Patriots confident even without Johnson

BRUNEI—Surprisingly, the Philippine Patriots aren’t too worried playing minus the dominant Anthony Johnson.   Even with the prolific American import out due to injury, coach Louie Alas expects the unbeaten Patriots to duplicate their triumph against the Brunei Barracudas in the AirAsia Asean Basketball League  Saturday night.   “Talent-wise, I think we can still match up with Brunei even without Johnson,” said Alas.   The defending champion Patriots hope to stay on top with a third straight victory against the winless Barracudas at 8 p.m. at the  Brunei Indoor Stadium in Bandar Seri Begawan here.   Over in Jakarta, the Thailand Slammers also aim to keep a share of the lead versus Indonesia Satria Muda BritAma at 6 p.m. at The BritAma Arena.   Johnson got sidelined in the Patriots’ thrilling 62-59 triumph over the Singapore Slingers last Saturday due to a hamstring injury.   “We just have to play the way we did against Singapore,” said Alas.   Alas also expects to draw more from other import Donald Little, the 6-foot-10 American who only averaged  nine points and 8.5 rebounds in the Patriots’ back-to-back victories.   “Our main concern is Donald, he needs to produce a double-double this time,” said Alas. “We’re not talking about a 10 (points)-10 (rebounds) double-double. It should be a 20-15. But one good thing Donald brings is the intimidation factor, he can block [shots].”