Next: Alab home game in the playoffs

It was another big home game for San Miguel Alab Pilipinas in Cebu last Sunday. A month after its first ever home game in Cebu, Alab routed the Saigon Heat, 111-87, at the Hoops Dome before another sell-out crowd of basketball-mad fans. It was their tenth straight win at home (without a loss) and strengthened its hold on first place in the ASEAN Basketball League with a 12-2 record. Alab won Friday night in Hong Kong and now has a 13-2 slate. This was Alab’s second home game in Cebu in the elimination round and it doesn’t look like we’re going to host another elims round game this season. Sad? That’s understandable, but there’s a big opportunity up ahead to host yet another Alab game. But this time, it should be a home playoffs game of Alab Pilipinas.

One thing going for us is that Alab team owner Charlie Dy and head coach Jimmy Alapag like playing here in Cebu. Alapag always cites Cebu as a special place for him ever since he was a player and now as a coach. He also adds that it’s great that his players also get the opportunity to play in Cebu at this stage of their careers. But what is it about Cebu that they like so much? What makes us different from the home crowds in the big city where they also play? For starters, Cebuanos love their basketball. Since we don’t have a regular commercial league and since the CESAFI (Cebu’s biggest basketball event) is held between August and October, Cebu fans are hungry for basketball action. There’s a huge vacuum for basketball and any pro-level type of game will surely bring in hordes of fans. The two sell-out crowds of both Alab games is a proof that people will watch the game, even if held at the Hoops Dome. You can recall that many had apprehensions about games held in the Lapu-lapu City venue due to its distance from the city and other towns. But it sure looks like fans have overcome this obstacle and are now willing to make the trip to watch a top-level game. Top-level game means watching pros in action. Alab has without a doubt the most talented line-up in the ABL with its Pinoys and two dominating imports in Renaldo Balkman and the giant PJ Ramos. While Balkman and Ramos lead the team, the locals are there to provide a deep side with Bobby Ray Parks Jr. having another MVP-type year (before he joins the PBA). Ethan Alvano has been impressive in leading the offense at the point guard spot, while Caelan Tiongson (who has Cebuano roots), has backed up his good looks with equally impressive performances in support of the team’s leaders. Trivia: Tiongson is a nephew of Larsian manager Joey Herrera. These relatively new faces have given Cebuano fans chance to cheer for players outside of the PBA, and they’re more than glad to do so. Alab also has a Cebu Basketball product in Oping Sumalinog, an alumnus of Don Bosco Technical College who played college ball at the Ateneo de Manila University. With the team at the top of the standings, fans are also more inclined to watch Alab in action. You can just imagine if they were at the bottom half of the standings. I don’t think fans would be lining up to watch them play.

Another factor helping attendance at Alab games is that the PBA hasn’t scheduled any games in Cebu at least for this season. I wish I knew why. The PBA brought a game here to the Hoops Dome in 2016, and Gilas Pilipinas also played an exhibition game here in the past, but that’s about it. I heard that local promoters end up losing money when hosting a PBA game and are thus very apprehensive to go into it. It looks this isn’t the case for the Alab games which are put up by Batang Gilas team manager Andrew Teh. The irony of it all is that both PBA and Alab games have the same basic cost expenses that local promoters have to deal with: hotel accommodations, meals and land transportation for the two teams.

Another thing going for Alab games is the use of the local and social media for their games. The local print and online dailies have been a big partner in providing sports page space for its readers, and covers the games live (something that doesn’t happen with PBA games; they always seem to ignore the local media; oh well). Facebook has been a major tool in spreading news, pictures and updates about the game. Based on the reach, engagements and messages generated by the Facebook posts, we can see a very vibrant and active basketball-crazy Cebu (and beyond).

With all these, one can’t go wrong. The Cebu home fans are rowdy, loud and gung-ho for their Alab team; cheering for every point scored, dancing when the lead balloons and erupting for every dunk and three-point bomb made. This, in turn, gets the players going and pumped up to deliver for their fans. Alapag says the players are “pumped up” to deliver for the crowd. At the end of each game, the fans rushed down to the court to have their pictures taken with Alab players and even the coaches. Last Sunday’s game also introduced a venue host for the local crowd; his job was to get the crowd cheering and active. Admittedly, this was one department with a lot of improvement areas but it was a good start.

And so our love affair with Alab has ended with this second game of the elimination round? I sure hope not. With our prayers and wish/demand for another Alab home game in Cebu, I’m certain we can get at least one playoff game of Alab played at the Hoops Dome around April. And if we’re fortunate, I’m wishing that this also leads to hosting a home game of the ABL Championship Series. Yes, that’s how confident we are about it. Alab will make it to the finals again.

Alab Cebu. Alab Pilipinas!