Asian American Basketball League, Inc.

The 2010 AABL PLAYERS CALENDAR is hot off the press and AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE! After much anticipation from players and fans alike, the ladies of the AABL– with the assistance from Leon Guanzon– have developed the league’s first-ever calendar featuring some of the league’s notable players from each team.  In an amazing collaborative effort, the AABL Staff was able to conceptualize and complete the calendar project within a matter of weeks!  Leon was the photographer on hand to lend his professional touch to the photo shoots while the ladies directed the action.

Although it is already February, the AABL CALENDARS are still a hot item for 11 more months, a great souvenir for the season and a cool gift for players and fans!  So order yours today!

To place an order for the 2010 AABL PLAYERS CALENDAR, please e-mail ANTONETTE at antonette@aabl-norfolk.com!

The AABL would like to express its sincere gratitude to those that support what we do and enable us to make things exponentially better for the players and fans… OUR SPONSORS!

Thanks and love to Rachel Clemente Hugo for her years of support for the NAABL/AABL!  She has been our most consistent sponsor throughout the years, being there for the league in every way imaginable.  Ever since Rachel first started promoting the AABL (then NAABL) by speaking at our first-ever “Meet and Greet”, she has been an invaluable part of the organization.  Besides sponsoring Quiet Storm and Skymax for the 2009-10 Season, Rachel provided her annual TECHNO GRAND PRIZE for the PLAYOFF RAFFLE which was an X BOX 360! Even more important than that generous contribution was Rachel’s much needed assistance at the scorer’s table!  Her love for the sport of basketball was exemplified by her dedication to coming to the gym to help out our thinned out scoretable personnel.  We didn’t realize how much we needed the help!  Also, Rachel helped spearhead the AABL 2010 CALENDAR PROJECT which was completed in very impressive time and in a very professional manner (order yours today)! To top it off, the FINAL FOUR PARTY @ SHAKA’S was the best season-ending party ever as Rachel ensured that ALL AABL fans, friends, and family from near and far had a GREAT TIME!  Much love for supporting what the community has to offer for all these years!  A great sponsor and even better friend!

AiReal Apparel deserves tons of credit for making the AABL FINAL FOUR a fun-filled and exciting weekend for everyone involved!  Besides making dope T-Shirts and gear reppin’ VA and other diverse interests, AiReal is one of the most dynamic and innovative organizations in this part of the country… and beyond.  The fam at AiReal is constantly involved in local events, supporting and sponsoring homegrown talent and organizing efforts to benefit the  community.  JR Bautista, Lorna Saria and Imee Bautista were a big part in the planning and coordination of the entire weekend– organizing performances, creating eye-popping flyers, offering great event ideas, donating AiReal Apparel for the raffle and the AiReal Relay. Most importantly, AiReal helped prove that a concerted team effort among a group of driven individuals can achieve surprising accomplishments– in this case, it seemed overnight!

Much appreciation goes out to Bong Escalante and Pride & Perfection Apparel for supplying the league with fresh, new AABL STAFF T-Shirts! Actually, our “first ever” Staff T-shirts!  P&P also provided crisp and clean AABL CHAMPIONSHIP T-Shirts hot off the press!  Bong also provided the design for the AABL Official League T-Shirt which are on sale now!

Commonwealth Boutique helped add to the excitement of the Final Four Raffle by offering a bunch of Commonwealth T-Shirts to the fans as door prizes!

Each week the biggest challenge for the AABL is how to feed the staff!  Mely’s Market made the decision easy on Final Four Sunday!  Besides setting up shop in the building and offering plates of homestyle Filipino cuisine at modest prices, Mely’s also provided the entire AABL STAFF lunch/dinner for the day! Thanks to Janice, Ryan and Ramel for hooking it up!

Big up to AABL Staffer Elbert Porteria and the rest of the Sini-Gang folks for their years of continued support, their dedication to the 757 and their worldwide weekly outreach to the worldwide Podcasting community!

Much respect and thanks to ALL the generous people and organizations that keep the wheels on the AABL moving!

AABL Final Four Weekend was a huge success not only because of exciting basketball for the players, but also because of FUN EVENTS for the fans!

The BIG WINNER of the day was IMEE BAUTISTA for winning the RAFFLE GRAND PRIZE which was an X-BOX 360!  Other raffle winners were treated to gracious donations from AIREAL APPAREL and COMMONWEALTH BOUTIQUE!

Big up to Final Four participant Rebels’ JOE MARLOWE for having the hot hand in the AABL 3-POINT SHOOTOUT! Although he and the Rebs didn’t take home the AABL Championship trophy, he showed and proved in the SHOOTOUT, taking home a CASH PRIZE, an OFFICIAL AABL T-SHIRT, and, most importantly, the title of AABL’s TOP GUNNER!

