At 5-6 and 135lbs, Manny Pacquiao isn’t an intimidating figure initially, but the diminuative Filipino may be, pound-for-pound, the toughest boxer on the face of the planet.

Slam Magazine recently interviewed the street-tough fighter about his other passion- basketball. Here’s an excerpt of the interview:

SLAM: Tell us how you got into basketball
Pacquaio: It’s a very popular sport in the Philippines. It’s actually our national sport; we’re just to short to play professionally [laughs].

(Discuss Philippines Basketball in our forum)

SLAM: What position do you play?
Pacquaio: I’m a point guard who scores a lot. I like to shoot three-pointers and drive to the hole. Except sometimes they won’t let me [go to the basket] because I have an upcoming fight.

SLAM: Do you worry about getting hurt when you play basketball?
Pacquaio: No, it’s like when I get in the ring: If I worry about getting hurt, that’s how i’ll end up getting hurt.

SLAM: Which [NBA] players are you friend with
Pacquaio: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Trevor Ariza used to come to the gym in L.A., and Ron Artest was at the gym yesterday.

SLAM: You think any of those guys could box?
Pacquaio: Yes, I think Paul Pierce and Ron Artest could fight. Ron is a big guy!

SLAM: When you retire, are you going to play ball?
Pacquaio: Yes, of course. I’m goint to play basketball ’til I am 50 or 60 years old. It’s my first love — more than boxing — I’m just very, very short.

See a version of the full interview at Slam Online (Pac-man Vs.) or grab the latest issue of Slam Magazine, no. 134 (February 2010).

From the crew @ Interbasket (and Pau Gasol), we wish you a very Merry Christmas, a super Hannukkah; a happy holidays.  Whatever you you do, however you are celebrating, whoever you are with, wherever you are in the world – we sincerely hope you have a safe and happy holiday season.

Pau Gasol walks up the court in the Laker’s game vs. the New Jersey Nets.

Merry Christmas or Merry Christmas translated in the many different languages around the world:  Veselé vánoce (Czech), Vrolijk kerstfeest (Dutch), Joyeux Noël (French), Frohe Weihnachten (German), Kala Christouyenna (Greek), Buon Natale (Italian), Linksmų Kalėdų (Lithuanian), Feliz Natal (Portuguese), С Рождеством (Russian),  Vesel Božič (Slovenian), Feliz Navidad (Spanish), God jul (Swedish), Maligayang Pasko (Tagalog – Philippines), สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส (Thai), Mutlu Noeller (Turkish)…

In a game between Smart Gilas and Burger King of the Philippines Basketball Association, one of the Burger King players goes after a fan in the stands and begins to kick and punch the fan.

(Discuss Philippines Basketball in our forum)

Smart Gilas is participating in the PBA for the first time.

It is now more than two days since massive flooding swept the Philippines.

Typhoon Ondoy hit Manila, the nation’s capital and neighboring provinces, leaving a total of 140 dead victims and displacing ~435 000 more.

Major networks reported that a month’s worth of rain fell in just six hours, flooding 80% of the capital Manila which is still submerged.

Pictures and videos of this tragedy which were transmitted and published by news networks, websites and individuals via social networks are shocking and show a state of total destruction, and their people in desperate need of help.

Using Basketball and the Internet in Support
This is where we, namely Interbasket and TalkBasket, as basketball communities, felt the need to unite and to step up and make a plea for help.

As most of you know, Philippines are one of the most basketball-crazed nations of the planet and we feel it is our duty to make assisting our fellow Filipinos as simple as we can. We are all citizens of the world and most importantly we are all citizens of basketball.

If you are interested and looking for ways to assist, please retweet @interbasket to get the information out, and then see below how to help out:

World wide:

Via RedCross: Direct your donations to RedCross Philippine
http://www.redcross.org.ph/Site/PNRC/Default.aspx?S=48&SS=972
(Choose “Typhoon Ondoy”)

Ayala Foundation:
https://www.myayala.com/ayalafoundation/ayalafoundation.asp

World Food Program:
https://www.wfp.org/donate/ondoy

TXTPower: Donate via PayPal
http://www.txtpower.org/2009/09/philippines-help-typhoon-victims-in-luzon-philippines/

In Philippines:

Department of Social Welfare and Development donations drop-off points:

1. National Resource Operations Center, Chapel Road, Pasay City
Contact: Mrs. Francon Favian

2. Quezon City Area Disaster Resource Operations Monitoring and Info Center: (DROMIC) DSWD Central Office. Contact Rey Martija or Imee Rose Castillo, Tel Nos. 951-7119, 951-2435 or Assistant Secretary Vilma Cabrera Tel No. 0918-934-5625

3. Manila Area (DSWD-NCR)
San Rafael corner Legarda Streets, Quiapo, Manila
Contact: Dir. Thelsa P. Biolna, Dir. Delia Bauan Tel Nos. 734-8622, 734-8642

In USA:
ANCOP Foundation USA
http://www.ancopusa.org

You may also donate through the American and Canadian RedCross 1-800-435-7669

In UK:
Oxfam: https://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/phil…oods/index.php

More ways to donate (via Google)
http://www.google.com/landing/typhoon-ondoy.html

ANY FILIPINOS AFFECTED BY THE FLOOD CAN FIND A LIST OF SHELTERS AND/OR RELIEF CENTERS AND HOTLINES HERE:

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/173288/update-list-of-verified-relief-centers-for-ondoy-victims

And also we have a thread dedicated to the flooding. Use this thread for support, to connect and report, ask for help, suggestions, and anything else that may help out your situation.

