Pilgrim back in ABL

Yee Chun Leong

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, September 4, 2010

COULD Mike Pilgrim be making his way back to the Asean Basketball League (ABL)?

The Ohio native wrote on his facebook yesterday: "Well it looks like God has given me my new home ... Sept 15 ya boy is on his way back to Asia ... Let's get it family."

The 25-year-old American might very well be heading to Satria Muda BritAma since the Indonesian team's logo was among Pilgrim's profile pictures.

But nothing has been made official yet.

"Well, it's not official yet. I will be signing the contract next week ... but I am happy to be able to play in front of my Brunei fans once again and at the same time get to know the people in Jakarta," said Pilgrim, in an interview with The Brunei Times, yesterday.

"We will have a great team. It's a great opportunity to build on what the team had accomplished last year and to take it one step higher. I'm very excited to be able to play at the BritAma Arena because they have great fan support there," added the ex-Brunei Barracudas player.

"But I will always miss my fans in Brunei and I hope to be able to see you guys soon," continued Pilgrim.

The 6ft 9in American, who used to play for Brunei's first professional basketball team, averaged 16.5 points and eight rebounds per game in his 14-game stint with the Barracudas.

He scored his career-high of 20 points against the Philippine Patriots on Dec 13 and then proudly described the win as a "mother of all victories".

However, Pilgrim was axed by the Barracudas on Jan 21, the Brunei side citing disciplinary issues for his dismissal.

Nadzaty Azma Azeez, the owner of the Barracudas, also revealed on Thursday that the local players of the team had already started training under their assistant coach for the 2010/2011 ABL season.

But 'interesting' questions remain unanswered for the fans and supporters. Who will be the next head coach? (After Coach Bong Ramos of the Philippines said that he would not be back for a second year)

Who will the imports be? Will it be a completely revamped line up? Read More…

Source: The Brunei Times