The AiReal Relay pitted four teams against each other, each team consisting of three players, one guy and two girls per team.  The first player would go the length of the court and hit a free throw, the second player would shoot a foul shot, and the last player on each team would drain a 3-pointer.  All this while trading  shorts and jerseys to the next teammate!  TEAM AABL thoroughly dominated the competition (because that’s what we do!), followed by TEAM AiReal with a DISTANT second!  TEAM BLEACHERS was the first team of fans to finish, therefore each player took a home an AIREAL APPAREL T-Shirt for their 3rd place finish!  Although the Raptors won the AABL Championship, TEAM RAPTORS’ FANS finished dead last in the AiReal Relay!

Ryan “The Balloon Guy” was the busiest guy in the gym!  His twisted balloon concoctions were once again a hit, with BALLOON FANS coming out the woodworks to test his skills!  You got talent when you can get grown men standing in line waiting for a BALLOON!

It was a FUN DAY for all in the gym!  Thanks to all who helped out and participated!

Big up to all the performers who helped blow up the AABL Final Four Weekend!

YFAMD – Once again the YFAMD fam bring dance skills and sharp choreography to the gym with a blowout show!

ANG Music Group – Street tough b-boying complemented by dope vocals and lyrics repped ANG Music well!

Marie Hill – “The Star Spangled Banner” was done justice by Marie’s smooth, powerful voice!

Coco Limcaoco - Rousing rendition of  ”America the Beautiful” resonated throughout the building!

Rebel E – Vicious lyrics at the AABL Final Four AND at Shaka’s blew up the spot!

SNRG – Another two-night performer, SNRG brought the swag and dope lyrics!

Zulu Nation – Old school b-boying with their own innovative moves burned up the court!

DJ Blaze – Resident superstar DJ for the AABL Final Four!

Mad love to JR Bautista and the rest of the fam at AiReal Apparel for their hard work, support and overall awesomeness in helping to make the 2009-10 AABL Final Four Weekend a success!  Good lookin’ out to old school friend Tricia Orpilla for doing an outstanding job with the YFAMD dancers!  Crazy props to community organizer and all-around cool dude Marco Mercado for support, encouragement and worldly advice!  The AABL will continue to promote and show love to the amazing local peeps that rep 757 and VA to the fullest!

What a difference a season makes. Quiet Storm, a vaunted, athletic and defensive club that posted an impressive 23-1 record (including playoffs) during their back-to-back AABL championship runs, have shown chinks in their armor this season, posting a 5-4 regular season record. But in just one game they seemed to regain their swagger when they handily took out tournament hopeful #4 Soldiers, 54-36. They met a familiar foe in #1-seed Raptors, a team that defeated them in Week 7.
The Raptors have been on a mission all season. After losing in the 2008 AABL Championship game they rebounded in 2009 to post a 7-2 regular season record, along the way defeating their opponents by an average of 18 ppg. Their intensity level jumped up a few notches when the playoffs began, witness to their easy victory over #8 Dynasty.
The Raptors, even though they already defeated Quiet Storm once this season, apparently still had a bad taste in their mouths from the 2008 AABL final, and used that as motivation in their semifinal matchup with them. Raptors left it all out on the court and from the tip scored 19 unanswered points. Their defense was stellar and it was visible that Quiet Storm wasn’t reacting well to it. Even layups and typically easy jumpers couldn’t find the bucket during the drought. By the time Quiet Storm finally scored on a Marvin Todd free throw, 9:51 had already elapsed in the game. Quiet Storm then scored their first field goal with 7:40 left in the first half but by that time the winner had already been decided. Their efforts in the game’s final 10 minutes, where they outscored the Raptors 26-13, was too little too late as they just couldn’t overcome their uncharacteristic and incredibly poor start.
John Allmond led the Raptors with a well-deserved double-double – he led all scorers with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and punctuated the end of the game with a vicious dunk that cleared the court for good. Also adding to the impressive victory was Mel Wright (17 pts, 10 rebs, 3 threes) and Ramon Francisco (15 pts, 5 rebs). Quiet Storm was led by Marvin Todd and Jody Lowe – the pair had 11 points each, thus combining for 22 points, including three triples from behind the arc. JV

The Forwarders found out the hard way that things don’t often come easily. After posting a 7-2 regular season record in 2008 they made an early exit from the playoffs when they were upset by the Raptors, 50-41. They returned this season and reloaded with former Wolfpack/Squires players Andy Sanderson and Joe Flores. But they also returned with a chip on their collective shoulders, but instead of taking it out on their opponents they seemingly took it out on everyone else – officials, themselves, maybe even the basketball itself. They limped to a 5-4 regular season record and the word “implosion” seemed to be synonymous with their play. They were able to shake off those issues come playoff time, winning against #10-seed Tropics and then posting a huge upset of #2-seed Dream Team.

The Rebels are a true testament of resilience. In 2007 they upset their way to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Quiet Storm. In 2008 they found no luck and were only able to muster 1 win that season. They have since been able to reacquire players from that 2007 squad (and picked up a few other gems) to help regain their winning stride. They also carried a so-so 5-4 record into the playoffs, but beyond the record was a team coming into their own and were playing as well as anyone in the AABL (they won 4 of their last 5 games). They exacted revenge on #3-seed Wildcats in the quarterfinals and the budding talent of their newest addition, Tony Leary, was witnessed by the rest of the league.

