With all eyes on Asia, region’s best ball clubs slug it out in Terrific 12

MACAU—Basketball isn’t slowing down in the Asian continent with the East Asia Super League: The Terrific 12 tipping off Tuesday at Tap Seac Multisport Pavilion here.

Twelve teams from the PBA, CBA, KBL, and the B.League have converged in the invitational tournament that will run until Sunday.

“With the Fiba World Cup hosted in China and the 2020 Olympics in Japan, the eyes of the basketball world are centered in Asia,” said East Asia Super League CEO Matt Beyer.

Representing the PBA are San Miguel, TNT—the flagship teams of the largest factions in the league in the San Miguel Corporation and MVP groups, respectively—and Blackwater.

The Beermen are the winningest team in the PBA with 27 titles under their belt and they’re currently aiming for the elusive Grand Slam after taking the Philippine and Commissioner’s Cups.

The KaTropa have won seven titles in its 29-year existence while the Elite have yet to win their first PBA title but they did participate in the East Asia Super League in 2018.

Two-time B.League champion Utsunomiya Brex headline the Japanese contingent that includes Terrific 12 defending champion Ryukyu, Chiba, and Niigata.

Korea’s KCC Egis and Seoul are the representatives of the KBL and the two clubs have seven titles between them.

Zhejiang and Shenzhen are the two CBA clubs in the tournament.

“I think this tournament is a great opportunity for the best coaches and teams in the East Asia region to compete,” said Philippine basketball legend Jimmy Alapag, who is also a member of the Fiba Players’ Commission.

“We have such a high level of basketball here in the East Asia region and Macau is a great fan of basketball with the local community here and the tourists coming in,” added Alapag who is also an assistant coach at San Miguel.