If you have a story or opinion to share, feel free to send it to us and we’ll post it for the reading pleasure of other folks.

The ABL will continue to get some coverage on Red Sports. You can follow it here:

http://redsports.sg/tag/asean-basketball-league/

Sorry we can’t keep up the flow of stories like last year but it’s tough to keep things going without financial support.

Maybe next year?

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.

We think the league makes sense for this part of the basketball world, not least for the elite players especially in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei. Instead of basketball as a part-time hobby, they can be serious professionals if they are good enough.

With a new league, the fascination is to see it develop and tell its story from courtside. If you are a basketball fan who can tell the difference between the past and present tense, do contact us. We can get you in the door at ABL games as a volunteer Red Hoops writer.

If you are a sports photographer who wants to be courtside, feel free to contact us too. Taking photos of the pros up close is always a lot of fun as some of our volunteers will attest.

So if you are interested and are based in Manila, Jakarta, Bandar Sri Begawan, Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, let us know.

FAQs
Is Red Hoops an official ABL site?
No, this site is an independent site. Having said that, the good folks at ABL know about us and always welcome us for their official events and games. We will be able to get media accreditation through the ABL.

Is this a paid position?
Currently, no. This is an unpaid position.

Who owns the copyright of the stories and photos used on redhoops.com?
The copyright belongs to you. By sending your story and photos to us, you are giving us a non-exclusive right to use the story and photos for editorial purposes and for use in marketing of Red Hoops.

What are the eligibility requirements?
We will give priority to students. The minimum age is 18. Please share with us a sample of your writing or photos.

To reach us, go to the contact page.

Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, September 2, 2010 — Budget carrier AirAsia announced their title sponsorship of the second season of the ASEAN Basketball League which will tip off on October 2nd and run until February 2011.

GE was the previous title sponsor and had signed a three-year deal. However, no word was given as to why GE had not returned.

AirAsia was the official carrier for the inaugural 2009/10 season.

“We are very excited for the new season to arrive and proud to be back in the ABL with a bigger role by being the title sponsor for the 2010/11 season,” said AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes.

“As an ASEAN airline, it is our obligation to help develop the standard and quality of sports in the region. The region has a lot of untapped young talents but limited opportunities are available for them to progress further in their respective fields.

“When given the opportunity to be the title sponsor, we seized it immediately as we believe we can positively contribute to the development of the sport and provide the platform for ASEAN youths to shine. Together with our other initiatives in the region, the AirAsia ABL partnership seemed the perfect fit. It is indeed our dream to see ASEAN as a powerhouse not only in sports but other important fields as well in the near future. We will continue to do our part to make this dream a reality,” Fernandes added.

The budget carrier is working on promotional plans to encourage basketball fans to travel throughout the ASEAN region to watch their teams in away games.

Kuala Lumpur, Saturday, September 4, 2010 — It was supposed to be a regional football tournament. That failed to materialised and basketball was brought into the picture instead. Why basketball, one may ask?

The only powerhouses in the region are the Philippines and Indonesia. The Thais can be a threat during the South East Asian Games but it stops there. Countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei are still struggling to find commendable players, let alone the Indo-China nations. Nevertheless that didn’t stop the likes of AirAsia supremo Tony Fernandes and his band of friends from flying high.

Promises were made. The Asean Basketball League (ABL) is said to be the next best thing for basketball in the region, pitting club sides — mostly represented by their national players — against each other hoping this would elevate the standards of the sport.

Just like any other business, the pioneers were expecting monetary returns for their investment and threw in the notion that clubs were obliged to organise talent identification programmes and league for the grassroots.

The inaugural season saw lots of pomp and fair. Even the opening match between the KL Dragons and Brunei Barracudas saw the likes of local celebrities and high profile individuals jamming the MABA Stadium located in the heart of KL’s China town. Young cheerleaders, sultry usherettes to even jazz princess Atilia singing the acapella rendition of Negaraku — the league started on a high note.

The same cannot be said today. The believers continue to have faith but the very many skeptics are beginning to see that the ABL could turn out to be another major disappointment.

Perhaps the masses are to be blamed to a certain extent.

