Alab Pilipinas team for the 2017-2018 ABL Season. Photo from @alabpilipinas Twitter.
With a new coach and a retooled roster, Tanduay Alab Pilipinas declared its readiness to dethrone Eastern SC of Hong Kong in the Asean Basketball League (ABL), which opens with five holdovers, three new teams and a returning club next month.
National team legend Jimmy Alapag will call the shots for Alab with former Talk ’N Text import Ivan Johnson and Reggie Okosa reinforcing the team.
Alab likewise tapped veterans Dondon Hontiveros, Rico Maierhofer and Pamboy Raymundo and retained reigning local Most Valuable Player Ray Parks.
“I think we will be the biggest challenger to Hong Kong,” said Alab co-owner Charlie Dy, whose team will play its first game against the defending champion at Mall of Asia Arena on Nov. 19.
Hong Kong will parade Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger as one of its heritage imports this season.
“It’s exciting to be a head coach at a time when the ABL is a really growing league,” said the all-time great Alapag of his first coaching stint during the league’s launch at Shangri-La at the Fort on Tuesday.
ABL chief operations officer Jericho Ilagan, meanwhile, announced the return of Thai team Mono Vampire and the entry of three new squads—Nanhai Long Lions from China, Formosa Dreamers from Chinese-Taipei and the CLS Knights Surabaya from Indonesia.