San Miguel enlists new ABL import

Doug Thomas replaces Richard Jeter as SMB import in the ABL.

MANILA, Philippines—San Miguel dropped its under-performing import after only one game in the Asean Basketball League.

The Beermen tapped Doug Thomas, a 6-foot-9 American forward from the University of Iowa, to replace Richard Jeter early this week just before their showdown with the AirAsia Philippine Patriots this Saturday.

Jeter had a measly 11 points and two rebounds in the Beermen’s surprise overtime loss to the Westports Malaysia Dragons, 77-83, in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday.

Douglas, who just saw action with the Reno Bighorns in the NBA D-League, will team up with the Beermen’s other American reinforcement Dalron Johnson.

After ruling a preseason tournament in Bangkok last month, the Beermen were installed as title favorites in the home-and-away regional league.

But the Beermen floundered at the start with the Dragons’ imports Tiras Wade and Brian Williams humbling their San Miguel rivals with a combined 54 points and 29 rebounds.

Jeter and Johnson only had 28 points and eight boards between them in the Beermen’s debut match.

San Miguel coach Bobby Parks said his team needs “to do a better job in containing [the opponents’] imports” as the Beermen go up next against a Patriots side boasting prolific reinforcements.

The Patriots, powered by last season’s Best Import Nakiea Miller, got their campaign going with an 86-58 rout of the Bangkok Cobras last Saturday.