When the ABL announced it would be a six-team league for 2013, the immediate concern was that one or two teams would dominate early, removing any drama from the regular season. But the past seven days have shown us this fear was misplaced; if anything, the ABL is as balanced as it’s ever been. We are three weeks into the season, and all six teams have at least 1 win and 1 loss. No one is pulling away. And dramatics? How about four straight games coming down to the final sixty seconds, with the intensity ratcheted to playoff level. Here was how the last minute of each game played out:

Warriors-Dragons, Tuesday 

After Indonesia’s Jerick Canada missed a three, the Dragons galloped up the floor trailing 68-67. Malaysia’s Cedric Bozeman, the ABL’s best import thus far, was fouled by Chris Daniels, sending him to the line. Bozeman had put together a game of 24 pts on 50% shooting, and was 7-9 from the line to that point. So to the shock of all, Bozeman promptly missed both free throws. Warriors still up 1 with 57 seconds to go, but as that was Daniels’ 5^th foul, Indonesia had to finish without their top power forward. The Warriors ran the shot clock down and John Smith took a shot that rimmed out, only to be knocked out by the Dragons’ Gavin Edwards (18 pts, 13 reb, countless headaches in the middle for Indonesia). 31 seconds to go. Indonesia spread the floor, and the Dragons choose not to foul, believing the Warriors would miss and Malaysia would get the ball back with time for a final shot.  That’s exactly what happened. Canada could only find iron from outside, and the Dragons had the ball with 9 seconds to play. Coach Ariel Vanguardia has plenty of confidence in his locals, so he had Guga send it up the floor with a long pass to Loh Shee Fai, who went straight to the rack. Loh was looking good for a lay-up and a Dragons win when – WHAM!!! Steve Thomas swooped in for the block. 3 tics left. Dragons took a final timeout and setup the inbound play. Pat Cabahug tossed into Bozeman, who had curled around to the corner and attempted a leaner over Christian Sitepu. Airball, and the defending ABL champions survived to win a pulsating 68-67 thriller at Mahaka Square, with a rematch 5 days away.

Slammers- Slingers, Friday

The Slammers, looking for their first win of the season, nearly let this one get away. They led 55-41 with a 1:20 to go in the 3^rd quarter, and appeared to be cruising.  But late baskets by Jun Cabatu and Desmond Oh trimmed the deficit to 9 going into the 4^th quarter. Singapore then outscored Thailand 16-8 over the first nine minutes of the final period, making it 63-62 with a minute to play. Joe Bryant continued to show confidence in his Thai players, keeping Kittmon Wanna, Wacharapong Tongrsi, Wuttipong Dawson and Kannawat Lertlaokul on the floor for the stanza. The Slingers brought the ball up with exactly 1:00 minute to go.  But Cabatu mishandled the ball in his backcourt, and the Slammers took over. Consecutive fouls by Cabatu and Dulay took the clock down to 19 seconds, with Froilan Baguion going to the line.  Baguion, off to a stellar start in 2013, knocked down both free throws. 65-62. Singapore took a timeout, to set up for a 3-pointer. The play was to Cabatu. His wing trey attempt missed, but the Slingers knocked it back out to him and with 4 seconds left, his second missed as well. And the Slammers had their first win of the season.

Dragons-Warriors, Saturday

The Warriors’ Steve Thomas broke a 72-72 deadlock with a short jumper over Gavin Edwards, and the Dragons carried the ball up the floor with just over a minute to go.  This was almost a carbon copy of their previous contest, when Malaysia had the ball down 1 with 60 seconds to play.  In KL, Bozeman tried to force it into the middle and was stripped by Thomas. A mad scramble sent the ball to Edwards but great interior D by Indonesia denied him a shot.  The Warriors, up a deuce, were then able to run 28 seconds off the clock before Malaysia chose to foul Mario Wuysang. The veteran Wuysang then canned both free throws, to give Malaysia the ball and a 4-pt hole with 31 seconds to play.  The Dragons drove into the middle, creating a foul on Moala Tautuaa and stopping the clock at 25 seconds.  The Warriors were happy to put Tautuaa on the line, as he was just 2-6 from the stripe to that stage. Tautuaa bricked both, forcing the Dragons to immediately foul the Warriors. Indonesia, anticipating this, got the ball back to Wuysang, who was money from the free throw line. He hit both with 19 seconds to go, making it 78-72 ending any chance of a Dragons comeback. One more John Smith free throw gave the Warriors a 7-point road win.

The Dragons, who started the season 2-0 on the road, came up empty in their season-opener at MABA Stadium. Meanwhile, the Warriors moved to 2-2 and are playing well in the absence of their injured star Stanley Pringle. 

