NOT only one but two challenges confront the AirAsia Philippine Patriots when they start their best-of-three title series with the Chang Thailand Slammers in the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) Season 2 starting on Sunday in Bangkok. First, the Patriots have to deal with the winning tradition of one of the co-owners of the team in Harbour Centre president and CEO Mikee Romero who is already boasts of 10 titles since joining basketball competitions in 2005.
Romero’s Harbour Centre franchise in t he Philippine Basketball League (PBL) won seven straight championships -- a feat that will stand as the longest in the recent history of the league.
Along the way, Romero helped finance the campaign of the Philippine team that won the 2006 SEABA Cup championship in Jakarta, Indonesia and the 2007 SEA Games gold medal in Ratchasima, Thailand.
But the biggest test the team -- also co-owned by business tycoon Tony Boy Cojuangco -- has to tackle is how to defend their crown against a team hungry for international recognition.
The Thais are widely considered for their class in boxing (they have several Olympic gold medals in their possession), football, athletics and even in women’s volleyball, but not in basketball.
So it’s easy to understand why coach Louie Alas and his staff are undergoing a Spartan-like training for their much-awaited showdown with the Slammers.
“Aside from the winning tradition of one of our co-owners, we are staking the country’s pride in their title series,” said Alas.
The Patriots and Slammers advanced to the Finals via different routes with the Filipinos sweeping the Kuala Lumpur Dragons in their own best-of-three semis series while the Thais needed three games, including a 73-62 win in Game 3 last Sunday to dispatch the Singaporeans.
Although the Slammers enjoy a 2-1 edge in their duel with the Patriots after the three-round elims, Alas remains confident of their chances.
“We beat them once in their own homecourt so there’s no reason why we can’t beat them again. This is about pride and tradition,” said Alas.
Besides, imports Gabe Freeman and Steve Thomas are doing their own share to further motivate the locals like Egay Billones, Junjun Cabatu, Warren Ybanez, Chito Jaime and Benedict Fernandez to raise their game a notch higher.
