2013 ASEAN Basketball League Championship Roundup: June 12, 2013

The San Miguel Beermen brought the bacon back home where it truly belongs. SMB completed a sweep of the Indonesia Warriors in Game 3 to secure the second ABL trophy, which was last won by a Philippine team in the league’s maiden season in 2010.

Brian Williams celebrates his first ABL title!

Not even Indonesia’s homecourt crowd could derail the inevitable as league MVP Asi Taulava put his stamp on San Miguel’s first title in the ASEAN circuit. The Rock scored 19 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and handed out 3 assists as SMB opened up the game in the second half. Local players Chris Banchero and Leo Avenido scored 10 apiece to backstop Taulava’s stellar effort, and this is important because the Beermen haven’t been as import-reliant as all the other teams in the league. With the exception of JR Cawaling, all 10 Beermen inserted into the game scored. In contrast, coach Todd Purves of Indonesia stuck with a super tight 7-man rotation.

2013 ASEAN Basketball League Finals Roundup: June 7-9, 2013

And just like that, the San Miguel Beermen are one away from the 2013 ASEAN Basketball League crown. About a week after disposing of the pesky Sports Rev Thailand Slammers, the Beermen went to work and survived twp tough outings against the defending champion Indonesia Warriors.

In the first game last Friday, June 7, it was 40-year old phenom Asi Taulava who buckled down to work and registered a double-double line – 22 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 10-of-14 from the field to help SMB clinch an all-important Game 1 win. Playmaker Chris Banchero also did well with 15 points, 6 boards, and 5 assists despite shooting just 5-of-15 from the floor. Wing shooters Val Acuña and Leo Avenido also found their marks, contributing 13 and 12 markers respectively thanks to a combined 5-of-6 shooting from rainbow land. Steve Thomas spearheaded the Warriors with 20 points and 17 rebounds, but the Beermen just came up with the bigger plays in the endgame.

Asi Taulava ruled Game 1 for SMB.

In the second game last night, the Beermen had to go through the wringer, escaping with a 66-65 W after Brian Williams made the go-ahead basket with under 7 seconds left. Williams cut through the baseline and received an inbound pass from Avenido. Williams then converted on the easy deuce and handed the one-point lead to San Miguel. Fil-American Stanley Pringle raced downcourt for a potential game-winning runner, but it clanged off the rim as time expired. Williams led SMB with 17 points, 16 boards, and 4 blocked shots as most of the other locals struggled. Banchero scored 12 points, but he missed 10 of his 13 field goal attempts in the process. He was thoroughly outplayed by Pringle, who ended with 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists. Thomas teamed up with Chris Daniels for 28 points and 24 rebounds for the visiting Warriors, who now must win all three remaining Finals games to successfully defend their title.

2013 ASEAN Basketball League Playoffs Roundup: May 28-30, 2013

The Indonesia Warriors and the San Miguel Beermen set up a rematch of last season’s Finals after disposing of their respective semifinal rivals in the 2013 ASEAN Basketball League Playoffs.

The two Williamses celebrate their semis win over Thailand.

The terrific trio of Stanley Pringle, Chris Daniels, and Mario Wuysang just proved to be too much for the Westports Malaysia Dragons. Pringle shot 10-of-19 from the field to finish with 24 points and 8 rebounds in leading the Indonesia Warriors past the Dragons in Game 3 of their semifinal match-up, 81-64. Daniels and Wuysang added 18 and 17 markers respectively as the Indons completed a 3-game sweep of third-seeded Malaysia. Daniels also registered 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks in a grand all-around effort. Justin Melton and Gavin Edwards spearheaded the Dragons in their last game of the postseason. Melton scored 16 points on top of 5 rebounds, while Edwards ended up with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 rejections. One key in the game was Indonesia committing just 11 turnovers while forcing the Malaysians to cough the ball up 21 times.

2013 ASEAN Basketball League Playoffs Roundup: May 24-26, 2013

Indonesia protected its homecourt against a game Malaysia squad, while the Beermen avenged a Game 1 shocker by blowing the Slammers out of the PhilSports Arena in this past weekend’s 2013 ABL Playoff action.

Stanley Pringle is certainly back for the Indonesia Warriors, and he has been doing what he does best – carve defenses apart and make a beeline to the basket. In the first two games of Indonesia’s Playoff match-up with the Malaysia Dragons, Pringle has averaged 21.0ppg, 5.0rpg, 3.0apg, and 1.0spg while shooting close to 52% from the field. He was the main scoring option in the Indons’ title romp last year, and it seems he has settled into that role once again this postseason. John Smith and Mario Wuysang helped him out in Game 1 with a combined 31 points, while Steven Thomas and Chris Daniels paired up for 23 points and 26 rebounds in Game 2. The Dragons have been competitive, however, leaning on the dynamic duo of Justin Melton and Gavin Edwards. Melton and Edwards have normed 23.5ppg and 15.5ppg respectively in the series’ first two games. Malaysia has to win Game 3 to avoid a sweep and then snatch Game 4 to send the series back to Jakarta for the decider.

In the other Playoff match-up, the San Miguel Beermen redeemed themselves from the improbable Game 1 upset by thoroughly outclassing the Sports Rev Thailand Slammers in Game 2. The Pinoys shot better than 50% from the field, including 8-of-16 from three-point land, won the rebounding battle – 43-32,  and did a better job distributing the basketball – 24 assists to just 12 for Thailand. Local players Jeric Fortuna, Chris Banchero, Val Acuña, and Leo Avenido all scored at least 12 points to lead SMB’s unabated dominance. Their backs are against the wall, though, as Games 3 & 4 will be played in Thailand. The Slammers will definitely be buoyed by their boisterous hometown crowd, and they would do well to maximize that in the hopes of upsetting the Beermen once more. If SMB manages to win at least one game in Thailand and send the game back to Manila, then the Thais might be staring at a lost cause.

Justin William goes up for the slamma jamma!

2013 ASEAN Basketball League Roundup: May 11-19, 2013

The San Miguel Beermen continued their historic ABL run with close wins over the Thailand Slammers and the Malaysia Dragons, gaining significant momentum towards the semifinals, while the Indonesia Warriors also ended strong by beating the Singapore Slingers at home. In the meantime, the Saigon Heat continued to flounder, losing to Malaysia and Thailand before ending their campaign with an unexpected W over the Dragons yesterday.

Chris Banchero leads a strong SMB five bent on
bringing the ABL title back to Manila.

As a result the past week cemented the semifinal pairings and effectively eliminated the Slingers from the title race (Saigon was eliminated millennia ago). The Beermen go up against the Slammers in their best-of-five semis match-up, while the defending champion Indonesia Warriors roll out versus the Dragons in their own race-to-three affair.

The winners of the semis will advance to the Finals for another best-of-five for all the marbles.

2013 ASEAN Basketball League Roundup: May 2-10, 2013

Here’s what we all have to realize about the 2013 ASEAN Basketball League – there are really just two teams playing for all the marbles. The San Miguel Beermen, currently toting a league-leading 17-3 win-loss card, are the deepest of the whole lot and, not surprisingly, the heavy favorites to take home the title. The Indonesia Warriors, meanwhile, buoyed by their championship experience last year and the return of ace playmaker Stanley Pringle, are hoping to be the classic foils to the Beermen’s machinations.

Stanley Pringle's return has made the Warriors
that much stronger.

Now how about the other four clubs in the six-team field?

Gravy.