Patriots to raid KL Dragons lair

MANILA, Philippines –  The AirAsia-Philippine Patriots try to regain its winning ways on a hostile turf as they battle the Westports KL Dragons at resumption of the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League Season 2 at the MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today.

The defending champion Patriots suffered a 69-68 loss to the Chang Thailand Slammers last Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena, their first at home after a 14-game unbeaten campaign.

Against the Dragons, however, the Patriots will have to get the job done without mentor Louie Alas, who was down with flu, leaving the coaching chores to assistant coaches Ryan Dy and Bogs Adornado.

“We made a lot of miscues down the stretch against Thailand, especially on defense,” said Alas. “Hopefully, we could regain the same level of play when we used to win games with just one import.”

The Patriots, co-owned by Mikee Romero of Harbour Centre and businessman Tony Boy Cojuangco, and the Dragons will meet for the first time since their semifinal showdown last season won by the former via a sweep.

Rashiem Wright is expected to make up for a disappointing performance the last time out where he struggled for seven points. He debuted with 24 points against the Singapore Slingers two weeks ago but played hurt against the Slammers.

Donald Little, the team’s other import, is also expected to lead the team’s bid although he must minimize his turnovers to help in the Patriots’ cause. Little had 18 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks but turned the ball over 10 times.

The locals, led by Egay Billones, Chito Jaime, Allan Salangsang and Warren Ybanez must step up to reassert their mastery over the Malaysians. who recovered from a 0-3 start by winning four of their last five games.