2013 ASEAN Basketball League Roundup: April 27-28, 2013

The San Miguel Beermen distanced themselves further from the rest of the pack by repeating over the Heat, while the Slammers reclaimed fourth spot by defeating the Slingers on the road in this past weekend’s ASEAN Basketball League games.

The twin-tower combo of Brian Williams and Asi Taulava spearheaded the Beermen’s close shave over the visiting Heat, 71-69. Williams and Taulava paired up for 37 points as SMB nailed its 15^th win and extended its winning streak to a dozen games. Saigon, however, had its own pair of brilliant bigs – David Palmer and Justin Howard, who combined for 43 points and 26 rebounds. This was the Heat’s 14^th defeat of the season.

Chris Banchero tries to stifle the drive of
Saigon's Jai Reyes.
(image by SaigonHeat.com)

The Slammers, meanwhile, rose back up to fourth spot, momentarily gaining the upper hand versus the Slingers in their seesaw battle for the final playoff spot. Nobody scored more than 8 points for the hapless Singaporeans, whose import, Rashad Jones-Jennings, registered just 5 markers on 2-of-11 FG shooting and 1-of-10 FT shooting. His counterpart from Thailand, Christien Charles, on the other hand, scored 19 points and hauled down 19 rebounds in a no-rest performance. Darrius Brannon also ended up with a double-double line – 15 points and 16 boards – for the Slammers.

           

2013 ASEAN Basketball League Roundup: April 24-26, 2013

The San Miguel Beermen gained some distance between themselves and the second-running Indonesia Warriors this past week. San Miguel’s win over the Slammers coupled with Indonesia going 1-1 gave the Beermen a 1.5 game lead over the Warriors in the standings. The Malaysia Dragons, meanwhile, who gave the Warriors their lone loss this past week, hiked their slate up to 10 wins and 8 losses.

This past Wednesday, the Beermen beat the Thailand Slammers, 78-70, leaning on the 18 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds of old-man-can Asi Taulava. Other locals also came to play, with Leo Avenido and Paolo Hubalde scoring 15 and 14 points respectively. On the other end, it was Christien Charles who led the way for the Thais, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 boards.

On the same day, the Indonesia Warriors welcomed Stanley Pringle back into the fold with a victory over the cellar-dwelling Saigon Heat, 77-63. Jai Reyes, David Palmer, and Justin Howard all combined for 52 markers to lead the hometown Heat, but even that terrific triumvirate’s production was not enough to beat the Warriors. The Indons had four guys score in the double-digits so they could move a little closer to the Beermen’s top spot. American imports Steve Thomas and Chris Daniels paired up for 33 points, while Pinoy imports John Smith and Jerick Cañada scored 15 and 14 markers respectively to underscore the Warriors’ dominance.

That dominance, however, wasn’t very evident against the Westports Malaysia Dragons last night. The Dragons, behind the 32-point explosion of Marcus Hubbard, upended the Warriors and solidified their hold on third place. Other imports Gavin Edwards, Julius Armon, and Justin Melton scored at least 11 points to backstop Hubbard, while the Warriors 20 markers from Thomas and 19 each from Pringle and Daniels.

Chris Daniels and the Warriors fell to the Dragons.

Now that Pringle is back in playing condition, it’ll be really fun to see who the best Fil-American PG will be. Pringle was the clear best last season, but SMB’s Chris Banchero has upped his play this year (get well soon, Chris!), while Justin Melton has been a revelation for the Dragons. Singapore’s Phillip Morrison is no slouch, too, so it’ll really be interesting to see who’ll be remembered as this season’s best Fil-Am playmaker. My bet, however, is on Banchero, especially if the Beermen go on to win the big one and mainly because he has the more impressive body of work.

2013 ASEAN Basketball League Roundup: April 17-21, 2013

The San Miguel Beermen continued to stay on top with big wins over the Saigon Heat and Malaysia Dragons, while Singapore Slingers drew at 6 wins and 11 losses with their victims, the Sports Rev Thailand Slammers, in the 2013 ASEAN Basketball League.

SMB set a record for longest winning streak after blowing out the Saigon Heat, 101-49. Asi Taulava continued to turn back time with 18 points on 9-of-12 FG shooting. Frontline partner Justin Williams contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Chris Banchero and Val Acuña scored 12 and 11 points respectively. Pinoy import Oping Sumalinog led Saigon with 16 points, while Hoang Son Ly had 12.

The Beermen continued to win two days after, this time against the Westports Malaysia Dragons, 80-62. Once again, it was Taulava who led the way with 26 points on 13-of-19 shooting, while Brian Williams added 13 points and 14 boards. Local players Leo Avenido and Hans Thiele added 11 and 10 markers respectively. The visiting Dragons dropped to 9-8 after this loss. They were led by Marcus Hubbard’s 15 points, while Fil-Tongan Moala Tautuaa registered 11 markers and 12 boards.

This past Sunday, the Singapore Slingers won a controversial game against the Sports Rev Thailand Slammers, 62-56. There were some questionable calls and non-calls all throughout the match, and it was put under protest by Slammers. The official response of the ABL is that there WERE several mistakes made by the officials and Riel Banaria, the ABL’s Coordinator of Basketball Operations and Officials, reassured all parties that the necessary steps are being taken to further raise the quality of officiating and game administration. Phillip Morrison and Rashad Jones-Jennings led the Slingers with 26 and 16 points respectively. Jones-Jennings also had 13 rebounds. On the other end, Froilan Baguion had 16 points and 6 dimes to lead Thailand. He was backstopped by Kannut Samerjai’s 11 markers and Christien Charles’s 16 boards. Both teams are now tied at fourth spot in the league standings.

