WHEN it comes to basketball in Southeast Asia, the Philippines is the undisputed king.
That's the reality the Philippine Patriots had to deal with as the country's representative in the inaugural season of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL).
"Syempre pagdating sa basketball, ang expectation mo sa Southeast Asia laging mananalo ang Pilipinas," said Louie Alas, the head coach of the crew owned by Mikee Romero and Tonyboy Cojuangco. "Malaking pressure sa amin yun dahil sa kalaban, nothing to lose sila eh."
The onus was on the Philippine side to validate the country's standing in the regional league, founded in 2009. That's not even mentioning the winning tradition of Romero-owned clubs it needed to live up to, with Harbour Centre winning seven crowns in the Philippine Basketball League (PBL).
Alas, though, had no doubt in his mind that the team he had was up to the task.
"Battle-tested veterans yung mga players na yun," he said.
Sniper Rob Wainwright bannered the Patriots as he was joined up front by the towering Mac Andaya, veteran Erwin Sta. Maria, and journeyman Jerwin Gaco.

Manning the backcourt were Warren Ybanez, Froilan Baguion, JP Alcaraz, and Christian Coronel, while serving as the team's reinforcements were Jason Dixon and Brandon Powell.
Later on, Elmer Espiritu and Val Acuna from University of the East and Nonoy Baclao from Ateneo were added, adding youth to the already promising unit.
Experienced as the team was, Alas knew that there would be some growing pains along the way, especially when it came to the players' adjustments to the new environment.
"Hindi sanay yung players sa international competitions. Yung mga kalaban namin, yung core nila halos yun na yung national team nila. Kita mo pa rin minsan pag away game, hindi sila sanay sa international kaya nagkakaroon sila ng doubts," the mentor said.
That couldn't be any more evident than in the Patriots' first game on the road in Jakarta facing Satria Muda BritAma in the season-opener on Oct. 10, 2009, where Alas felt the uneasiness right off the bat.
"Yung first game na yun versus Indonesia," he said. "Doon din nakita ng players yung pwede at di namin pwedeng gawin kaya kailangan nilang mag-adjust."
The Philippines pulled off a 76-69 victory to open its campaign.

But its next game was a reality check of sorts, with the Patriots suffering a 74-69 defeat to the Singapore Slingers. To the team, it proved that no game was going to be a walk in the park, especially with the opposition leaning heavily on their imports.
"We had to play every game and we played fair and square," said Alas, aware of the huge target the Philippines had whenever it took the court.
The opposition was definitely no pushover.
Singapore banked on Michael Leblanc, who led the league in scoring with 20.7 points, Kyle Jeffers, and Filipino point guard Al Vergara. Satria Muda had rebounding demon Nakiea Miller, who crushed the boards with 13.3 rebounds per outing, and Alex Hartman in tow.
Kuala Lumpur entrusted its campaign on banger Chris Kuete and Filipino reinforcements Rudy Lingganay and Toto Bandaying. Brunei, coached by Bong Ramos, relied heavily on Reggie Larry, who was second in the league in scoring with 20.3 points, and Leo Avenido.
And Thailand had Chaz Briggs, as well as a slew of Filipino imports in Ricky Ricafuente, Axel Doruelo, and Glenn Bolocon.
For Alas, there was no better motivation for the Filipinos than challeging the players' pride.
"China-challenge ko lang sila lagi. Sinasabi ko sa kanila na kahit yung best collegiate teams natin, pwedeng talunin yung mga teams dito," he said, 'although syempre at the back of my mind as much as tiwala ka naman sa imports mo, alam mong kailangan na kailangan na may mga locals ka na every game, magde-deliver."
The turning point came after the Philippines suffered back-to-back defeats to the Singapore Slingers and the Kuala Lumpur Dragons on the road to open 2010.
Pressed to make changes, the Patriots pulled off a masterstroke and brought in do-it-all dynamo Gabe Freeman, who was then coming off a stellar run with San Miguel in the PBA, to replace Powell.
"Nadagdagan kami ng experience at leadership," Alas said of Freeman. "Nag-champion na siya sa PBA at kilalang-kilala siya ng mga players. Kaya pagdating niya sa team, nandoon na agad yung respeto para sa kanya ng mga teammates niya. At di naman niya tayo pinahiya dahil double-double machine yan."

If the Philippines was already looked at as the favorites, Freeman's arrival eased any remaining doubts about the team's ability to go all the way.
The Patriots won their last two elimination games to finish at the top of the standings with an 11-4 record, taking the top-seed in the six-nation tourney and locking up homecourt advantage for the playoffs.
It meant little as the Philippine team cruised through the playoffs, first disposing Kuala Lumpur in two games. The Patriots eventually swept Satria Muda in the best-of-five championship series, winning on the road in Game Three, 75-67, with Ybanez named as the Finals MVP.
"Sa akin kasi, pagdating ng playoffs pwede mo nang itapon yung scouting reports. Sa ABL that time, kung sino ang mas gusto manalo, yun ang mananalo," Alas said. "And since dala natin yung Pilipinas, pagpasok pa lang natin sa court, yung kalaban natatakot na yan eh. Kaya sabi namin sa kanila, we just have to be ourselves."
By living up to expectations in the ABL's maiden season, the Patriots affirmed the Philippines' superiority in the region when it comes to basketball.
"Inaugural ito eh. Sa kahit anong liga, ang unang champion laging kasama sa history. Yun ang nakatatak sa isip nila," said Alas, now the head coach for Phoenix Super LPG in the PBA.
Two more Filipino teams in the San Miguel Beermen and Alab Pilipinas have since won an ABL championship, but if there's one thing the regional league proved, there's really no guarantee when it comes to basketball. No team has repeated as champions in the league's 10-year existence.
Alas feels the ABL has succeeded in closing the basketball gap in Southeast Asia.
"Comparing now and then, yung gap siguro bumaba na. Gumagaling na rin sila kumuha ng mga imports at kahit overwhelming ang advantage natin sa mga locals, pwede na rin tayong matalo," he said. "Dati takot pa sila sa atin, pero ngayon hindi na."
That's not entirely confined to the ABL. Just look at the competition this past 30th Southeast Asian Games, with Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia already showing potential with their basketball programs.
"Dati tayo lang ang may mga Fil-foreigners. Ngayon, halos lahat na meron kasi masasabi mong iba talaga kung sa Amerika o sa Europe ka natutong maglaro," he said.

As much as the gap may have been skewed, Alas believes that the Philippines is still the alpha male in the region. And it's up to the players to maintain that order no matter how big a stride the other nations have made.
"At the back of their minds, pag kalaban nila tayo parang USA pa rin ang kalaban nila. Lagi pa rin may plus factor. Modesty aside, kahit medyo nagka-catch up na sila sa atin, yung Pilipino, hindi yan papayag na magpapatalo tayo sa kanila. Ganoon tayo kayabang against them," said Alas.
"Lumalapit na rin sila sa atin at darating yung panahon na pwede na nila tayong matalo. I just hope na di mangyari sa atin yun. Sa atin naman, ang mentality is pagdating dito sa Southeast Asia, wag natin ibigay sa iba. Yun na lang ang natitira sa atin eh."
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