Barracudas welcome ABL expansion

THE Barracudas welcome the possible inclusion of three new teams in the Asean Basketball League (ABL) next season.

The news of three new teams was announced by Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, the ABL founder, during the championship presentation dinner at the Gardens Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday night.

"We expect Vietnam to join the ABL this October. We're targetting participation from all the 10 Asean countries," Fernandes told Bernama.

"That is the whole idea of the league. When it first started, it was trying to get all the Asean countries to participate and it is on its way to reaching that target," said HD Suhaili, co-owner of the Barracudas, in an interview with The Brunei Times yesterday.

"Eventhough the number of teams is yet to be confirmed, it is bound to make the league more exciting," added HD.

The Barracudas, Brunei's first professional basketball team, are in the process of preparing for the upcoming season having ended their campaign in fifth place after the inaugural season.

"We should be starting our training in the upcoming weeks. After going through the first season, we have learnt some new things and will be looking forward to improve further," said Nadzaty Azma Azeez.

"We will have to train the local players harder and hopefully we can improve our standard to compete against the rest of the countries," added Nadzaty.

The league kicked off last year with six teams - Barracudas, Philippine Patriots, Satria Muda BritAma, Thailand Tigers, Singapore Slingers and KL Dragons - from around the Southeast Asian region.

Meanwhile, the ABL presented the Patriots with championship rings and also the trophy during the dinner after sweeping Satria Muda 3-0 in the inaugural finals last month.

Jason Dixon, one of the American imports of the Patriots, pocketed the Best ABL import award but felt that there was others that deserve it.

"To be honest with you, I personally don't feel I deserve it," said Dixon to Redhoops.com.

"I personally feel there are various other guys who outperformed me, Gabe Freeman being number one. Nakiea Miller is a guy that you have to give him his credit," added Dixon, who beat Kyle Jeffers of the Slingers and Miller of Satria Muda to the award.

Attaporn Lertmalaiporn of the Tigers bagged the ABL League Most Valuable Player award while Warren Ybanez of the Patriots was named the ABL Finals MVP pipping teammates Robert Wainwright and Jerwin Gaco for the award.

The Brunei Times