Stunning end to the Philippine Patriots' title reign

What appeared to be an stirring home victory for the AirAsia Philippine Patriots turned into a disaster in Game 2 of the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League after another fourth quarter meltdown completed a season full of inconsistencies.

Poor outside shooting, costly fouls and turnovers paved the way for the Chang Thailand Slammers to climb back into the contest before securing a 75-68 victory to wrest the ABL crown in front of a shocked crowd at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Their downfall was greatly secured in the game's final 12 minutes as they blew a 14-point third quarter lead that allowed the Slammers to snatch the title away and win the league's second season.

Thailand's Cameroonian import Chris Kuete woke up in the fourth hitting 11 of his 12 points while getting help from Filipino imports Ardy Larong and Froilan Baguion, American center Jason Dixon and Thai cager Attaporn Lertmalaiporn.

Adding insult to this heartbreaking loss, the Patriots put themselves in foul trouble early in the fourth, allowing the Slammers to inch closer and later take the lead for good on foul shots and struggled shooting against the zone.

In the end, the Patriots walked away in utter dismay even as they watched Dixon and Baguion celebrate their second straight ABL championship alongside their Thailand teammates.

Dixon and Baguion were part of the Patriots' title team last season, although the two played contrasting roles in squad that admittedly was slightly better than this year's squad.

Dixon, now at the age of 38, was registering double-double almost every game en route to winning the Best Import award.

On the other hand, Baguion failed to get enough playing time during the latter parts of last season as the Patriots inserted Warren Ybanez, JP Alcaraz and the now-retired Christian Coronel during the completion of their title run.

This season, the two were playing big roles for the team, particularly in the finals.

And Baguion, who finished with 19 points, four rebounds and four assists, displayed what the Patriots have missed, playing steady in the two games of this final series and have almost outplayed Ybanez and Egay Billones.

He showed that in this clinching game, when he used a Dixon screen to get away from traffic then drove inside the lane for a driving layup that made it 71-66 with 56.1 seconds remaining.

From there, it was all over. Kuete added more insult with a breakaway jam off a missed shot by the Patriots. Minutes later, the Slammers were hoisting the ABL crown in front of a dead silent venue.

At first it looked like a hostile venue with perhaps the loudest crowd the Patriots ever heard this season. The audience shouted even more when triples by the likes of Ybanez, Benedict Fernandez and Billones helped them take a double digit lead in the third.

Earlier, Freeman was eager enough to bounce back from his disappointing showing in Game 1. This time, he was able to avoid foul trouble picking up just one in the first half (an unsportsmanlike for hitting Larong) and even scored an alley-oop dunk in the second period.

He was also responsible on a fastbreak opportunity when he fed Billones, who then pass it to a trailing Thomas for a three-point play with about 2:49 left in the third that made it 60-46.

But Freeman, bothered by a nagging ankle injury, began to slow down. His two freethrows with less than a minute left in the third gave the Patriots a 52-41 lead and would never score again as the rest of the crew played lackadaisical on offense that helped Thailand gain an opening.

It was a fairy tale ending to a turnaround year for the Thais. Last year, financial problems and inconsistent play hounded the then-Thailand Tigers in posting a horrendous 3-12 record in the inaugural ABL season.

But Thailand made a number of changes. A new owner stepped in to resolve their monetary problems with the Chinawongwatana family (it's patriarch is a basketball legend in Thailand) taking over the helm while adding Dixon, Kuete, Baguion and Larong to reinforce their local cagers.

Lertmalaiporn, last year's Regular Season MVP, got help from fellow Thai Piyapong Piroon, who had been a stellar outside shooter all season long (Piroon didn't play in Game 2 after nursing a knee injury in their semifinal series win over the Singapore Slingers).

At times, even Sopon Pinichpacharalert and Mana Jantuma, who played quality minutes in the fourth quarter of Game 2, would give solid production for the team coached by Raha Mortel, a Filipino who is a native of Sampaloc but has been in Bangkok since 1992 when he started playing commercial ball there.

So what's next for the Patriots? Freeman and Thomas have said they would like to return for another tour of duty but the defeat will likely pave way for a major roster overhaul, particularly on the local cager. The Philippine Daily Inquirer said in an article that coach Louie Alas' contract is set to expire while the rest of the ABL team will make bids to strengthen their lineups even further aside from making early preparations for the league's third season.

As one unnamed members of the Patriots said, "Parang bangungot ang nangyari sa amin. Siguro dahil dyan, baka siguro dalawa lang matira next season."

Returning Patriots import Gabe Freeman downplays 'savior' role

Gabe Freeman's return to the Philippine Patriots is likely to be the last piece of the puzzle in the team's bid to retain their championship in the ASEAN Basketball League.

