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

Though the winning team of the inaugural ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) hailed from basketball powerhouse Philippines, both the coaches of Satria Muda BritAma and the Philippine Patriots asserted that it was the imports that separated the two sides and gave Patriots the victory.

“The imports [would] make the difference to how successful the team will be,” said both coach Louis Alas of the Patriots and coach Fictor Roring of Satria Muda unanimously after Game 3 of the ABL finals series where Patriots beat Satria Muda 75-67 to lift the league’s maiden title.

Despite a rousing start in the first period, where Satria Muda seized an early lead, Satria Muda’s American import Nakiea Miller suffered an eye injury caused by Patriot Jerwin Gaco half-way through the first period and this disrupted the hosts’ scoring momentum. Even though the 6-foot-10 American was reintroduced into the game in the second period, his role was relegated to just that of a scarecrow.

“I had to take Nakiea out for five to 10 minutes after he went down and even when he got back he was having problems with his vision,” coach Roring told Red Hoops. “But I told him to just stand there, the rest of the players will feel more confident just knowing he’s on the court.”

“But to beat Patriots, that was not enough. We need Nakiea,” coach Roring said matter-of-factly. As it was, Miller scored only three points in the first half courtesy of the sole 3-pointer before he was wounded, and he found the basket only twice in the second half.

While Miller finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, his usual partner-in-crime Alex Hartman, who completed the inaugural season as the league’s top scorer with 378 points (18 points per game), contributed only 14 points on Sunday and blamed himself for shooting poorly.

“But to be honest, I am feeling tired,” said the 25-year-old who holds both Canadian and American citizenship. He let out that he has never felt such strain in the previous ABL games. “My team really needed me to push the ball in this game because our point guards were struggling and I think that took a lot out of me.”

“Hartman can definitely do better than this just as he has done so in Singapore during the playoffs but it’s because Freeman limited him in the finals,” said coach Roring. “But despite that, I think my locals have been able to play well not just in this game but in the last few games too – and also not only Rony – Prihantono and Youbel all stepped up too.”

30-year-old Rony Gunawan completed a hat-trick of stellar performance in the ABL finals by finishing as the top scorer of his team in the third game with 20 points and seven rebounds. Rony was coach Roring’s MVP for this game, though the Indonesian coach picked Miller as his MVP for this season because of his all-round contribution throughout the season.

In the regular season, Miller topped the score boards in points per game, rebounds and blocks, and he was second in turnovers and third in steals.

“But I’m still pleased with my two imports on the whole,” coach Roring said. “It’s hard to play against Patriots who have three imports (counting Fil-Am Rob Wainwright). Dixon killed us, Freeman’s rebounds, Wainwright’s 3-pointers. It’s hard to beat a team with imports like that.”

In Jakarta, Patriots released a living demon in the frame of American Jason Dixon, who top-scored with his season high of 28 points and also set a new personal best this season with his 59.1 shooting percentage.

Patriots import, Gabriel Freeman, who has been the man to watch since joining the league late in the season, finished the final game with 17 points, though with a personal low in shooting percentage of 22%. The versatile forward however dominated the boards with 19 rebounds.

“When you have a big man like Dixon who’s so dominant, it takes the load off my shoulder,” said Freeman. “Because I won’t have to enforce myself as much, and when he’s down, I can enforce myself. It’s vice versa for both of us. We take the load off each other’s shoulder.”

“This game I played ok, I missed a lot of shots I would normally make,” said Freeman, who was limited to only six points in the first half. “I think I played my game in the second half, I went in a little bit more and was focused on the defense, I got going on the defense, that’s what I do.”

“My focus wasn’t really all out on Alex in this game,” Freeman added, “but at the same time, I’m a defensive player, so when I come into a game I’m going to be play defense but I still got to put points up. I think as a team we were more organised, we were more prepared. We were intense in the defense and the offense, we weren’t making a lot of shots but we were just up and that’s what won the game for us.”

25-year-old Freeman believed that being able to play with both the locals and with the fellow import is the difference an import has to make for his team. This he has done since coming on board to replaced Brandon Powell to rescue Patriots from a slump just before the playoffs.

