This past week we saw a third team claim their playoff spot while the Formosa Dreamers furiously put up a good fight despite already being out of contention.
There’s just one more month left in the ABL and while a lot of the pieces are falling into place, there’s still a lot more to play for!
Check out the Power Rankings for this past week!
- Hong Kong Eastern Basketball Team (Record: 12-2)
Previous Week: 2
Hong Kong Eastern is back on top of the heap, by virtue of their thrilling but shaky win against the Formosa Dreamers.
They’ve had these kinds of wins all season long, but they’ve relied on the brilliance of Tyler Lamb and Marcus Elliott down the stretch to pull it out in the end. This is a squad raring to get the Playoffs started.
- San Miguel Alab Pilipinas (Record: 11-4)
Previous Week: 1
San Miguel Alab Pilipinas got through their grueling schedule, and enjoyed some way off of action.
Now the big challenge they have is staying sharp, as they await their return to action. The ABL landscape could be radically different too, as their opponent on March 11, Chong Son Kung Fu will play four games before their matchup.
- Chong Son Kung Fu Basketball Club (Record: 9-3)
Previous Week: 3
The China-based squad got the week off, but it’s going to get much tougher moving forward. First on their plate is the dangerous Mono Vampire Basketball Club this week, before plunging into a tough four games in seven days stretch.
The positives though is that Chong Son Kung Fu has proven they can can win despite tough schedules, evidenced by their back to back wins last February 7-8.
- Mono Vampire Basketball Club (Record: 11-5)
Previous Week: 5
Mono Vampire continues to fly under the radar, despite having a stranglehold on the fourth seed in the ABL standings.
With the win against the CLS Knights, Mono Vampire has tied San Miguel Alab Pilipinas for the second most wins this season. With four games left on their slate, just how high can they rise in the Playoff picture?
- Singapore Slingers (Record: 9-7)
Previous Week: 6
It’s starting to look like the Singapore Slingers are finding their groove as they head into the finish line of the season. The reason for the turnaround is undoubtedly the arrival of Chris Charles. The veteran continues to chug along, producing 24 points and 29 rebounds in Singapore’s impressive win against the Saigon Heat.
- Saigon Heat (Record: 7-8)
Previous Week: 5
Losing Moses Morgan was a devastating blow to the Heat. Though they were able to pull out a win against the CLS Knights, it’s going to be much tougher against the upper teams, evidenced by their struggles against the Singapore Slingers.
Without Morgan, the team will have to depend on their locals a lot more for production. Can the Vietnamese locals led by Stefan Nguyen rise to the occassion?
- Westports Malaysia Dragons (Record: 4-10)
Previous Week: 8
The Dragons stayed alive with a thrilling overtime victory against the Formosa Dreamers. The Malaysia five will have to play basically perfect basketball to keep their postseason hopes alive. The arrival of a new batch of imports led by Chris Eversly and Jawhar Purdy could breathe new life into the squad, but they have a long road to climb still.
- CLS Knights Indonesia (Record: 3-12)
Previous Week: 7
One more loss, and the Knights can all but kiss their Playoff hopes goodbye.
They have five games left on their slate, with four of them coming against teams above them in the standings. It might be a tough situation, but they have quality veterans like Mario Wuysang to guide them. The Knights will definitely make it difficult on every team that plays them, playoffs or not.
- Formosa Dreamers (Record: 1-16)
Previous Week: 9
Another winless week for the Formosa Dreamers have dropped them to 14 straight losses. The most heartbreaking aspect of the losses is how close they played Hong Kong Eastern and Westports Malaysia Dragons, losing by only two and three points respectively.
At this point, all they can do is dream (pun intended) about how different their season would be if they were able to have Cameron Forte on board earlier. They have three games remaining to end their ignominious streak.
