Mindanao Aguilas to play in Malaysia Pro League

PETALING JAYA: The much-anticipated Malaysia Pro League gained a shot in the arm with the inclusion of a team from the Philippines.

The Mindanao Aguilas, a team that play in the Philippines Basketball Association ( PBA) Developmental League (D-League), will be an invited team in the inaugural league that starts next month.

The other teams that have signed on for the initial one-month trial version of the league are Westports Malaysia Dragons, Perak Farmcochem, a team from Kelantan and Penang and the Verve basketball club.

League co-ordinator Ken Yap however added that they are still waiting on the confirmation from two more teams.

“The closing date is Sept 10 and we’re hoping to finalise the participation of NS Matrix and a Johor team,” said Ken.

“Unfortunately we do not have any Sarawak or Sabah teams because they have their East Malaysia Basketball League (EBL) running at the same time.

“But the teams there have shown interest and maybe in the future we could have an East and West conference just like the NBA.”

Ken added that the goal of the league was to develop and enhance the local pool and not to have team owners spend huge amount for foreign players.

“The idea is to give team owners a feel of how we want to run things. The budget will be limited and the entertainment value may not be as high,” said Ken.

“There will still be imports for this trial version. It will be one Asean and one world import.”

Malaysia are in dire need of a regular league following their dismal fifth placed finish at the SEA Games.

Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia have all established a pro league and have rapidly closed the gap on the region’s powerhouse – the Philippines.