Asean Basketball League Roundup: January 14-15, 2012

Nakiea Miller led the much-hyped Philippine Patriots
to an opening day win over the Bangkok Cobras.

*All images are from AseanBasketballLeague.com

AIR ASIA PHILIPPINE PATRIOTS over BANGKOK COBRAS, 86-58

The Air Asia Philippine Patriots started their Air Asia ASEAN Basketball League season 3 campaign with a convincing win over newcomers Bangkok Cobras.

Patriots import Nakiea Miller proved to be far too much for the Cobras and last year’s best import had a monster double-double with 24 points and 18 rebounds. Anthony Johnson added a further 17 points for the Patriots, while Bruce Brown was the Cobras’ leading scorer with 11 points. The Bangkok Cobras seemed to have defensive problems as their two American imports Gentry Lewis and Bruce Brown were not able to defend the Patriots, who managed to score 38 points in the paint. Even the Patriots’ bench came up bigger in this game with 42 points compared to the Cobras’ bench who only managed to score 21 points.

This game also marks the debut of Joe Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s father, as the Cobras’ new head coach. Unfortunately, Bryant just arrived in Manila on the day of the game and was unable to get the opportunity to prepare his team for this game. As a result, the Cobras turned the ball over 19 times in this game.

As for the Patriots, the season one champions, this is a great way to open their season as they will be looking to try to make their 3rd appearance in an Air Asia ABL final. The Patriots were very aggressive both offensively and defensively. They were also able to take care the ball very well and only turned the ball over 7 times in the entire game.

PHI 86 – Miller 24, Johnson 17, Ybanez 9, Fernandez 8, Larong 8, Laure 6, Ramos 4, Vergara 4, Rodriguez 4, Juntilla 2, Arellano 0, Raymundo 0

BKC 58 – Brown 11, Cruz 9, Apiromvilaichai 9, Lewis 9, Kruatiwa 8, Limsuwan 6, Kongkum 6, Chaiwat 0, Klahan 0

QS: 22-18, 51-23, 68-42, 86-58

Chaiwat Kaedum of Bangkok finds little
space against Miller's defense.

Aldrech Ramos scored a timid 4 points
in his ABL debut.

WESTPORT MALAYSIA DRAGONS over SAN MIGUEL BEERMEN, 83-77

The Westport Malaysia Dragons held on to a thrilling overtime victory over newcomers San Miguel Beermen by winning at home behind huge contributions from their two new imports Brian Williams and Tiras Wade.

Both teams started off a fast-paced first quarter. The ABL newcomers, San Miguel Beermen amazed the Dragons home crowd with several dunks from Richard Jeter, Darlon Lamar Johnson and local player Junmar Fajardo. The Beermen, who filled their squad with several veterans like Cabatu Santiago Jr. , Leonidez Avenido, Froilan Baguion and Benedict Fernandez ended the 1st Quarter ahead, 25-23

The game went back-and-forth the whole game, even until the fourth period.

Both teams were under pressure at the start of 4th quarter as the score was at 59-57 with 8 minutes to go. SMB’s Richard Jeter managed to put his team back into the lead with a 3 pointer,60-59. Both teams went head-to-head, exchanging turnovers and points. The Beerman managed to pull their lead to 71-67. With 13 seconds to go, Tiras Wade put in 2 free throws that evened the score at 73 each, bringing the game to overtime.

Pacana Started overtime strong for the Dragons with a quick jumper while Fajardo missed 2 free throws at the other end. Belasco pulled the Dragons further ahead with another 2, but Johnson brought SMB within 2. Both teams began exchanging baskets, but the Dragons pulled ahead by 4 off a huge basket by Belasco. Avenido missed an open 3 and Wade iced the game with 2 free throws.

Tiras Jamaal Wade contributed 28 points and 6 rebounds while his teammate Brian Michael Williams ended the game with 26 points and 23 rebounds. Darlon Jamar Johnson manage to contribute 17 points and 6 rebounds for the San Miguel Beerman.

