With head coach Jimmy Alapag involved in the Super 8 thanks to a coaching clinic, San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas looks to be an obvious choice to compete in the Terrific 12 as a representative of both the ABL and the Philippines.

MACAU --- The Asia League finally got its PBA teams with the NLEX Road Warriors and the Blackwater Elite joining the Super 8 tournament here.

NLEX and Blackwater both finished with 2-1 marks in group play and the Road Warriors even advanced to the semifinals.

With that in mind, the Asia League is looking to have Pinoy teams consistently competing in its tournaments.

Another joust is set for September with the Terrific 12 and PBA teams are naturally in consideration.

The only problem is that the PBA will be right in the middle of the 2018 Governors' Cup at that time so the Asia League is in the market for a different Pinoy team.

With head coach Jimmy Alapag involved in the Super 8 thanks to a coaching clinic, San Miguel-Alab Pilipinas looks to be an obvious choice to compete in the Terrific 12 as a representative of both the ABL and the Philippines.

Alab, the reigning ABL champions, joining the Asia League is definitely in consideration.

"We're not sure yet, we'll have to see our schedule looks like at that time. Because we'll also be preparing for the upcoming ABL season," Alapag said.

"[But] I think it's a great tournament and it's a great opportunity to get exposure from the other top club teams around Asia, it's great competition," he added.

Matt Beyer, CEO of the Asia League, wants to target PBA teams for future tournaments and is in open communication with Commissioner Willie Marcial.

"We started the dialogue with Commissioner Willie to coordinate and be able to work with the schedule and have teams released for the tournament or fit in to the window," he said.

"I think we can work it out long term,' Beyer added.

But for the Terrific 12 in a couple of months, Beyer's hopeful Alab can join as Philippine representatives if no PBA teams become available.

The door is certainly open with the Formosa Dreamers seeing action this time around.

"If you saw this year we had the Formosa Dreamers, I would have preferred to have Alab with Jimmy but it didn't work out this time," Beyer said.

"I think we can work out for the September event. It has to be club teams, ABL or PBA, as long as its a Filipino club team and be competitive with the other teams. They have to be top teams in their respective leagues and Alab fits into that," he added.

 

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