Matches are played in half-full stadium while the coverage in the local media is hardly seen. Perhaps we are still colonialised in our thinking. Just like the dumbfounded passion fans have towards the English Premier League despite England having won the World Cup only once, the ‘tidak-apa attitude’ is simply unexplainable.

Or perhaps they are right.

The league was supposed to be a training ground for the local talents but due to “pressure by certain quarters”, the KL Dragons, for one, are forced to rope in a huge number of import players. The local lads were sidelined and the foreign stars failed to shine. Observers call it a ‘lose-lose’ situation.

ABL Chief Executive Officer Kuhan Foo certainly has a lot on his plate. Kuhan is involved in the marketing arm of the Malaysian football league, better known as MSL Sdn Bhd. It will be interesting to see how Kuhan will divide his time and energy between MSL and ABL. The funds raised too will be questioned as many are still hoping to see MSL generate a steady cash flow for the Malaysian football leagues.

We can continue to be skeptical. Or perhaps we should learn how to be a little more optimistic and hope that the ABL could turn out to be the next best thing for the sport in the region.

With that, many would be intrigued to see how the league help raise the standard of the sport when the nations clash at the 2011 SEA Games in Jakarta. Perhaps, that could serve as the perfect benchmark for teams playing in the league to slamdunk their critics and dribble their way to playing good basketball.

Ed’s note: Haresh Deol, who plays a little basketball, still keeps the collector cards of Dee Brown, Larry Johnson and Larry Bird. He is a senior journalist with The Malay Mail and blogs at hareshdeol.blogspot.com.

Disclaimer: The above are the personal views of the author and is not reflective of Red Sports or The Malay Mail.

Attaporn Lertmalaiporn of the Thailand Tigers was named the winner of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) regular season award at the awards night held earlier this year in March 2010.

“Winning the award made me very happy for Thailand and the Tigers,” Attaporn told Red Hoops. “I never thought I would win it. It will help the Thai players in general to show you can make it.”

For the best import award, which was won by Jason Dixon of the Philippine Patriots, the ASEAN players who were brought in as imports in any of the six teams were also in the running. As for the regular season MVP award given to Attaporn, the award was only restricted to locals. Attaporn finished 11th in the league for points per game (14.9) to lead all local players.

The award winners were chosen by a panel made up of ABL technical director Agus A. Mauro and ABL CEO Kuhan Foo.

“The criteria are based on an MVP points format from FIBA that calculates from points, rebounds, assists, etc, that accumulate from all the games the players played,” an ABL spokesperson told Red Hoops.

“He’s very special. He plays maybe a little odd. But that’s what people like,” said Thailand Tigers owner Wim Reijnen at the awards dinner in Kuala Lumpur in early March. “Now of course his stats are also very good. He is a national team player in Thailand but up until October, he was not a professional player. He had some challenges in the beginning, when it was difficult for him, and then we figured it out with him, and I think he did very well. He scored 230 plus points. His free throws were great, 71%, which is high, I would say. And that’s not three or four free throws. I think he had a 100 or so. That’s very good.

Attaporn, who picked up basketball when he was 13, is currently doing a master degree in physical education at Srinakarin Thalawirot Pasanmit University and is in his final year on a full scholarship. Before suiting up for the Tigers, Attaporn played for the Bangkok Bank club and Hi Tech Apparel. He still plays for Hi Tech Apparel when he is not with the Tigers. He also turns out for his university team.

Reijnen said that Attaporn’s award comes from a lot of hard work.

“I’m very happy for him. Extremely happy for him also because of his background which is not the easiest and so he had to work doubly hard to get to this. And now the first season, being a pro, being an MVP of the ABL. His personal background is not easy. He’s not from a middle class or wealthy family and so it’s extra difficult. So he had to work hard to get to university and that’s why he’s not here tonight because he had to play in a university tournament,” said Reijnen.

Reijnen was also confident that Attaporn would return for the second season.

