda’s bench called for a timeout.

It did wonders as the away side began to find their rhythm and got their first points through American import Jamal Holden with a drive to the basket at 4:40. They soon strung some points together and it was not long before last season’s finalist took the lead at 12-11 in emphatic fashion through a dunk from Jamal Holden at with 3:10 remaining in the first.

Jeffers snatched the lead back for the home side and they managed to hold the lead at the end of the first quarter at 23-20.

Both teams were almost immediately back on level terms with Francis Adriano tying the match at 23-23 with a three-pointer. The two sides then proceeded to trade the lead until midway through the quarter when Slingers strung together a 9-0 run.

With the scores level at 35-35, Jeffers started the run with a three-point play and followed it up with a dunk. Al Vergara also got in on the action with a pair of free throws and a layup on the break.

However, Morrison dragged Satria Muda back into the match as he drained three three-pointers. Adriano also added another jumper at the end of the second half to cut the Slingers lead down to just two points at the half at 50-48.

The third quarter saw a series of free throws at the start as both teams traded the lead from the charity stripe. This time, it was Satria Muda’s turn to make the run midway through the third period. The Slingers were unable to contain their opponents as the away side had their way with the Slingers’ defense, going on an 8-0 run.

After Morrison gave Satria Muda a 68-61 lead, Leo Avenido, who had just seven points in the first half, finally got going in the third when the Slingers needed him the most. He nailed three three-pointers and one free throw to single-handedly give the Slingers the lead at 71-70 towards the end of the quarter.

Satria Muda did manage to take the lead into the fourth quarter with a layup at the end of the third, but it did not last long. This time, Marcus Skinner was on hand to make the baskets. The American import performed poorly in the first three periods due to a knee injury, garnering just eight points, but he exploded with seven straight points within the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Together with another three by Leo Avenido, which gave the Slingers an 81-75 lead, Satria Muda were forced into another timeout.

Satria Muda played much better basketball after the timeout and things got even better for them with 4:06 left in the match when Slingers’ captain Jeffers fouled out after collecting his fifth personal foul on Jamal Holden.

With just an 87-83 lead after Holden nailed both his free throws, questions were asked about whether the Slingers would crack under the pressure. However, the local side displayed character and responded brilliantly in the absence of their captain. Steven Khoo drilled a three-pointer while Marcus Skinner put in the rebound after Leo Avenido missed his driving layup for a 92-83 lead with less than two minutes remaining.

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Monday, September 7, 2010 — Alex Hartman will not suit up for the KL Dragons for the upcoming ASEAN Basketball League season despite playing for the Malaysian team in their recent domestic season. Hartman turned out for Satria Muda BritAma of Indonesia in the first ABL season.

“It was my intention to come to Malaysia for the domestic NBL season for the sole purpose to show the Dragons that I could play in their teams system with their players and bring a championship,” Hartman told Red Hoops a few weeks ago.

“I told the coach right when I arrived that I would help KL bring a championship I would help his local players and I would give it my all every game and that’s what I did. And I was rewarded with MVP honors. I felt like if I did my job they would ask me back for the ABL season. It was my goal the whole time. I believe we have unfinished business and I hope the team would see that and bring me back. But they didn’t sign me back officially yet,” added Hartman.

As of last Friday, September 24th, Hartman was still not signed to a contract. Since then, the KL Dragons official website has since listed Irishman Thomas Grace Conor as their second international signing after Jason Killeen.

Hartman listed some of the positives of playing with the Dragons.

“Some of the attractions are playing with a team I just won a championship. I understand what the coaches and players want. We worked hard. The management was good. I mean, any player wants to return to a team where you were winners. I liked the city. I was very comfortable,” said Hartman.

As for Satria Muda, his former team, there was no chance of a happy return for a second season with the Jakarta-based club.

“Well, Satria Muda never asked me back. It was disappointing cause I had won a championship in Indonesia and finished second in the ABL season and led the league in points. I felt I did everything I could. But there are no hard feelings. I love Indonesia and will always have a place for Satria Muda and its fans in my heart,” said Hartman.

During the ABL off-season, Hartman played for the Vancouver Volcanoes in the International Basketball League from April to July. Hartman played 20 games, averaged 27.5 minutes and 12.6 points. As for the ABL, Hartman was positive about the experience.

“The first ABL season was good. I thought that it was professional, competitive, with a lot of good players, both domestic and imported, and I felt the fans grew with the season,” said Hartman.

Mike Pilgrim in the colours of the Brunei Barracudas last season. He’s expected to suit up for Satria Muda in the upcoming season. (Photo © Les Tan/Red Sports archives)

Ex-Barracuda Mike Pilgrim is apparently headed for Satria Muda BritAma, according to a September 4th Brunei Times report.

Pilgrim wrote on his Facebook page: “Well it looks like God has given me my new home … Sept 15 ya boy is on his way back to Asia … Let’s get it family.”

Pilgrim was dropped by the Brunei Barracudas for disciplinary issues at the tail end of the first season, just before the playoffs.

“Well, it’s not official yet. I will be signing the contract next week … I’m very excited to be able to play at the BritAma Arena because they have great fan support there,” Pilgrim told The Brunei Times.

Pilgrim was ranked joint-seventh overall for points with a 16.5 points-per-game average and he was 10th overall in the league with his 8.1 rebounds per game.