Representatives of ABL take part in the press conference announcing new season. (Photo of organisers) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The ASEANBasketball League (ABL) will be back with a record nine teams this season,organisers announced at a press conference in Manila, the Philippines, onOctober 17.
In its ninth edition, the league will seefour newcomers — Formosa Dreamers (Chinese Taipei), Nanhai Long Lions (China),CLS Knights Indonesia (Indonesia), and Mono Vampire Basketball Club (Thailand).
They will be against Westports MalaysiaDragons, Singapore Slingers, Saigon Heat, Alab Pilipinas and defendingchampions, Hong Kong Eastern.
One of the oldest clubs in the country, CLSKnights Indonesia seeks to further promote the brand to the world.
Established in 2014, the Mono VampireBasketball Club of Thailand has made great strides as a basketball club,finishing in the fifth place in the recent FIBA Asia Champions Cup.
The Formosa Dreamers are replacingKaohsiung Truth as Taipei’s representative this season. The newly establishedteam will be hosting its games in the city of Changhua.
Nanhai Long Lions are looking to use theteam as a vessel to give more opportunities to local players in thebasketball-crazed nation.
All the teams are allowed to hire two WorldImports and two Heritage Imports to bolster their rosters. They will be dividedinto three groups and will play a total of 20 games — 10 home and 10 away —over the course of the season.
The top two teams in the overall standingswill advance to the semi-finals, while the third to sixth placers will firsthave to compete in the quarter-finals stage.
In the opener match on November 17, NanhaiLong Lions will take on Singapore Slingers.
Vietnam representative Saigon Heat willplay its first match against Formosa Dreamers on December 9 at their home turfof CIS Arena in HCM City.
The Heat is currently competing at thenational Vietnam Basketball League and ranks second after nine matches. It istheir sixth season at the ABL. In the last three years, the Heat stopped at thesemi-finals. This year, they will be supported by Canadian coach Kyle Juliuswho is expected to lift them to a new height.
Before coming to Vietnam, Julius, 37,worked three years at the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC). He ledLondon Lightning to a 35-5 record and finished the season with the title afterbeating the Halifax Hurricanes in the 2016-17 finals.
He was then named head coach of the 3DGlobal Sports team, which represented Canada in the 39th William Jones Cup inChinese Taipei. His team had an 8-1 record, securing them the William JonesChampionship over several Asian National Teams including the Philippines.
The former Canadian Senior National Team playersaid he looked forward to the challenge of coaching in this new league and theregion, also admitting that he needed a change of scenery.-VNA
VNA