“Absolutely. He’s already said so. 110% that he’s coming back for sure. He actually feels the same way that he adds something to it. I think he’s also a good role model and kids love him. The only unfortunate thing is that he doesn’t speak English. But that’s ok. It’s fine. You don’t need to. Sports is the language and you don’t really need to speak English for what he does. It would be handy, maybe sometimes. He understands but didn’t get enough practise,” said Reijnen.

The award for Attaporn was a highlight of an otherwise forgettable first season in the ABL. The Tigers finished with a 3-12 win-loss record although the team lost seven of those games by six points or less.

A short pre-season was a key reason, said Reijnen.

“We were only able to start the preparations for the season a few weeks before the season. Had a new pro sport, with a brand new team in a new league. Our imports did not do the trick, especially the Filipinos were way under qualified regarding what we needed,” said Reijnen. “Ike was ok regarding rebounds, but lost it regarding free throws at 29%. Chaz also made some great points, but was not consistent enough and also low on free throws (35%). Happy that Nop (Attaporn), Boy (Piyapong Piroon) and J.O. (Ratdech Kruatiwa) helped us to win some games, with Nop and J.O. being nominated for the MVP regular season and Nop winning the MVP award.”

The regular schedule also did not seem to do the Tigers any favours. The squad played eight away games in a 15-game regular season, with four of those in a stretch from November 28th to December 13th, 2009.

“Scheduling was not really in our favour, or any of the new teams (who all played 7 at home and 8 away). Playing 4 games away, followed by 4 at home (including a bye in the middle) did not help either. But it is hard to schedule with all the venues, and on such a short notice. Think this will be better in the next season,” siad Reijnen.

The team also was not helped by a change in head coach nearing the end of the season. Their American coach, Chuck Davission, a former scout with the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, left the Tigers after the game against the Singapore Slingers on December 18th, 2010.

“Davisson breached his agreement, furthermore he did not have the international experience we were looking for, and did not adept to the Asian style of coaching a team,” said Reijnen.

The Tigers have also been rocked by online grumblings about players allegedly not getting their salaries. Reijnen declined to comment on this matter for this story, citing confidentiality issues.

Attaporn’s MVP win is certainly one of the few bright sparks in a losing season dogged by player unrest for the Tigers.

Attaporn Stats
- Most points in a game by a local player (23, Oct 18 2009 v Satria Muda)
- Most 20-point games by a local player (5)
- Tied for third place in the league for most 20-point games
- Most games with double-digit points by a local player (12)
- Finished 11th in the league for points per game (14.9), led all local players
- Finished 8th in the league for total points scored (223), led all local players
- Finished tied-11th in the league for field goals made (74), led all local players
- Most field goals made in a game by a local player (9, Oct 18 2009 v Satria Muda)
- Finished 12th in the league for field goals attempted (168), led all local players
- Most field goals attempted in a game by a local player (21, Oct 18 2009 v Satria Muda)
- Finished tied-1st in the league for free throws made (70), led all local players
- Most free throws made in a game by a local player (10, Dec 13 2009 v Dragons)
- Finished tied-3rd in the league for free throws attempted (98), led all local players
- Most free throws attempted in a game by a local player (11, twice)
- 1 of only 4 players in the league to make at least 44% of their field goals and 70% of their free throws
- 1 of only 2 players to shoot 100% from the free throw line in a game with at least 10 attempts (10/10, Dec 13 2009 v Dragons)
- Finished 2nd among local players in total minutes played (402)
- Finished 3rd among local players in minutes per game (26.8)

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

After five months and 53 games of the maiden ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) season, the league is clearly still imperfect in many ways, but in the end, what mattered most was that ASEAN basketballers proved to be a delight to watch.

Many ASEAN basketball fans have grown up living and breathing the NBA (National Basketball Association) but not many would know that the NBA’s success did not happen overnight and in fact the world’s most popular basketball league was bereft of attention in its first decade.

Yet through the NBA came the invention of the 24-second shot clock that not only breathed life into the league, it revolutionised the entire game altogether. So it is with ABL, it may be uncertain now what changes this league could bring but the signs are already promising.

“Through this ABL, my local players have improved a lot,” said KL Dragons head coach Goh Cheng Huat. “In fact all the local players from Indonesia and Singapore have stepped up. The way I look at it, some of them have caught up with the standard of the Filipino imports.”

