Alas picks Indonesia as PHL's chief rival for ABL crown

The presence of three Filipino players and two hard-working imports make Indonesia's Satria Muda BritAma the Philippine Patriots’ chief rivals for the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) Season 2 crown, according to Patriots coach Louie Alas. "Our five rivals have beefed up their respective rosters, but I think Indonesia is the strongest of them all," he stressed. “Aside from having two reliable imports, they have three Filipinos in their fold." Former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) cagers Kiko Adriano and Don Camaso, as well as Ronald Capati, are the three Filipino players who will reinforce the Indonesian squad. The three will be supported by imports Marcus Morrison and Jamal Holden as Satria Muda BritAma aims to foil the Patriots' title defense bid. The Philippines won the ABL's inaugural edition via a three-game sweep of Indonesia last year. Still, Alas and team owners Mikee Romero and Tony Boy Cojuangco remain unfazed. Although the team still has some loose ends that need to be fixed, Alas said he expects the Patriots to improve as the tournament goes on. The Patriots open their campaign against the Brunei Barracudas on Sunday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig. The Patriots have a prolific scorer in former PBA import Anthony Johnson and a veteran center in Donald Little. But Alas said that he wants his players to put emphasis on the “3Ds" of basketball – desire, determination and discipline. "We can't achieve our goal without all of those," said Alas, who will also rely on Alex Crisano, JP Alcaraz, Warren Ybanez, Erwin Sta, Maria, Orly Daroya and Chito Jaime. – JVP/KY, GMANews.TV