ABA 2010 Friendship Games Announced
Published on April 8, 2010 under American Basketball Association (ABA) News Release
Manila, Philippines. The American Basketball Association (ABA) www.abalive.com now ranked as the largest professional sports league in the US in terms of teams, launched its global joint-venture in Las Vegas last December and plans for its first two ABA venues in Tampa, Florida and Las Vegas in February. It has positioned itself as #2 to the NBA, but now, its niche where teams from all over the world will see action vs. top ABA teams in a World Basketball Cup in 2011 has triggered a frenzy in the world basketball community.
The $200 million dollar global expansion announced by ABA Global is kicking off with the second international team to enter the domain of the US professional league via an initial FRIENDSHIP GAME series starting April 25th in San Diego, California. After the successful entry of the Beijing Aoshen Olympians from China into the ABA, the Philippines is fielding their bet to the Olympics in 2012 - the Smart-Gilas National team to the ABA.
"The entry of the Philippines to the ABA is a tremendous follow-through after the Chinese team for ABA Global," said Joe Newman, ABA CEO. "The Philippines has basketball as the #1 sport and it is a dream of filipino cagers, same as others from around the world, to play pro basketball in the US. You will now have ABA jerseys with international stars together with our red, white and blue balls - now called FLAG balls."
"The entry of the Philippine team is not only historic for the country; it is also historic for the USA, as there is a very close link between the two countries," said Paul Monocza, ABA Global Vice-Chairman. "The Philippine team will test their speed with its entry into the ABA in the US."
The 2010 FRIENDSHIP GAMES will be a five-game series in Southern California. The Smart-Gilas Philippine Nationals will be led by their captain, Chris Tiu, the US trained 6'10" forward Japeth Aguilar and 7 foot center Greg Slaughter. The ABA teams will include the Los Angeles SLAM, which boasts stars like "The Game," former NBA Cleveland Cavalier Tony Farmer, And1 star Larry Williams and 7 foot center Josh Stanhiser of the University of Hawaii.
The San Diego SURF team is led by scoring champions John Clark, a 6'5" Pacific Coast Conference player and ABA All-Star together with Terry Menefee, an NCAA standout; 6'8" Bryan Freshwater also joins them from the German pro league and All-American Anthony Bruner. The Philippines will also play the Riverside Rainmakers and the Clayton Showtime from Northern California as part of the series.
The Under-17 national youth squad from the Philippines will also be competing against top US AAU teams in pre-game matches at 630 p.m. leading to main ABA games vs. the Smart-Gilas team at 7:30 p.m. each night. Games will be held from April 25 to April 30 in San Diego, Riverside and Los Angeles. Tickets for the series are limited and will be available on a first-come, first served basis. There are over one million filipinos in California and the sheer numbers will increase attendance in these games. The opening game will be in San Diego, the second game in Riverside, the final three will be in Los Angeles, with the final game featuring an All-Star team of top West Coast ABA Players. For ticket information, visit www.sdsurfhoops.com, www.losangelesslam.com, www.riversiderainmakers.com or www.abalive.com.
Note: OurSports Central no longer actively covers the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a professional league due in part to its inability to publish and play a schedule and the transitory nature of many of its teams. For information on professional minor leagues, please see OSC's basketball section.
American Basketball Association Stories from April 8, 2010
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