Unbeknownst to many, unlike the imports, most local cagers face the challenge of juggling this professional basketball gig and their long-term marketplace career. Currently amongst the local cagers, there are teachers, engineers, undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Brunei Barracudas’ top local player, 25-year-old Esmond Tan, who is an engineer with Shell, said: “Coach Ramos has tried to adjust the trainings for me in the morning and in the evening when I can join the team for trainings. I’m proud of the local players, I kept telling my local players to be ready and we will get the chance to play. We have been improving.”

Filipino coach Bong Ramos, who has extensive coaching experience across ASEAN (in Philippines, Indonesia and now Brunei), echoed coach Goh’s sentiments, he said: “Filipinos have the advantage against any of the ASEAN locals but, because of ABL I think the locals of all Southeast Asian nations will improve because this is a good league for the locals.”

“Except the Filipinos, ABL is the first professional stint for many locals,” coach Ramos added, “but to narrow the gap [between Philippines and the rest of ASEAN] is not only this league, it’s also the training and having a college league like Philippines’ NCAA/UAAP is important.”

A key indicator of the league’s maiden success was how it has managed to attract the top ASEAN coaches. Besides coach Ramos and coach Goh, who are both highly regarded in Philippines and Malaysia respectively, the coaches of the finalists – Fictor Roring of Satria Muda and Louie Alas of Philippine Patriots – are both household names as well.

Coach Alas gave a tongue-in-cheek sharing on why he joined the ABL, he said: “I was coaching Toyota Altis in the Philippine Basketball League while Mikee (Patriots owner) is the owner of Harbour Centre. We fought them twice in the PBL Championship and we lost both times. That’s why when Mikee called me to coach the Patriots, I agreed right away because there is a saying, ‘If you can’t beat them, you join them!’”

Patriots went on to assert their dominance in the league to lift the inaugural title with a 5-0 playoff run, sweeping the KL Dragons 2-0 in the semi-finals and Satria Muda 3-0 in the finals. During the regular season, Patriots beat every team in head-to-head match-ups except the Slingers, which was the only team with a non-ASEAN marshal.

Slingers’ head coach Frank Arsego, who has announced he will not be returning next season so as to spend more time with his family in Canberra, gave his two cents on how local players can be successful through the ABL.

“Listen to your coaches, learn from your coaches, try to be in an environment where you can learn your skills in competition. The players who make it, are the ones who do the extra work outside of their normal environment, they are the ones who go on to be successful,” he said.

To raise their game, the Australian coach shared how the local players have to work extremely hard to be corrected in their techniques and be grounded in high quality fundamentals to execute them under pressure.

Coach Frank shared: “We work very hard during practice to stimulate an environment where there is a lot of pressure where their decision-making under pressure will improve as they go along, and that’s what the good players can do. We’ve got local guys in Slingers, who just through their work ethics have deserved the opportunity to be with the Slingers and because of that, they are going to become better basketballers.”

While many did step up for their teams over the season, Jan has picked the top two locals who have been a surprise ‘spark’ for their team in the 09/10 ABL season and the six local young guns to look out for in the next season. Enjoy!

ABL 09/10 Top Local ‘Spark’ (Playoff and Finals): Rony Gunawan (Satria Muda)

Rony Gunawan was the local name that stood out in the ABL finals between Satria Muda and the Philippine Patriots. While the four American imports were engrossed in a battle of attrition, the Indonesian center completely outclassed the other locals in the finals.

With both Hartman and Miller pinned down by the Patriots’ tough defense, Rony rose from the rubble to finish the game one with 10 points, eight rebounds (55.6% shooting percentage), the second game with 15 points, seven rebounds (58.3% shooting percentage), and top-scored in the final game with 20 points, seven rebounds (72.7% shooting percentage).

Rony’s finals performance epitomised how it is possible for locals to shine and make a statement for themselves amidst the import-driven league.

“Coach gave me a lot minutes to play so I just played and gave my all,” said Rony reflecting on his stunning finals showing that had breathed hope into his team. “I trusted myself and my team mates, and I’ve got nothing to lose because the pressure was not on my team.”