But it was Freeman himself who thumbed down the idea of him being a savior of the team that has endured some rough stretches in the second season of the six-nation, ASEAN-based cage league. In fact, he just hopes to be the one who could re-energize the team at this point of the season.

"I'm not going to say that but what I'm going to do is to help the team and I'm going to bring it closer," Freeman said during the formal launching of the partnership between the team and AirAsia as its sponsor on Thursday at the Icon Ultimate Club in Makati.

"And now, it's we're not just playing to be playing but to play for each other and that's what we got to do to win the championship," he added.

The Patriots are toting a 7-4 slate and recently endured a three-game losing skid before hacking out a 73-71 victory over the Westports KL Dragons on Dec. 9 after trailing by 20 points in the early part of the second half.

Team officials, the players and fans alike are hoping that Freeman could bring his trademark energy, athleticism and workhorse mentality to answer some woes the team endured right from the start of the season. He is the fifth import of the team this season after Anthony Johnson, Donald Little, Rasheim Wright and current reinforcement Steve Thomas.

Freeman replaced Wright, the naturalized star of the Jordan national team that reached the FIBA World Champioships in Turkey.

Wright normed 13.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.2 steals in five games. The Patriots went 2-3 with him and his defense became suspect. His offensive production is likewise inconsistent. One game, he had 31 points. The next match, Wright failed to score in double figures.

He did end up his stint on a good note, hitting a number of foul shots in the dying seconds to beat the Dragons. Wright finished with 21 points.

Freeman, the 6-foot-5 former PBA Best Import with the San Miguel Beermen in the 2009 Fiesta Conference is coming off a stint with the Townsville Crocodiles of the National Basketball League of Australia.

His stint there was considered by many as a disappointment, included Freeman, logging just 9.0 points and 6.4 rebounds before deciding to leave the team voluntarily.

"It just didn't worked out," he admitted. "You know if you don't play the same way you play when you're somewhere else so they don't let you play the same way you normally play so I think that was one of the main focuses on me is that I wasn't playing the same so I don't want to stick around with that."

That brought the 25-year old globetrotting Freeman back to Manila, where he hopes to continue the same energetic performance that made him one, if not, the most prolific import in the ABL and the PBA.

He averaged 21.7 points and 15.0 rebounds in seven games with the Patriots last season and had 39 points in a win over Indonesia's Satria Muda BritAma in Game 1 of the finals. Of course, they wound up winning the ABL crown.

"How's the feeling (of being back with the Patriots)? I feel like we can win another (ABL) championship," Freeman said. "I think we got a little more talent than last year. We got a lot of young guys last year that were just hungry to win and this year we got a little more talent and we got guys who are hungrier to play so it's a little bit better for us so I'm happy to be back.

This time, however, he will mostly have new teammates. Only three players left from the previous squad in Warren Ybanez, JP Alcaraz and Erwin Sta Maria, who has been used sparingly this season.

Last season, his teammates include Rob Wainwright, bruising big man Jerwin Gaco, Nonoy Baclao, Elmer Espiritu and eventual ABL Best Import Jason Dixon. The three are now suiting up in the PBA while Dixon opted to sign up with the vastly improved Chang Thailand Slammers, owners of the league's best record at 8-3.

Freeman will have ex-pros Egay Billones, Junjun Cabatu, Benedict Fernandez and the colorful Alex Crisano as some of his new teammates. He will team up with Thomas, who had 10 points and 15 rebounds in his debut last week.

Meshing with them isn't a problem for Freeman. In fact, he even believes that this current team, despite their inconsistencies, is more talented than last season.

"It's pretty good and I think we're going to be alright," Freeman said. "I think what I can bring to the table is the energy and the feistiness that we need. I think if come out and do what we have to do, I think we will win another championship."

"There's no other team that can really stick with us and play with us. We just got to buy into (Patriots coach) Louie's (Alas) system and if we do that then we will win," added Freeman.

This time, it's Freeman's turn to change the Patriots' fortunes in the ABL. They have a date with the Singapore Slingers on Saturday. It would be interesting how he would fare up against this squad composed of center Kyle Jeffers, Marcus Skinner, Filipinos Leo Avenido and Al Vergara and Singaporeans Desmond Oh and Steven Khoo.

"We're going to be whoop their ass. I'm eager to play with these guys and I'm pretty sure they're eager to play with me," he said. "In my first practice, we had a good one and I think the energy is there and everybody's feeding off on it and I feel like we're going to do our thing."

Gametime is set at 4 p.m. at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City and will be shown live on ESPN.