Expounding on the difference he made for Patriots, Freeman said: “In a big way I did [make a difference] because Patriots have a big man, you have to play along with your big man and I personally don’t think the import that was previously here could do it.”

“When you’ve got a big guy, you play through your big guy,” Freeman said of the importance of the imports working with each other. “I’m not going to take shots away from him. I’m going to get him shots, I’m going to work around him, do everything around him. I’m going to make sure he touches the ball, I’m going to make sure I play defense for him.”

“And you know what, it’s really about how the imports play with the locals, whether they know how to play with their locals,” Freeman said in response to what would make a team successful in this league and especially to narrow the gap between the teams.

Likewise, Satria Muda’s Hartman also echoed that Miller replacing Theo Little in November 2009 was a spark for the Indonesians. But unlike Patriots, who have immediately expressed their interest to keep their imports, Satria Muda remain ambivalent.

“Based on the finals, I feel that it will be hard to defeat the Patriots with my current team,” said Satria Muda’s head coach Roring. “I will need more ‘bullets’, players who are sharp. There is still time to prepare work on this before the next season starts, so I will have to evaluate the current team before deciding whether to make changes to the team.”

Satria Muda’s top-scoring import Alex Hartman has revealed that he has a trial with the Boston Celtics coming up. In the meantime, he has rushed back to the United States as his grandfather is not well.

“Right now I’m just going to go home, rest, and do some training for the little kids while doing some of my own,” Hartman said, “I just got to get ready for the trials. We’ll see what happens. But now I’ve just got to take a break. Take three weeks off and just relax, get back my legs, no lifting, no shooting. We all need a break sometimes.”

No such dramas for Patriots’ Gabe Freeman though, who will start up with the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in a fortnight’s time, and the question at the back of everyone’s mind is whether this ball of energy will return to the ABL next season.

Making a comparison between ABL and PBA, Freeman said: “The ABL is totally different because they actually play! It’s contact. PBA is touchy-touch, feely-feel, but ABL literally gets down and dirty, which is what most players like to play and that’s what keeps the game going. But it does get out of control sometimes but that’s part of basketball.”

“I would love to play in both leagues,” he said. “The ABL is amongst the best league I’ve played in judging from the talent level, and we won it, it feels good to be on top. It goes different on money level [between both leagues] but for me it’s not about the money, it’s about the basketball.”

When asked if he will consider playing for a different team in the ABL, Freeman said in front of his coach Louie Alas and team owner Mikee Romero: “I wouldn’t have a reason not to come back here. I’ve got a great coach, great players, my other import Jason Dixon is great.”

“They brought me in and they have done what they are supposed to do, I’ve done what I’m supposed to do,” Freeman continued and made known that beyond the basketball, integrity is just as important. “So I’m going no where, I’m here to stay. I’m loyal to who’s loyal to me.”

Jakarta, Sunday, February 21, 2010 – The Philippine Patriots beat Satria Muda BritAma 75-67 to sweep the best-of-five ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) finals 3-0.

This game was a turning point for both squads – the Patriots were seeking to end the season with the crown while Satria Muda were fighting to extend the series on home court.

The Starting lineups were:

PHILIPPINE PATRIOTS – Philippines
Warren Ybanez (Cebu Ninos – Liga)
JP Alcaraz (Mandaue Landmasters – Liga)
Jerwin Gaco (Trace-Laguna Stallions – Liga)
Gabe Freeman (San Miguel Beermen – PBA)
Jason Dixon (Chinese Basketball Association)

SATRIA MUDA BRITAMA – Indonesia
Mario Wuysang (Garuda Bandung Fenix – IBL)
Youbel Sondakh (Satria Muda – IBL)
Rony Gunawan (Satria Muda – IBL)
Alex Hartman (Satria Muda – IBL)
Nakiea Miller (Satria Muda – IBL)

The first quarter favored the hosts as Satria Muda shot the lights out of the visitors and almost reaching a double-digit lead with Sondakh and Gunawan leading the way.

JP Alcaraz was subbed by Rob Wainwright (ROSE) and made two 3-pointers to close the gap for the visitors. For the first time since their first meeting in the same arena, the hosts led by a four-point margin.

Miller had to sit out in the first quarter after Gaco accidentally poked him in the eye as they tussled for a rebound.