“I think the skills of the local players are not so far from the imports,” said Rony who also shared he looks up to NBA’s Tim Duncan. “Maybe we lose out in size and the strength, but actually we can compete with the imports if we trust ourselves and not fear them.”

“Local players can do more!” said Rony on a concluding note. “They mostly face the problem of confidence and are a bit afraid to play when there is hard, body contact with the imports. But I think the more often they play in this league, they will get used to that, and get better.”

ABL 09/10 Top Local ‘Spark’ (Regular Season): Attaporn Lertmalaiporn (Thailand Tigers)

If numbers do not lie, then without a doubt, Bangkok-born Attaporn Lertmalaiporn is not only Thailand’s best kept secret, his 223 points (14.9 points per game) score card meant that he was the top-scoring local player and not at all inferior to an American import.

Besides being a menacing scoring machine, the left-handed Attaporn was also a natural entertainer with his unorthodox style of play.

“I feel that the way I play has to do with my personality,” said Attaporn who is also pursuing a Masters degree in Physical Education in Thailand concurrently. “I’m a fun-loving person and I feel that my style of basketball has to be enjoyable and entertaining to the spectators.”

“I’ve been playing basketball for 12 years but this is my first time playing in a professional league,” added the 1.93m tall Attaporn. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity. I’ve learnt a lot from the imports and I feel that having them around, my game has improved a lot.”

And finally, the top local young gun of each team to look out for in the next season:

Brunei Barracudas: Esmond Tan

KL Dragons: Loh Shee Fai

Nonoy Baclao (Philippine Patriots)

Christian Ronaldo Sitepu (Satria Muda)

Hong Wei Jian (Singapore Slingers)

Ratdech Kruatiwa (Thailand Tigers)

Editor’s Note: This has been a maiden season of surprises and here’s a shout of thanks to Leslie and Dawn for the opportunity to cover this league; the REDcrew for working so hard under my Cruella-complex; the ABL coaches who taught me heaps about the game; the ABL players for tolerating my endless questions; and the readers for your love-hate relationship with my stories. Enjoy the other stories coming up, til we next “meet”. (jan@redhoops.com)

Kuhan Foo, the chief executive officer of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), has revealed that the league will know by April the status of new teams coming on board for the 2010/11 season. He also pointed out that for the existing teams to survive, teams will need to learn to market themselves well.

“The challenge I think is getting teams to market themselves and finding the major support, sponsors, pulling in more crowd and creating a basketball culture,” shared Kuhan at the post-finals press conference.

“We know it is possible,” Kuhan added, “if we look at KL Dragons for example in Malaysia where the crowd is usually Chinese and men, but now their crowd has 40% Malays, 30% women because of the ABL.”

Four of the six ABL teams in the inaugural season are new teams set up in conjunction with the inception of the ABL. Only Indonesia’s Satria Muda BritAma and the Singapore Slingers are existing professional teams with the experience of engaging the community.

It has indeed proven to be a challenge for the new teams to fill the stadiums on game day. Thailand Tigers and Philippine Patriots gave free entry to their home games in a bid to draw in the crowds and drum up the support in their first season.

While the Thailand Tigers, who finished at the bottom of the table in the inaugural season, struggled to bring in the home crowd all season, the Patriots crowd picked up significantly towards the playoffs and finals.

The KL Dragons, singled out by Kuhan as the role model for having done an exceptional job in expanding and diversifying their fan base in their maiden season, credited their fans and media partners for their success.

“I don’t think other teams can do so because they don’t have Malaysian blood in them!” the KL Dragons owners said jokingly when asked how they managed to pack their stadium to the point of having to turn away spectators.

Turning serious, they continued: “I think to be fair, this game, except for Philippines, is quite new to other countries, including Malaysia. I think if you look at any leagues when they have just started, even the NBA, the English Premier League, the crowds were not there either.”

“It takes time to develop these things,” they added. “Give it time to slowly grow, it’s about creating the awareness. It has a lot to do with our media partners as well, we need to say a big thank you to them.”

