EASL back with a bang

After a highly-successful inaugural home-and-away season, EASL returns with a bigger bang as the regional league has expanded from eight to 10 teams battling in 30 games on 17 play dates to culminate in the Final Four where the top prize is a whopping $1 million.

EASL CEO Henry Kerins said the staging platform is “where champions clash” and the best of the best in East Asia are in the cast to slug it out. Representing the PBA are Commissioner’s Cup ruler San Miguel Beer and Philippine Cup titleholder Meralco. Other contenders are Japan B-League champion Hiroshima Dragonflies, Korean league champion Busan KCC Egis, Chinese-Taipei P.League+ champion New Taipei Kings, two-time ABL champion Hong Kong Eastern, Macau league champion Black Bears, B-League runner-up Ryukyu Golden Kings, Korean league runner-up Suwon KT Sonicboom and P-League+ runner-up Taoyuan Pauian Pilots.

“The coming season includes two powerful teams from two amazing cities in one of the biggest basketball markets in the world – China’s Greater Bay Area,” said Kerins. “Fans are in for incredible clashes as Hong Kong and Macau take to the court against amazing teams from Chinese-Taipei, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. EASL is getting bigger and it’s getting better. It was always our ambition to expand and bring in more leagues representing more regions in Asia. We have accelerated those plans due to the strong demand from the regional leagues to join and their readiness to do so.”

The 10 teams are split into two groups of five and within a bracket, a team faces two groupmates twice and two other groupmates once for six regular season outings. The top two finishers of each group advance to the Final Four where every game is a knockout. The regular season kicks off on Oct. 2 and ends Feb. 12, with games scheduled on Wednesdays. There will be a break for the FIBA Asia Cup qualifying windows on Nov. 18-26 and Feb. 19-25. The semifinals will be on March 7 with the title game and the playoff for third on March 9.

Action gets going with a blockbuster twinbill featuring San Miguel against Suwon and Meralco against Macau at the MOA Arena on Oct. 2. Another doubleheader with San Miguel engaging Taoyuan and Meralco meeting Busan is set at the PhilSports Arena on Nov. 13. Then, San Miguel takes on Hiroshima on Jan. 15 and Meralco tackles Ryukyu on Jan. 22, both at the PhilSports Arena. The other San Miguel and Meralco games will be held overseas.

EASL rules allow teams to enlist two imports playing together plus a naturalized player or an Asian heritage reinforcement. From early indications, Meralco may keep Allen Durham and bring back Suleiman Braimoh or a highly-touted European league veteran in the Bolts’ sights for five years plus naturalized player Ange Kouame for EASL. San Miguel is likely to retain Jordan Adams and sign up Quincy Miller for EASL. Bennie Boatwright is recovering from injury and may be available in November. If his naturalization is processed on time, Boatwright could be San Miguel’s third import.

“Filipino teams and fans bring great competitiveness and passion to EASL,” said Kerins. “We expect them to compete strongly for the championship against the best teams from the rest of East Asia.” PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said, “The PBA is excited to send two of its champion teams to compete in EASL … they will represent Filipino basketball with pride and we hope that one of them will be crowned the champion of East Asia this season.”