Southeast Asia’s home team

The coach, who counts Cebu as one of his favorite places to play, said the support of the kababayans has been unbelievable and I can just imagine the visiting Alab getting more fans than the home team

The Asean Basketball League features a home and away format, the first of its kind in the region, but for Alab Pilipinas, they’re never away from home even if they play outside the Philippines. In fact, they bring a piece of home every time they visit the OFW-rich countries like Singapore and Macau.

During the launch for their home game in Cebu on Jan.

6 at the Lapu-Lapu Hoops Dome, coach Jimmy Alapag (I will always associate the line, Jimmy for three... Bang! forever with the Mighty Mouse) said the “host” teams schedule their games on Sundays so the Filipinos can watch. It’s a unique practice of accommodating the visiting team’s fans and we all know how loud Pinoys can be in basketball.

“We are honored that we can connect them with home when we play. Some of them haven’t been home in years and seeing us play is sort of a homecoming for them,” Alapag said.

The coach, who counts Cebu as one of his favorite places to play, said the support of the kababayans has been unbelievable and I can just imagine the visiting Alab getting more fans than the home team. That’s what happened when Gilas Pilipinas played Australia in Australia and the commentators there marveled at how the visitors seemed to have more fans in the stands than the hosts.

With so many Filipinos spread out all over Southeast Asia and even in Hong Kong, there’s no shortage of loud and passionate fans who would cheer for Alab Pilipinas. And that’s excluding the kababayans they encounter when they eat, travel or stay in hotels.

That’s not the only thing that makes Alab Pilipinas unique. Unlike some of the teams in the league that have a home city, Alab doesn’t have a single home but a home country. It plays its home matches all over the country and though, in a way, that puts them in the same level as the visitors since they also stay in hotels, Alab Pilipinas gets to touch base with Filipino basketball fans all over the country.

And the next stop is Cebu with a home game in Lapu-Lapu City on Jan. 6. This is the chance for fans in Central Visayas to catch Alab in action. And since this will be aired live all over the region, it will also serve as our introduction to Southeast Asian basketball. So, I hope the Lapu-Lapu City Government will pull out all the stops to make sure this home game will be a success.