ABL plans to bring in more teams

MANILA, Philippines - There are big plans for the Asean Basketball League (ABL) and franchise owners will convene in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow to lay out a blueprint for the future with expansion, an ownership restricting and a new TV contract in mind.

After four seasons, the ABL is ready to open its doors to more teams with interest coming from business groups in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. Since its inception in 2009, the league has crowned two Philippine champions and one each from Thailand and Indonesia. The Philippine Patriots took the inaugural title and this past season, San Miguel Beer dethroned the Indonesia Warriors via a 3-0 sweep in the best-of-five finals.

“The critical factor is the owners’ long-term commitment to the league,” said San Miguel director of sports Noli Eala yesterday. â€œI think the ABL’s future is bright. From the Philippine viewpoint, it’s a perfect league to play in. First, it prepares young players for the PBA. Look at how the ABL got JuneMar Fajardo ready for the PBA.This year, we expect J.R. Cawaling and Jeric Fortuna to be picked in the coming draft after playing for San Miguel in the ABL. Second, it gives an opportunity for players to restart their PBA careers like Nic Belasco who went from being an Asean import in Thailand to a championship player with Alaska. If ever Asi (Taulava) returns to the PBA, he will be another example of a player restarting his career. Third, it’s a breeding ground for Fil-foreigners who can play two or three years in the ABL then move to the PBA. Fil-Am Stanley Pringle, who is Indonesia’s Asean import, will be eligible for the PBA draft next year. Chris Banchero will play two conferences in the D-League starting October to join Pringle in the draft next year.”

Eala said other Asean countries are now realizing the value of deploying national players in the ABL. â€œThe other day, Thailand and Malaysia won the qualifiers to make it to the FIBA-Asia Championships using players from their ABL teams,” he said. â€œFor some reason, Indonesia’s national players weren’t in the Warriors lineup. If they were, I think Indonesia would’ve been more competitive in the FIBA-Asia qualifiers. Aside from the commercial value of owning an ABL team, countries are beginning to appreciate how it upgrades the playing level of national players.”

Eala said the Beermen wouldn’t have gone all the way without the hands-on guidance and support of San Miguel Corp. president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang. â€œFrom day 1, Boss RSA kept us together and was our inspiration,” said Eala. â€œIt was his idea to recruit reserve players from our PBA teams, bringing in Eric Menk, Val Acuna, Hans Thiele, Paolo Hubalde and Mike Burtscher. We built our team around Asi and Chris then RSA wanted Brian Williams whom he had seen in the ABL the previous year. Our holdovers were Leo Avenido, Christian Luanzon and R. J. Rizada. We knew J.R. from Gilas and persuaded him to delay applying for the PBA draft. Initially, we had Rob Labagala at point guard but with Mike Cortez traded to Air 21 and L.A. Tenorio without a backup at Ginebra, he returned to the PBA. We needed a legit point guard so coach Leo (Austria) suggested Jeric Fortuna.  Coach Leo wanted a team with balance. We spoke with Dioceldo Sy to sign up Jeric.”

At first, San Miguel employed Williams and Gabe Freeman as its import tandem. Injuries to both brought in Matt Rogers and Justin Williams, fresh from PBA waivers. Then came an offer to trade Barako Bull’s Evan Brock for Brian Williams. â€œThere were difficult decisions to make during the season,” said Eala. â€œAfter we lost in the finals last year, there was pressure on us to win. I thought there was more pressure on San Miguel to win than any of our PBA teams. Brian would’ve earned more in the PBA but chose to stay with us. He turned down an opportunity to gain more mileage in the PBA for the chance to win an ABL championship. In the end, we went with the Williams boys, Brian and Justin.”

Austria’s elevation from assistant to head coach was a late decision. â€œWe opened training camp in October with Bobby (Parks) still our head coach,” said Eala. â€œBobby, however, was ill and even had difficulty standing at practice. In late November, we talked to Bobby and on doctors’ advice, he agreed to rest and regain his strength. RSA never got him off the payroll and took care of Bobby until the end. The guys really felt bad they couldn’t give Bobby a title last season so he was a driving force in winning the championship this year.”