ABL playoffs: Advantage Patriots and Slingers

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Monday, February 1, 2010

 

THE Philippine Patriots started off the first leg of the semi-finals of the Asean Basketball League (ABL) brightly by trumping KL Dragons 77-43 at the Ynares Sports Arena, in Manila.

The top three scorers of the match came from the Patriots with former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Best Import Gabe Freeman scoring a game-high 15 points, compatriot Jason Lamar Dixon contributing 13 and Val Acuna chipping in 12 points.

Rudy Lingganay was the Dragons' top scorer with 10 points, followed by American Jamal Brown and Malaysian Shee Fai Loh, each with seven points.

The Patriots never gave the Dragons a chance as they led 12-2 midway through the first quarter. The Dragons could not find their way through the Patriots' zone defence and had to rely only on the three-pointers. This gave the hosts an 18-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Patriots owed their domination to Freeman the American forward's importance was highlighted when he scored on the rebound to make it 30-16 at halftime.

The 24-year-old American was the lead scorer at the break with nine points, followed by teammate Warren Ybanez with seven.

Besides this, the Dragons too kept committing turnovers and wasting their chances to help the Patriots keep their lead. Read More...

Source: TBT

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Let the ABL playoffs begin!

Yee Chun Leong

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Sunday, January 31, 2010

MOVE over Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. 'Tis the time for the ABL stars to shine.

The playoffs of the Asean Basketball League (ABL) start today and four teams the Philippine Patriots, KL Dragons, Singapore Slingers and Satria Muda BritAma are all set for 'war'.

The Big Three the Patriots, Slingers and Satria Muda proved their mettle when they occupied the top three positions of the six-team table at the end of the 15-game regular season.

Favourites, the Patriots, will host the Dragons at the Ynares Sports Arena in Manila while the Slingers and Satria Muda will go head to head at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in the other playoff today.

The Patriots have played down the favourites tag, despite going 8-0 on their home floor in the regular season saying that the Dragons are tough rivals.

The Malaysian side picked up their form in their last four matches of the regular season beating the Patriots 77-59, taming the Slingers 78-71 and slaying Satria Muda 70-67.
The Big Three the Patriots, Slingers and Satria Muda proved their mettle when they occupied the top three positions of the six-team table at the end of the 15-game regular season.

Favourites, the Patriots, will host the Dragons at the Ynares Sports Arena in Manila while the Slingers and Satria Muda will go head to head at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in the other playoff today.

The Patriots have played down the favourites tag, despite going 8-0 on their home floor in the regular season saying that the Dragons are tough rivals.

The Malaysian side picked up their form in their last four matches of the regular season beating the Patriots 77-59, taming the Slingers 78-71 and slaying Satria Muda 70-67. Read More...

Source: TBT

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Barracudas going 'local' next season

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, January 30, 2010

 

THE Barracudas are going local slowly but surely to help boost their chances of a playoff appearance in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) next season.

Brunei's first professional basketball team exited the league's inaugural season last Sunday after they fell 65-87 to the Philippine Patriots at the Ynares Sports Arena in Manila.

One of the Barracudas' main weaknesses in the just-concluded season was arguably their bench. The Brunei side were forced to press break their opponents' full court pressure defence in almost all their matches because they lacked good players on the bench.

"It is entirely up to the local players to show what they can do next season. I've got a training programme to prepare them in the off season and hopefully they can prove themselves," said Bong Ramos, the Barracudas head coach, in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.

"In addition, new local players might be included to the roster. But it depends on whether these players can show us what they can do. The most important thing for a player, however, is to possess a positive attitude," added Ramos. Read More...

Source: TBT

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Larry, Avenido enjoy playing for Barracudas

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Thursday, January 28, 2010

 

THEIR contracts may have ended after their Asean Basketball League (ABL) season but the Barracudas imports will treasure their playing time in the Sultanate.

The Barracudas had announced on Monday that all their imports - American Reggie Larry, Australian Simon Conn and Filipinos Francis "Kiko" Adriano, Don Camaso and Leo Avenido - have all been released after their season came to an end last Sunday with a 65-87 loss to the Philippine Patriots at the Ynares Sports Arena.

"My experience playing here was great and I really had a lot of fun. However, I wish we are still in the play-offs at this stage," said Larry in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.

The American pointed out that he came to Brunei with the motive of helping the team as much as possible to make a run for the play-offs and at the same time make a good name for himself with his time here for a better future.

"The thing I liked most about here was that every home game, more and more fans would to come to the match. I believe that it was because we managed to get them excited about basketball," said the 23-year-old. Read More...

Source: TBT

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Barracudas looking forward to next season

Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

 

THE Barracudas may have failed to make it to the play-offs of the Asean Basketball League (ABL), but they still have something to be proud of, having a 6-8 win-loss record in the inaugural league.

"The way I look at it, the team actually overachieved. At the start of the season, a lot of people probably expected for the Brunei team to end the season in the last position," said Bong Ramos, the Barracudas head coach, in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday when met at the Brunei International Airport.

"However, I'm happy and proud that it had to go down to the last game to determine who would make it to the play-offs. It's too bad we lost but I'm sure the other teams didn't expect us to be in that position for a chance at the play-offs," added Ramos.

The team's season ended on Sunday when they fell 87-65 to the Philippine Patriots, at the Ynares Sports Arena in Manila.

A victory for them would have seen the Bruneians through to the play-offs.

"The aim was to make it to final four but I guess it was just not our time. Winning six games in the league against countries which Brunei have never beaten before is history itself," said the ex-Indonesia national coach. Read More...

Source: TBT

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