Besides a massive revamp of their dynamic website mid-season and heavy utilisation of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, the Kuala Lumpur-based team also organised road trips for their fans to Singapore for their away games.

Indonesia’s Satria Muda is the only other team that had fans travel to an away game. Satria Muda, who have the most number of fans of all the ABL teams, have been actively building their fan base since the team joined the Indonesian Basketball League in 2003. Satria Muda have won four domestic titles since, plus the SEABA Champions Cup in 2008.

Philippine Patriots owner, Mikee Romero, who also owns the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) team, Harbour Center, the team that Satria Muda beat in the 2008 SEABA Champions Cup final, said after the ABL finals: “When we (Harbour Center) played against Satria Muda two years ago, it was a very different team. The level of Indonesian basketball has become higher.”

While the team’s success and progress will be a crowd puller, according to Kuhan, what is essentially more important is the building of a basketball culture, or a culture of identifying ABL as ASEAN’s pride.

While the Philippines have built an unrivaled basketball culture, elsewhere in ASEAN, Malaysians and Indonesians would not find local sporting pride unfamiliar too, with their history of having homegrown athletes claiming top honours at international competitions such as the Olympics.

But for the rest of ASEAN, building a strong fan base that would attract sponsors and support to ensure the sustainability and survivability of the team does seem like a mountain-moving task. The teams taking ownership of the ABL dream is the instrumental first step.

“This finals is the fruit of the ABL dream,” shared Mikee Romero at the post-finals press conference in Jakarta. “It is a common dream of Tony Fernandes and his friends (who became the owners of the six teams). There are a lot of people backing this.”

“And one day, we will grow into Asia and this league will become a big, big league,” Romero continued in zest, “and maybe even rival the NBA (National Basketball Association) or CBL (China Basketball League). Watch out for this league.”

With the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) finals days away, Red Hoops reader Jonathan Chuongco gives his review of those who have stood out for him during the regular ABL season.

Best Player of the Regular Season: Nakiea Miller

Brought in to replace the ineffective Theophilus Little, Satria Muda have chosen the right guy. Not only can Miller score, but he can crash the boards as well, averaging a monstrous 20.7 points a game and 16.4 boards. Where Miller goes, Satria Muda go as well.

Most surprising win of the Regular Season: Thailand Tigers at Singapore Slingers (Dec 7)

The win was surprising because the Slingers were leading the ABL standings at the time, while the Tigers were anchored at the bottom. The Slingers actually held the lead at the end of the first quarter but things turned around during the second and the Tigers never looked back, getting the most surprising win of the ABL season.

Best Comeback of the Regular Season: KL Dragons

Hats off to the KL Dragons for not giving up and winning three straight crucial games against the Philippine Patriots, Singapore Slingers and Satria Muda BritAma, the top three teams in the ABL. Because of that, lady luck rewarded the Dragons, and they took the final playoff spot at the expense of the Brunei Barracudas.

Best Defensive Team of the Regular Season: Philippine Patriots

The Patriots held their opponents to 68.2 PPG (points per game) and held opponents to 37.6% shooting and 28.7% 3-point shooting to rank 1st, 1st and 2nd respectively in the three categories. It is a no-brainer that the best defensive team award should be given to the Patriots for it is a big reason why they led the ABL in the regular season.

Best Offensive Team/s of the Regular Season: Singapore Slingers and Brunei Barracudas

These two teams are very efficient at scoring. The Brunei Barracudas led the league in terms of scoring production with 78.9 PPG compared to the 75.5 PPG of the Slingers, but the Slingers shot slightly better than the ‘Cudas with 43.5% to 42.4%.

Only these two teams shot better than 40% for the season, and since their offensive production are very similar, both teams deserve to be given the best offensive team awards.

Best Crowd Support: KL Dragons fans

They were rowdy, loud and proud and filled the MABA Stadium when the Dragons played. No questions asked, the Dragons fans are the best in the ABL right now in terms of supporting the home team.

Editor’s Note: Have an entirely different opinion? If you would also like to share your review with the other Red Hoops readers, send your story to jan@redhoops.com