2023 ABL Invitational

This article is about the basketball competition. For the baseball competition, see 2022–23 Australian Baseball League season.

The 2023 ABL Invitational was an invitational tournament held by the ASEAN Basketball League. The elimination round tipped off on 2 January in Singapore, before moving to 3 other host countries. The tournament ended with the finals played from 3 to 15 March.^[1] The 2023 Invitational featured eight teams from the region.

2023 ABL Invitational
League	ASEAN Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Duration	2 January – 15 March 2023
Number of teams	8
Invitational
Top seed	Saigon Heat
ABL Finals
Champions	Hong Kong Eastern
Runners-up	Saigon Heat
Finals MVP	Tonny Trocha-Morelos

Intended to signify the return of the ABL, it ended up being the last tournament the league held before FIBA dropped support for the league, leaving its future uncertain.^[2]

Teams

Changes from 2019–20 season

New teams: Bangkok Tigers Louvre Surabaya NS Matrix Deers Zamboanga Valientes

Did not participate: Alab Pilipinas Formosa Dreamers Kuala Lumpur Dragons Macau Wolf Warriors Mono Vampire Taipei Fubon Braves

Personnel

Team	Head coach
Bangkok Tigers	Jakkraphan Chupthaisong
Hong Kong Eastern	Željko Pavličević
Louvre Surabaya	Jomar Tierra
Macau Black Bears	Charles Dubé-Brais
NS Matrix Deers	Jeff Viernes
Saigon Heat	Matthew Van Pelt
Singapore Slingers	Neo Beng Siang
Zamboanga Valientes	Expedito De Los Santos

Imports

All teams can register a maximum of 3 foreigners and 1 heritage player. The salary cap for the foreign players is set at US$ 20,000 per month.

Team	Import 1	Import 2	Import 3	Heritage player	Former imports
Bangkok Tigers	William Vedder Freeman	Augustus Stone	Jose Nouchanthavong		Arizona Reid Jermale Jones Lloyd Burgess Alexander Osmand Smith
Hong Kong Eastern	O'Darien Bassett	Chris McLaughlin	Tonny Trocha-Morelos	Dominic Gilbert
Louvre Surabaya	Marcus Hammonds	Alioune Tew	Jamarr Johnson	Ebrahim Enguio Lopez	Sameen Swint
Macau Black Bears	Isaiah Wade	D'Angelo Hamilton	Dequan Abrom		Winston Shepard
NS Matrix Deers	Amir Williams	Tevin Glass	Isaiah Williams	Wong Zhong Han	Henry Iloka
Saigon Heat	Jeremy Combs	Evan Gilyard	Jairus Holder	Hassan Thomas
Singapore Slingers	Xavier Alexander[3]	CJ Gettys[4]	Kentrell Barkley[5]
Zamboanga Valientes	Mohamed Sesay	Mario Chalmers	Renaldo Balkman	Jeremy Arthur	Will Deng Ryan Smith Antonio Hester

Elimination round

The invitational tournament had a new format compared to previous seasons. There will be four rolling tournaments before the lead up to best-of-three semi-finals and finals. At the end of the four tournaments, each team would have played one another twice, and a total of 14 matches. The top four teams would advance to the semi-finals.^[1] The second leg will be in Batam, Indonesia, third leg in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and the fourth leg in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The semi final and final will be held also in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.^[6][7]

Tournaments

Leg	Venue			Date
	Location	Arena	Capacity
1	Kallang, Singapore	OCBC Arena	3,000	2–8 January
2	Batam, Indonesia	Hi-Test Arena	1,200	12–18 January
3	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	MABA Stadium	2,500	3–8 February
4	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Nguyễn Du Indoor Stadium	2,100	12–17 February
Playoffs and final				6–14 March

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Saigon Heat	14	11	3	1225	1024	+201	25	Advances to playoffs
2	Hong Kong Eastern	14	10	4	1131	953	+178	24[a]
3	NS Matrix Deers	14	10	4	1215	1061	+154	24[a]
4	Singapore Slingers	14	9	5	1320	1129	+191	23
5	Macau Black Bears	14	7	7	1139	1078	+61	21[b]
6	Zamboanga Valientes	14	7	7	1183	1172	+11	21[b]
7	Louvre Surabaya	14	1	13	990	1449	−459	15[c]
8	Bangkok Tigers	14	1	13	1077	1414	−337	15[c]

Source: ABL
Notes:

1. Head-to-head: Eastern 1–1 (+6) NS Matrix
2. Head-to-head: Macau 1–1 (+2) Zamboanga
3. Head-to-head: Louvre 1–1 (+23) Bangkok

Results

Team	BKT	HKE	LOU	MBB	NSM	SGH	SGS	ZAV
Bangkok Tigers	—	66–75	88–84	64–94	86–96	73–89	74–121	80–84
Hong Kong Eastern	94–63	—	109–64	67–71	70–75	71–84	85–83	65–71
Louvre Surabaya	124–97	50–101	—	59–93	67–104	35–97	83–138	69–83
Macau Black Bears	109–85	75–81	87–74	—	75–65	70–79	81–88	90–78
NS Matrix Deers	117–78	62–73	89–51	73–54	—	84–88	88–79	98–88
Saigon Heat	98–81	82–89	108–47	84–76	86–96	—	71–68	75–71
Singapore Slingers	111–69	52–68	147–89	89–82	84–82	84–83	—	79–87
Zamboanga Valientes	118–73	55–83	108–94	92–82	82–86	79–101	87–97	—

Updated to match(es) played on 14 February 2023. Source: ABL
Legend: Blue = left column team win; Red = top row team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Bracket

	Semifinals (Best-of-three playoff)					Finals (Best-of-three playoff)
	1	Saigon Heat	2
	4	Singapore Slingers	1
						1	Saigon Heat	1
						2	Hong Kong Eastern	2
	2	Hong Kong Eastern	2
	3	NS Matrix Deers	0

Semi-finals

The semi-final is a best-of-three series with game 3 being played if necessary.

