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The local Barracudas have seen very little playing in the last two seasons of the ASEAN Basketball League. Every ABL team has seven locals on the roster as required by the league.

The Barracudas currently lie in fifth place on the table and have a 3-8 win-loss record. They have little chance of qualifying for the playoffs. Only the top four qualify.

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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Marcus Skinner of the Slingers shoots over Barracuda Chris Commons. Skinner led the Slingers with 25 points. (Photo © Lee Suening/Courtesy of ABL)

Brunei, Wednesday, November 10, 2010 — The Singapore Slingers finally nailed their first victory on the road when they beat hosts Brunei Barracudas 81-74 in Round 7 of the ASEAN Basketball League.

Barracudas were led by Chris Commons who had a massive 37-point game, but despite double-digit scoring contributions from Ramsey Williams (15 points) and Chester Tolomia (11), the team finally ran out of steam while playing with only a six-man roster.

Commons, Tolomia and Williams played all 40 minutes of the game while Chris Garnett (36:04) and Bryan Faundo (26:11) were the only other Barracudas who saw major minutes. Esmond Tan was the only other Barracuda with any playing time with 19:47.

The Slingers, by contrast, utilised their whole 10-man roster as they were led by Marcus Skinner with 25 points. Kyle Jeffers contributed a double-double to the Slingers win with 17 points and 13 rebounds.
The Slingers improve their win-loss record to 4-3 while the Barracudas drop to 2-5.

It was a close game which saw the lead change hands eight times with the Slingers holding a two-point advantage at half time at 38-36.

With the game tied at 65-65 at 5:33 on the clock in the fourth quarter, the Slingers embarked on a 14-5 run. This gave them the largest lead of the game of nine points at 79-70 with 2:09 left in the game. Unlike their previous game against Satria Muda, they did not let their lead slip and closed out the victory.

The Slingers return home to entertain the league-leading Philippine Patriots (5-1) on Sunday, November 14th, while the Barracudas will host the Thailand Slammers (4-2) on Saturday, November 13th.

For more stats, go to next page

Bangkok, Sunday, November 7, 2010 — The Thailand Slammers survived a late 10-0 rally in the fourth quarter by the visiting KL Dragons to triumph 76-74 in Round 6 of the ASEAN Basketball League.

The victory also stopped their two-game losing skid and improved their win-loss record to 4-2, giving them sole possession of second place on the table.

For the Dragons, defeat saw their three-game winning streak come to an end in Bangkok and they are now 3-4.

It was a close game through the first two quarters with both teams tied 38-38 at the half-time break. The Slammers picked it up in the third quarter, going on an 8-0 run and eventually outscoring the Dragons 23-10 in the quarter to take a 61-48 lead into the final 10 minutes.

The Slammers led by as many as 15 points (68-53) in the fourth and with 3:27 to go, were still leading by 10 (74-64). But the Dragons came back with a 10-0 run with Guganeswaran contributing five of those points, including one three-pointer.

Guganeswaran tied it up at 74-74 with 55 seconds to go but the Slammers survived when Jason Dixon made both his free throws after drawing a foul.

New import Devon Sullivan had a game-high 28 points for the Slammers, including 11 rebounds while Nakiea Miller led the Dragons with a double-double of his own with 20 points and 13 rebounds.

The Slammers will travel to Brunei to take on the Barracudas (2-4) on Saturday, November 13th, while the Dragons return home to entertain Satria Muda (2-5) on the same day.

For more stats, go to next page

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.

For more photos and stats, go to next page

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

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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The Singapore Slingers’ hard-fought 87-81 victory over a strong Chang Thailand Slammers team on Sunday was a good send-off for the team’s only extended road trip of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) regular season.

“(The victory was) great because we have got two tough games on the road, and when we’re back, we will be playing against the (Philippine) Patriots, so we really needed this win,” said Slingers head coach Neo Beng Siang.

The Slingers will play Indonesian side Satria Muda BritAma this Saturday on November 6th, and then in Brunei against the Barracudas four days later. Both the Slingers’ opponents currently have the league’s worst record of only one win in five matches.

The Slingers will then return home and face the league-leading Patriots team two Sundays from now. The defending ABL champions are currently the only unbeaten team in the league.

“The win has helped our morale going into the Satria Muda game. It’s on their home court, so anything can happen, because of the travelling or players’ on and off performance,” continued Neo.

The match against Satria Muda will be the Slingers’ third attempt at a road win this season, and Neo’s mind was set on breaking his team’s winless away streak.

“The game will be tough but we’re looking forward to it, because we need to get at least an away win. We have already lost two away games.”

First-year Slinger Ng Han Bin was doubly optimistic about his team’s chances in the road trip after the victory against a tough opposition like the Slammers, their third straight at home.

“I’m sure we can get both wins. This win will certainly have boosted our confidence because the Slammers could actually be top of the table if not for their previous loss.”

Han Bin was instrumental in the win despite seeing only nine minutes of action. He made a crucial three-pointer in the fourth quarter which gave the Slingers a six-point cushion. It was a lead they never let slip despite several Slammer runs, and an advantage they managed to maintain till the final whistle.

“I felt great that I finally made my shot, because the shots you make determine your minutes, so I need to hit them when I’m open.”

The game was a three-point festival with both teams making 10 shots each from behind the arc, tying a Slingers team record. Slammers centre Jason Dixon, who made his first ever ABL three pointer, was among nine different players who sank long-range shots. However, none stood out more than Slingers’ hotshot Leonidez Avenido, who made five threes to boost his league-leading total to 22 in only five games.

“If he can shoot like that every night, it’s definitely good for us,” said centre Kyle Jeffers, on Avenido’s exceptional three-point shooting display. “Every time that ball goes in, it’s always a good thing.”

Neo was not surprised that Avenido was finding success beyond the three-point line. He said: “I expected that because he shoots the ball well. He felt confident on that, and when he gets open, he doesn’t think twice, and just shoots it. He has given us a lot this year, so we’re proud of him.”

The game featured 18 lead changes and 10 ties, and neither team led by double digits. The team which finishes such a game stronger almost always clinches it, and on Sunday, it was the Slingers.

“Leo (Avenido) is always encouraging us, and leading us by example,” said Han Bin. “Everyone just encouraged each other, so we were very motivated towards the end.”

The 15-game regular season is already a third completed, and team captain Jeffers is pleased with how things are shaping up in the Slingers camp.

“Everything is working its way through. We’re finding out what we’re good at, and what we need to work on, and I think pretty much we’re on the right track.”

“We just need to fine tune a couple more details, like being strong with the ball and less turnovers, and that will definitely help us to score the ball a little bit more. I think as long as we continue to improve on those little things, we will continue to move on the winning track.”

The Satria Muda team, featuring leading scorer Marcus Morrison, stands in the way of a first winning streak this season for the Slingers. Morrison broke two ABL records in his first league game, a 93-94 loss to the Slingers on the opening weekend. He made a league-record seven three pointers en route to 34 points, and will no doubt be on the minds of the Slingers defence.

“We have to shut Morrison down,” said Slingers defensive specialist Desmond Oh matter-of-factly. “Defence is the most important thing.”