In this semifinal game the Rebels seemed tentative and it translated to an uphill climb most of the way. Forwarders looked like they were still motivated from Ryan Pauling’s big game winner against Dream Team and led almost the entire time. Forwarders started the game nicely and led 17-9 with 13:05 remaining in the first half. The Rebels were able to battle back and take their first lead with 4:18 left. But they were never able to find their rhythm – the Forwarders 2-3 zone was enough to stifle them. The Forwarders, behind the efforts of Kevin Alig and Ryan Pauling, were able to regain and extend their team’s lead to as much as nine before settling for the final score. Alig and Pauling scored 19 points each and combined for all seven of their team’s threes. The Rebels were led by Tony Leary’s 19 points and 5 rebounds and Roland Tilar’s 10 points. But despite the seven triples that the Rebels made they couldn’t convert from outside when they needed it and weren’t able to push tempo and play their more comfortable open-court style. JV

This season’s championship featured two teams who were able to put everything together to make an impressive run. The Forwarders were able to overcome some midseason troubles and rededicated themselves to taking care of business on the court. They are possibly the lowest seed team to make an AABL final and in order to win it all they would have to defeat the Raptors, a team they dispatched earlier in the season.

The Raptors, again, have looked impressive all season and have assembled a squad that displays dedication and passion on both ends of the floor. Having already avenged their 2008 championship loss by handily defeating Quiet Storm, they looked to defeat the Forwarders. With a win here they would payback their opponents for a Week 4 loss and would claim the AABL title that has eluded them all these years.

From the outset it was clear that Mel Wright was going to carry the team to victory. In what has to be the most outstanding performance in an AABL final, the Raptor swingman finished just one assist shy of a triple-double. Wright had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists against a Forwarders team that had no answer for him. Wright set the tone early when he opened up the game with the first of his five three pointers en route to a 19-5 Raptors run. The Forwarders were able to battle back and trailed 21-17 but the Raptors simply turned up the defensive intensity another notch. They held the Forwarders to just seven points in a ten minute span and went into the half with a 13-point lead.

Everything came unraveled in the second half as Wright continued his onslaught. He scored 20 of his 32 in the final 20 minutes and as a result the Raptors forged a 27-point lead with 5:50 left in the game. Kevin Alig and Ryan Pauling, who both led the Forwarders to victory in the semis, led the way again but this time their performances weren’t as effective. Alig had a double-double, finishing with a team-high 14 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Pauling had 10 points, 6 rebounds & 3 assists but they were, for the most part, shut down by a stifling Raptor defense bent on stopping the ball at all costs. Add to that Wright’s game and Kyle Hermoso’s great performance (22 pts, 14 rebs, 6-8 FT’s) and you have a team that looked unbeatable. The Raptors, by the final buzzer, were able to put an exclamation point on a fine season that resulted in their first AABL title. JV

Enuff said!  Big up to Shawn and all the good staff at Shaka’ s for being so accomodating and making the evening live for all in attendance!  Big up to resident stat keeper/ league sponsor extraordinaire, Rachel Clemente Hugo, for coordinating the event!  Hats off for JR Bautista and the rest of the AiReal Family for doing what they do– apparel, promotions, flyers, performances, etc!  Shout out to Rebel-E, Zulu Nation and SNRG for the live performances to start the night off hype!  DJ Delinger was in the building manning the wheels!  AABL 2010 CALENDAR REVEAL!  Peace to the peeps who came out from far and wide to make the night dope!  And I, personally, thank the powers above for giving me the strength to wake up the next day!  Thanks for closing my tab, El!

Congratulations to the Raptors, the 2009-2010 AABL CHAMPIONS!  After a grueling season for every team in the league, the Raps have risen above the other contestants in primetime fashion as they dominated the Final Four Weekend with dominant play on both ends of the court.  In the semi-final matchup that was billed to be a barnburner, Quiet Storm was really silent in the first half as the Raptors played tremendous shut ‘em down defense and caused QS,the back-to-back champs, to have the worst offensive half this season… or any season.  QS raised the level of competition in the second half but the Raps Jon Allmond punctuated the blowout with a legendary dunk that is still buzzing in people’s ears.

In the Finals, the Raptors were hungry and played like a team on a mission, while the Forwarders– who just finished battling the Rebels earlier in the day– played like a team that was happy to be there.  The Forwarders put up a better fight than QS, but the Raptors would not be denied.  They proceeded to steamroll the Forwarders to cruise to the AABL chip.

After 8 Seasons of having an exciting team that just couldn’t put it all together, the Raptors have finally made it to the mountaintop.  With a combination of veteran star players, youthful talent, hot shooting and never say die attitude, the Raptors impressed throughout the regular season and especially in the playoffs.  These dudes truly have each other’s backs and they have a die-hard loyal fan base that has been coming to the gym for years.  Great ballers and even better people!  Congratulations!

Please stay tuned for more updates on the ENTIRE AABL FINAL FOUR WEEKEND!