(1) Saigon Heat vs. (4) Singapore Slingers

6 March 2023 8:00 p.m.

Boxscore

Saigon Heat	82–94	Singapore Slingers
Scoring by quarter: 20–18, 24–29, 20–19, 18–28
Pts: Gilyard 24 Rebs: Thomas 9 Asts: Combs 7		Pts: Gettys 24 Rebs: Gettys 12 Asts: Alexander 5

Nguyễn Du Indoor Stadium Referees: Yong Sern Tee (MAS), Joenard Garcia (PHI), Mok Ho Yuen (HKG)

8 March 2023 8:00 p.m.

Boxscore

Singapore Slingers	79–81 (OT)	Saigon Heat
Scoring by quarter: 19–20, 25–19, 12–15, 16–18, Overtime: 7–9
Pts: Gettys 31 Rebs: Gettys 20 Asts: Alexander 6		Pts: Gilyard, Holder 20 each Rebs: Combs 13 Asts: Combs, Gilyard 5 each

Nguyễn Du Indoor Stadium Referees: Chan Owe Shiong (MAS), Joenard Garcia (PHI), Mok Ho Yuen (HKG)

9 March 2023 7:30 p.m.

Boxscore

Saigon Heat	86–85	Singapore Slingers
Scoring by quarter: 18–21, 24–15, 22–26, 22–23
Pts: Combs 25 Rebs: Thomas 12 Asts: Gilyard 9		Pts: Gettys 25 Rebs: Barkley 13 Asts: Alexander, Goh 5
Heat wins series 2–1

Nguyễn Du Indoor Stadium Referees: Chan Owe Shiong (MAS), Jontapa Nattapong (THA), Harry Santos (PHI)

(2) Hong Kong Eastern vs. (3) NS Matrix Deers

6 March 2023 6:00 p.m.

Boxscore

Hong Kong Eastern	76–51	NS Matrix Deers
Scoring by quarter: 14–13, 21–9, 17–16, 24–13
Pts: Bassett 17 Rebs: Mclaughlin 16 Asts: Bassett 7		Pts: Glass 14 Rebs: Amir 16 Asts: Williams 3

Nguyễn Du Indoor Stadium Referees: Rendra Lesmana (INA), Harry Santos (PHI), Neo Kai Chong (SIN)

8 March 2023 6:00 p.m.

Boxscore

NS Matrix Deers	70–76	Hong Kong Eastern
Scoring by quarter: 18–12, 14–19, 19–22, 19–23
Pts: Amir 26 Rebs: Glass 15 Asts: Glass 6		Pts: Gilbert 26 Rebs: Mclaughlin 20 Asts: Bassett, Morelos 4
Eastern wins series 2–0

Nguyễn Du Indoor Stadium Referees: Jontapa Nattapong (THA), Rendra Lesmana (INA), Neo Kai Chong (SIN)

Final: (1) Saigon Heat vs. (2) Hong Kong Eastern

The final is a best-of-three series with game 3 being played if necessary.

11 March 2023 5:00 p.m.

Boxscore

Saigon Heat	73–89	Hong Kong Eastern
Scoring by quarter: 20–14, 20–27, 14–26, 19–22
Pts: Gilyard 20 Rebs: Thomas 11 Asts: Gilyard 4		Pts: Gilbert 24 Rebs: Mclaughlin 11 Asts: Gilbert 5

Nguyễn Du Indoor Stadium Referees: Preeda Muongmee (THA), Chan Owe Shiong (MAS), Rendra Lesmana (INA)

12 March 2023 5:00 p.m.

Boxscore

Hong Kong Eastern	70–88	Saigon Heat
Scoring by quarter: 28–19, 9–19, 20–21, 13–29
Pts: Morelos 20 Rebs: Mclaughlin 13 Asts: Bassett, Chan, Mclaughlin 4 each		Pts: Gilyard 41 Rebs: Combs 8 Asts: Combs 8

Nguyễn Du Indoor Stadium Referees: Preeda Muongmee (THA), Chan Owe Shiong (MAS), Harry Santos (PHI)

14 March 2023 7:30 p.m.

Boxscore

Saigon Heat	60–73	Hong Kong Eastern
Scoring by quarter: 9–24, 17–12, 17–18, 17–19
Pts: Gilyard 23 Rebs: Gilyard 6 Asts: Gilyard 6		Pts: Morelos 19 Rebs: Mclaughlin 13 Asts: Bassett 4
Eastern wins series 2–1

Nguyễn Du Indoor Stadium Referees: Preeda Muongmee (THA), Chan Owe Shiong (MAS), Rendra Lesmana (INA)

Awards

^[8]

Finals awards

2023 ABL Champions
Hong Kong Eastern (2nd title)

Finals MVP
Tonny Trocha-Morelos

End-of-tournament awards

The winners were announced after Game 3 of the 2023 ABL Finals at the Nguyễn Du Indoor Stadium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

• Defensive Player of the Year: Chris McLaughlin (Hong Kong Eastern)
• Coach of the Year: Željko Pavličević (Hong Kong Eastern)

Statistical leaders

Individual leaders

Category	Player	Club	Average
Points	Kentrell Barkley	Singapore Slingers	26.00
Rebounds	Alioune Tew	Louvre Surabaya	19.00
Assists	Xavier Alexander	Singapore Slingers	6.60
Steals	Mario Chalmers	Zamboanga Valientes	2.40
Blocks	Amir Williams	NS Matrix Deers	1.90