Heat-Beermen, Saturday

A sold-out crowd on hand at Tan Binh Stadium for what promised to be a tough match-up for the Saigon Heat with the San Miguel Beermen in town. And San Miguel did not disappoint, scoring in the paint and in transition, building themselves a 10-point lead with 4 minutes to go in the 3^rd quarter. But the Heat, like they did so many times in 2012, found a way to come back. The 4^th quarter lead yo-yoed between Saigon and San Miguel. Dior Lowhorn, wearing a hard-hat all night for Saigon, converted a putback off a David Palmer miss, to make it 90-84 with 1:06 to play.  The Beermen called timeout, with the crowd in a frenzy. Gabe Freeman cooled them off by slaloming thru the lane and elevating for a quick two. 90-86, 50 seconds to play. Saigon went to a low 24 before Dior Lowhorn attempted a short shot in the paint.  A 3-second violation by Lowhorn erased that, and with 31 seconds to play the Beermen had the ball down 4.  Working quickly, the Beermen got multiple chances due to Brian Williams’ offensive boards, and a Leo Avenido triple (his lone 3 of the night) made it 90-89 with 24.6 seconds left. The Heat would then inbound from the side, with the Beermen playing for the steal. Credit Avenido with the theft off the Karl Dehesa pass and the Beermen raced up the floor. In the previous timeout, the Saigon players had been reminded they had a foul to give. So David Palmer hacked Asi Taulava with 20 seconds remaining. That was huge for the Beermen, because it was Palmer’s 5^th foul. So he was done for the night and the Heat would have to finish the game without their best player. Chris Banchero tossed to Gabe Freeman who drove the lane, but great defense by Dior Lowhorn, forced Freeman to attempt an off-balance hook shot that bounced high off the iron. Jai Reyes tracked down the rebound and he was immediately fouled by Williams. Reyes, who had been clutch all night (22 pts, 50% FG, 50% 3-PT FG), hit both making it 92-89. 6 seconds to play. San Miguel motored down the floor. Gabe Freeman (16 pts on 9 of 24 shooting) was able to get off a running 3-ptr that went in…and out. Another crazy finish at Tan Binh left the Heat 3 point winners.

Four games in a row, all coming down to the final sixty seconds. Just three weeks in, the ABL has already given us a ton of drama. And we still have five months to go!

The week ahead:

Jobstreet.com Singapore Slingers vs Indonesia Warriors, Tue Jan 29^th:

The Slingers feel like they should be 2-0 after their narrow loss to Thailand. Kyle Jeffers will have his hands full with Steve Thomas. Chris Daniels is an interesting cover for Rashad Jones-Jennings. The Warriors have depth in the backcourt, even without Stanley Pringle. The Warriors have given the Slingers trouble historically. (8:00 PM HKT, Live on Super Sports Arena in Singapore and ABL webstream)

San Miguel Beermen vs Saigon Heat, Fri Dec 1^st :

The second half of a back-to-back. This is San Miguel’s first game at home, and they look forward to a friendly crowd at Ynares Sports Arena, after feeling the invective of the Tan Binh fans. A 1-2 start is unthinkable for the San Miguel faithful, but a loss would leave them 3 games behind Saigon in the ABL standings. The Heat can play loose, leading the ABL standings, with wins against San Miguel, Malaysia and Indonesia. Despite that, I like San Miguel to win comfortably. A couple of unsung players for you: The Heat’s Karl Dehesa (5 steals against San Miguel) has a non-stop motor and is fun to watch. And how about the efficiency of Val Acuna? In 17 minutes, Acuna had 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting. (5:00 PM HKT time, Live on ABL webstream; delayed on Fox Sports, 8:00 PM HKT)

Westports Malaysia Dragons vs Chang Thailand Slammers, Sat Dec 2^nd:

The Dragons face a Slammers team now loaded with confidence. Props to Jellybean Bryant for giving major minutes to his Thai players. They believe in Bryant’s system, and he has found ways to get them shots. The Dragons were  just swept by the Warriors home-and-away. Ariel Vanguardia needs to find a way for the Dragons to take better care of the ball. The lack of a true point guard is probably the one weakness in an otherwise potent Malaysia lineup. But Vanguardia has 7 days to get it right.  It says here he will. Like Bryant, Vanguardia has a system and sticks to it. With a win, the Slammers would tie the Dragons in the ABL standings, and who would have predicted that? (3:00 PM HKT, Live on Fox Sports Malaysia in Malaysia and ABL webstream)