End of 1st Quarter: Satria Muda 17 Patriots 13

The second quarter was intense physically which got both the hosts and the crowd worked up in Jakarta. Coach Alas’ defensive strategies were at work here and the visitors and the hosts exchanged leads until half-time.

Patriot Jerwin Gaco hit Satria Muda’s Rony Gunawan with an elbow which caused a bench-clearing altercation, earning himself a technical foul and giving two free throws to Satria Muda.

Gaco was replaced by Nonoy Baclao to calm things down and Jason Dixon ended the quarter with a gorilla dunk over a silenced Nakiea Miller in a final minute of a half that resembled a giant chess match.

End of 1st Half: Satria Muda 31 Patriots 35

The third quarter was a continuation of the second with the Patriots never trailed from this point on. Notably, Alex Hartman, Prihantono and Gunawan were cracking open the Patriots’ defense at points but Jason Dixon and Gabe Freeman answered with their scoring and defensive displays.

A Freeman attempt to stop Gunawan turned into a goaltending call while the quarter became a Freeman-versus-Hartman-and-the-locals shootout.

3rd Quarter: Satria Muda 51 Patriots 62

The fourth quarter started with Patriots’ Christian Coronel stripping Satria Muda’s Mario Wuysang for a lay-up to spark a Patriots run that re-established an 11-point lead.

Satria Muda answered with a series of jumpers from Hartman and Co. to catch up while the visitors went cold for the remainder of the quarter and had to rely on free throws for points.

While Miller failed, Dixon rose to the occasion and scored from the post. Nonoy Baclao garnered the rebounds before being replaced by Gaco who received a hostile reception from the crowd.

Gaco scored the final basket for the Patriots and they wound the clock before Warren Ybanez threw the ball into the air and Hartman took the opportunity to score at the buzzer.

Final Score: Satria Muda 67 Patriots 75 (Patriots win series 3–0)

Analysis:

1. “Defense wins championships” was the mantra of the Patriots and this mindset paid off in their six meetings with Satria Muda. Despite the partisan crowds and the trash talking between players, it was the swarming, relentless defense of steals, blocks and stops that gave the Patriots the first ABL championship.

Satria Muda’s defense consists mainly of collapsing on the imports and ignoring the locals and the zone defense which at first, was effective. However, they were not able to maintain the defensive effort, leaving the Patriots to score at certain angles.

In the last two minutes of the fourth quarter, their defense was lax when they should have gambled on the hard presses to snatch a possession or two.

2. The roster depth was another factor. The Patriots have at least four to five local shooters at their disposal and three enforcers who can provide ample defensive stops.

Patriots had the luxury of a 3-guard rotation that could carry the ball and direct plays during the game. When the game got tough and the starters were in foul trouble, coach Louie Alas had second or third options in Sta. Maria and Coronel at guard, Acuna, Espiritu and Mirza at forward and Baclao at center. None of them are leading scorers but they can attack the basket when necessary.

Satria Muda did not have the luxury of a guard rotation and while Prihantono and Achmed Faisal are shooters, it was Wuysang, their only legitimate point guard, who was getting harassed by the Patriots defense.

Besides Hartman, Gunawan is Satria Muda’s other scorer but coach Fictor Roring has no option aside from Youbel Sondakh. There is no third option for the forward position. Furthermore, Situmorang could not fill Miller’s role in the five spot.

3. Tempo control was important in the game because it determined the team’s performance. In the first quarter, we saw Satria Muda leading by four but they were later overtaken by the Patriots.

Why?

Because they could not seize the moment when the opportunity presented itself and probably lacked the mentality for it.

They did not take their chances and gave the Patriots time to react and reset their strategies. The Patriots have better experiences in this category and delivered the Championship.

It was a fitting end to a fantastic championship in the same arena that started it all. We have witnessed the rise of new stars that caught the respect and awe of their peers, new teams that revealed new systems and the rise of new role players who endeared themselves to fans and lastly, an emergence of a new champion that will set the tone for basketball in the ASEAN region.

Scoring Breakdown by Quarter
Satria Muda v Patriots
1st Q: 17-13
2nd Q: 14-22
3rd Q: 21-29
4th Q: 15-11

Satria Muda BritAma Game Box Score

Philippine Patriots Game Box Score