Rashad Jones-Jennings had a big game against the Slammers.

2013 ASEAN Basketball League Roundup: April 3-7, 2013

Things continued to heat up in the 2013 ABL with the “facelift” of the Thailand Slammers. The Slammers dropped their original sponsor, Chang Beer, in favor of new corporate backer, Sports Rev. The big Q is, as the race for the semifinals gets even tighter, will it even matter?

Well so far, it seems the new-look Slammers have indeed played better. They beat the team right ahead of them in the Playoff race, the Westports Malaysia Dragons, last Wednesday before dominating the Saigon Heat this past weekend. with these twin wins, the Slammers have pulled ahead of the Slingers for fourth place and are just 2 games behind the Dragons, who are locked up at third.

League-leaders Indonesia and San Miguel also won this past week, further cementing their holds on the first and second seeds respectively. Jerick Cañada came alive as the Indons beat Saigon, while the Beermen were led by Chris Banchero and Leo Avenido in their conquest of the Slingers.

Asi Taulava and the Beermen won big over
the Singapore Slingers.

2013 ASEAN Basketball League Roundup: March 27-31, 2013

The Indonesia Warriors remained a game ahead of the Beermen for top spot in the standings, while the Dragons solidified their hold on third and the Slingers shot past the Slammers for fourth place after a scintillating week of ABL basketball.

Last Wednesday, the Warriors defeated the Chang Thailand Slammers thanks to 20 points from veteran playmaker Mario Wuysang. Wuysang, the resident main point guard for Indonesia’s national team, shot 6-of-8 from rainbow country as he focused more on shooting than distributing. It was John Smith who became chief facilitator for Indonesia as the Fil-Am scattered 9 assists. ASEAN import Jerick Cañada scored 19 markers while Chris Daniels finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds to backstop Wuysang and Smith. The Slammers were led by the 30-point explosion of import Chris Charles.

Chris Charles led Chang Thailand's losing
effort against the Warriors.

A couple of days later, the Westports Malaysia Dragons beat the Saigon Heat at home. Gavin Edwards and Moala Tautaa were practically unstoppable, combining for 42 points and 13 rebounds as Malaysia won its eight game to stay a few games behind the top two teams. Justin Melton also accounted for himself well, scoring 10 points and dishing out 7 dimes for the home team. The visitors were led, not surprisingly, by imports David Palmer and Dior Lowhorn, both of whom combined for 55 points and 32 rebounds.

Things wouldn’t get better for Saigon over the weekend as they visited the Singapore Indoor Stadium only to badly lose to the Slingers. Local player Wei Long Wong had a career game for Singapore, scoring 29 points on the strength of 5 triples and shooting 10-of-11 from the stripe. The vastly-improved guard also added 6 boards for good measure. Rashad Jones-Jennings and Rashaad Singleton paired up for 51 points and 26 rebounds as the Slingers handed Saigon its ninth defeat of the season. The Heat got consistent offense from only three guys – Lowhorn, Palmer, and Jai Reyes. That trio scored all but 6 of the visitors’ output.

2013 ASEAN Basketball League Roundup: March 17, 2013

The Asean Basketball League’s top three teams remained in the top half of the standings, as the Slingers, Slammers, and Heat continued to scramble for fourth place at the conclusion of the first ever ABL Hoops Fest in Saigon, Vietnam.

The Slammers came up big with only their fourth win in twelve tries, but it was a win they needed badly. Thai ace Wutipong Dasom had a miserable offensive game throughout Sunday afternoon, but he connected on the biggest shot of the match. Dasom made good on his fourth three-point attempt (he missed his first three shots from beyond the arc) with less than a minute left, and he finished 11 points. More importantly, however, that shot pulled the rug from under the Slingers and gave the Slammers a confidence-boosting W. Christian Charles continued to be solid for the Thais with 19 points and 15 rebounds, while fellow import Darius Brannon finished with 11 points and 12 boards.

San Miguel, meanwhile, remained a game behind the league-leading Warriors after they beat the hometown Heat, 80-55. Chris Banchero continued to be SMB’s most potent scorer, nailing 20 points while dishing out 2 dimes and getting 1 steal. He was backstopped by the Williamses – Brian and Justin – both of whom combined for 27 markers and 26 caroms. Williams also rejected 4 Saigon shots. The Heat were imited to a paltry 19 rebounds for the entire game, with import David Palmer grabbing 8. Pint-sized Pinoy sniper Jai Reyes led the way for Saigon with 14 points and 6 assists, but shot just 4-of-11 from the field. Saigon has now dropped its seventh match of the tournament, and is on-track to continue bringing up the rear as the regular season continues well into the summer months.

Fil-Am import John Smith had maybe his best ABL game ever, dropping 26 markers on the Dragons as Indonesia continued to pace the 6-team field with their ninth victory. Smith hit 9-of-14 FGs, including 6 treys, for the Warriors, who are still missing the services of ace two-guard Stanley Pringle. Chris Daniels pocketed 17 points and 17 rebounds, while playmaking wonder Mario Wuysang produced an all-around effort with 13 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Gavin Edwards, Justin Melton, and Shee Fai Loh scored 18, 16, and 11 points respectively for the Dragons, who are at third place with an even 6-6 card.

Side Note:

SMB's Justin Williams won the Slam Dunk contest with an almost-free-throw line slam!

Singapore's Lim Sheng Yu won the 3-point Shooting contest!