WMD 83 – Wade 28, Williams 26, Pacana 7, Belasco 6, Kuppusamy 5, Loh 4, Cabahug 4, Batumalai 3, Chee 0

SMB 77 – Johnson 17, Jeter 11, Fernandez 8, Fajardo 8, De la Peña 6, Baguion 6, Avenido 6, Cabatu 6, Rizada 5, Basco 4, Luanzon 0

QS: 23-25, 35-42, 59-57, 73-73, 83-77 (OT)

Jun-Jun Cabatu had his hands full contending against
the Dragons' Tyras Wade.

Brian Williams's burly figure was imposing
against the frontline of the Beermen.

Tyras Wade slams it home in transition as Froilan Baguion
can only look on.

CHANG THAILAND SLAMMERS over SAIGON HEAT, 78-58

It was the first game of the season for defending champions Chang Thailand Slammers and their season opener saw them playing hosts to the Saigon Heat, one of the three new teams in the ABL.

The Slammers drew first blood right after tip-off with a tip-in immediately followed by a dunk both from new import Kenneth Walker, but the Heat came back with back-to-back field goals. They finally took the lead when Sopheoun Oeun was fouled. Unfortunately, that was the last time they held the lead as the season 2 champions were not about to let their first game go awry that easily and answered with a 7 point-run the Heat just could not recover from.

The second half did not get any easier for the Heat as the Slammers continued to show their dominance, proving why they are the defending champions. The Slammers’ big man Deandre Thomas made his presence felt, with monster blocks and his sheer strength. Thomas ended the game with a very respectable 21 points and 10 rebounds.

The lead scorer for the game was Saigon Heat’s international import Julius Hodge, who contributed more than half of his team’s total points with an incredible line of 37 points and 10 rebounds.

The Saigon Heat were always going to be underdogs in this match-up and it was a very convincing win for the Slammers, who are looking good on the court and serious about continuing their run as AirAsia ABL Champions for another season. There are quite a few positives that could be taken out of the game for Heat however, as Julius Hodge is looking very dangerous on the court and, with a little more time and experience, this team could certainly do some damage.

CTS 78 – Thomas 21, Walker 15, Lertmalaiporn 15, Apiromvilaichai 9, Pinitpatcharalert 7, Jantuma 4, Lertlaaokul 2, Tintai 2, Williams 2, Ghogar 1, Aldave 0

SGH 58 – Hodge 37, Smith 12, Nguyen D 3, Ly 3, Trieu 2, Jones 1, Nguyen Do 0, Doan 0, Pham 0, Oeun 0

QS: 19-10, 41-25, 56-42, 78-58

DeAndre Thomas shows his soft touch against the Heat defense.

Thai ace Attaporn Lertmalaiporn plugged 15
markers for the hosts.

Saigon's Jonathan Jones hauls down the rebound.

INDONESIA WARRIORS over SINGAPORE SLINGERS, 79-59

The Indonesia Warriors’ Mario Wuysang opened his third campaign in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League with an impressive performance. Wuysang had 23 points to lead his team’s win over the Singapore Slingers in their season opener. Slingers’ import Louis Graham led his team with 23 points.

The Warriors jumped up to a big lead in the first quarter. The Slingers’ players were struggling on offense and they couldn’t find their rhythm. The Slingers only made one field goal in the first quarter. The Slingers were down 9-22 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Slingers still couldn’t get off their offensive funk. Wuysang and Jerrick Canada helped the Warriors to stretch their lead 43-23 at halftime as they both combined for 12 points in the quarter.

Steven Thomas was big in the paint as he had a double-double – 20 points and 14 rebounds. High-flyer Jonathan Smith was very aggressive in attacking the basket. Smith had 17 points including two big dunks.

Wuysang is very happy with their new two American imports, “Those two guys are two solid players. They played great today. I’m very happy with their contributions.”

The Slingers will try to bounce back from this offensive-struggle game on Wednesday. The Slingers will host the defending champion Chang Thailand Slammers.

INA 79 – Wuysang 23, Thomas 20, Smith 17, Canada 9, Ricafuente 5, Gunawan 3, Prihantono 2, Wibawa 0

SGS 59 – Graham 23, Little 11, Matialakan 7, Wong 6, Dulay 6, Khoo 2, Oh 2, Canta 2, Tan 0, Lim 0, Goh 0

QS: 22-9, 43-23, 58-43, 79-59