Import says Beermen hard to beat in ABL

MANILA, Philippines - A confident Brian Williams served up a warning to the rest of the field after his San Miguel Beermen walloped defending Asean Basketball League champion Indonesia Warriors, 64-53, to kick off hostilities in the fourth season in Jakarta Friday night.

“They’re going to have to watch out: right now we’re the team to beat,” said Williams, who debuted as Beermen import with 15 points and 19 rebounds.

The 6-foot-10 center along with fellow American reinforcement Gabe Freeman only had a full week of practice with their new team prior to the season-opening game and Williams said they could only get better as they spend more practice sessions.

The Beermen will not play again until Jan. 26 yet, versus the Saigon Heat in Ho Chi Minh City.

“We’re not even jelling yet,” he said, welcoming the 15-day break in between their first and second games. “The two weeks will help us jell better.”

Williams was a pillar of strength inside as the Beermen totally outrebounded the Warriors, 50-36, in that vengeful win over their conquerors in the 2012 finals. Freeman played limited minutes (20) due to foul woes and finished with only eight markers and seven boards.

Coach Leo Austria expects his imports to dominate as the league goes on and team chemistry improves.

“Hindi naman mahirap mag-adjust yung dalawang imports, they are very intelligent and fundamentally sound (Our imports are both very intelligent and fundamentally sound so adjusting to the team and our system is not that hard for them),” said Austria.

The Beermen were joined in the early lead by the Westport Malaysia Dragons and Singapore Slingers, who hurdled their respective opening assignments.

The Dragons of Pinoy coach Ariel Vanguardia nipped the Heat Saturday night at the Tan Binh Stadium, 80-70, while the Slingers turned back Chang Thailand Slammers, 56-50, yesterday at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Cedric Bozeman pumped in 25 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and five steals as the Dragons foiled David Palmer’s 34-marker explosion spiked by eight triples for the Heat.

Malaysia seized control via a 15-0 run halfway through the first canto for an early 20-5 lead. The Heat repeatedly tried to fight back and got to within four points (64-68) at the 5:38 of the fourth but Bozeman, Guga Batumalai and Pinoy Patrick Cabahug combined for nine points in a counter-attack that secured it for the Dragons, 77-66.

Gavin Edwards complemented Bozeman’s effort with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 7 blocks while Guga added 11 points off the bench.

For the Heat, Dior Lowhorn backed up Palmer with  23 markers and 12 boards.

The Slingers banked on the double-double efforts of Rashad Jamal Jennings (11 points, 12 rebounds) and Kyle Jeffers (10 points, 13 rebounds) in beating the Slammers.