After the debut of one of the new teams in the Asean Basketball League, Game 2 of the eighth season will feature the other two newcomers in the CLS Knights and Formosa Dreamers.
Although these will be the teams’ debut, the countries they are representing are not new to the league. Indonesia’s last two representatives in the ABL bowed out in 2014 but now the CLS Knights are ready to carry the fight.
For the second straight year, Taiwan also has a team in the ABL with the Formosa Dreamers. It’s only fitting that these two new teams test their mettle against each other in their debut as both surely want to start their ABL stint with a bang.
No stranger to the ABL, the Indonesians formed a team composed on many players with experience playing in the region’s only inter-country basketball league. Their World import Duke Crews and Brian Williams have both played in the ABL before. Along with Heritage import Fred Goldstein and the face of the franchise in former ABL MVPMario Wuysang, the Knights will pose as a big threat to any team that takes them lightly.
Formosa, on the other end, is banking on one World import who is proven in the ABL and one who is looking at this stint as a part of his journey into the NBA to join his brother.
The Dreamers scored a huge win in the pre-season when they scooped up Lenny Daniel who was a mainstay of the Saigon Heat. Daniel showed up in this season’s press conference still representing the Heat, however, he shocked a lot of people when he abruptly ended his stint with the Heat and found his way to the Dreamers. Daniel is a proven commodity in the ABL. He’s always up for highlight reel plays but more than than, he’s a solid contributor on both ends of the floor as his energy is boundless.
Formosa also hired the services of Jaleel Cousins, the brother of Demarcus. He last played for the New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA Summer League but was not able to make the cut for the final roster to join his brother.
One player who wants to fulfill his dream with the Dreamers is Filipino-Canadier James Forrester who was a blue-chip recruit when he entered the PBA. However, his career in the Philippines did not pan out as well as he people thought so he’s taking his talents to Taiwan for a fresh start in Formosa.
Surrounding these three talented imports are a cast of able locals who are all eager to make noise as the Formosa Dreamers visit the CLS Knights in Indonesia.