Not surprisingly, the Philippines is using the power of basketball to help the flood victims and to keep the national spirit positive when Smart Gilas and Powerade Five have a basketball benefit on the court.

We extend our genuine sympathy and prayers to everyone in Philippines wishing all the best and a quick return to everyday normal life for all those affected by the Ondoy Typhoon.

If  basketball popularity coincided with the average height of the country’s population, then Scandinavia should have many more professional basketball players.

At least according to some data that was compiled by one of our forum members, tpraseri (see Average Height by Country thread).

Tpraseri compiled data from across the internet, listed out the average heights of 82 countries around the world. You can see the full list at the bottom of this post.

Netherlands the tallest country
At an average height of 5-foot-11 (181,0 cm), the Netherlands has the tallest average height amongst males twenty years old and older.

Holland was followed by #2 Iceland (5-10.8, 179,8), and then the three Scandinavian countries Norway (5-10.7, 179,7),  Sweden (5-10.6, 179,3), and Denmark (5-10.4, 178,8) rounded out the top five.

And who have these countries have produced?

The Netherlands has been decently successful with Rik Smits, Dan Gadzuric, Francisco Elson, Swen Nater, Geert Hammink, Henk Norel, and Serge Zwikker.

Sweden has the recently-drafted Jonas Jerebko, Iceland sent Petur Gudmundsson to the NBA in the 1980s and Jón Stefánsson, and Lars Hansen of Denmark.

And who would have assumed that #43 South Korea (5-7.3, 171,0) would, on average, be taller than #48 Portugal (5-7.1, 170,5), #56 Brazil (5-6.7, 169,5), #69 Mongolia (5-5.5, 166,4), and #75 Nigeria (5-5, 165,0),?

Asia has the shortest countries
Asia owned the six shortest countries on the list, mostly Southeast Asian countries.

The only country shorter than #81 Indonesia (161.5, 5’3.6) and the #80 Philippines (162.0, 5’3.8) was #82 Cambodia clocked in as the country with the shortest average height for males at just 160,3 (5’3.1″).

To see the full chart, see below:

* For the references used to compile this data, go here.

Iran successfully defended their Asia Champions crown last night, dropping favored-China in a laughable 70-52 win.

Led by Memphis Grizzly center Hamed Haddadi‘s 19 points and 17 rebounds, Iran dominated the Chinese in the first two quarters; outscoring their opponents by 11 in the first quarter and by six in the second.

The Iranians took a 17-point lead into halftime, see the lead balloon up to 25, and would never look back.  This was China‘s first ever loss in an Asiabasket gold medal match.

This year’s win is significant because it signals a new age in which Middle-Asia teams, namely Iran, Jordan and Lebanon,  may have finally caught up with their East Asian brothers.

Up until 2007, China had won 14 of 16 Asia Championships.  And East Asian teams, the Philippines, Korea, and Japan, have taken the title in every other year previous to 2007.

Iran’s win is much more significant this year because they went against a Chinese team,  even without Yao Ming, that was still favored to win the tournament.

In Iran’s win in the 2007 Asiabasket, the Chinese fielded their junior team, having already automatically qualified as the hosts of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Now Iran can be truly crowned the Kings of Asia, having won the 2007 and 2009 FIBA Asia Championships, the 2009 Asia Cup, and the 2009 Williams Jones Cup.

Hamed Haddadi, who was named MVP of the tournament, shot 9-17 from the field, shredding the Chinese interior and scoring 9 points in 12-4 run in the fourth quarter that slammed the door shut on any thoughts of a Chinese comeback.

Oshin Sahakian was the only other Iranian to reach double-figures with 10 points.  Javad Davari added 9 points and 6 rebounds.

Samad Nikkhah Bahrami, who came in averaging over 18 points, failed to reach double-figures for the first time in the tournament, finishing with just 8 points.  The star guard did pass out 6 assists.

The Iranian defense held Yi Jianlian to just 11 points on 5-17 shooting, while Sun Yue, Shipeng Wang, and Liu Wei combined to shoot just 3-15.

Wang Zhizhi was China’s only consistent threat, the former NBA player shot 10-16 from the field, and scored a game-hih 24 points and added 8 rebounds.

In the third place game, Jordan took the final berth to the World Championships by defeating Lebanon for the second time this tournament, 80-66.

Lebanon finished without a medal for the first time in three championships, having earned a silver in the 2005 and 2007 FIBA Asia Championships.

In the classification rounds, Chinese-Taipei took fifth place over Qatar 87-79, while Korea edged the Philippines, 82-80 on Donggeun Yang’s jumper with one second remaninig.

RP’s James Yap’s missed a three at the buzzer that would give Korea seventh place, and the Philippines would finish eighth.

Even with the likelihood that they’ll head home without a win, the Sri Lankan Natonal Basketball Team is just happy to be in Tianjin, China for the Asia Basketball Championships.

A day before the tournament began on August 6th, Sri Lanka almost had to pull out because they needed financial assistance for the team’s airfare.

According to the report, unless a corporate sponsor came through at the eleventh hour; Sri Lanka would not be able to participate in the Asia Basket tournament, their first time at the tournament in 15 years.

On August 5th, no sponsor had stepped forward.  No news could be found on Sri Lanka news sites, or from FIBA, regarding whether the team would make it to Tianjin or not. There were rumours that another national team would replace them in the tournament.

But on Wednesday morning August 6th, the day the championships would begin, Sri Lanka’s basketball team strolled into King Hall Hotel’s cafeteria in Tianjin for breakfast without much explanation on how they got there.

Sri Lanka: A Developing Basketball Country
As with many developing countries in Asia and Africa, Sri Lanka has many, more pressing problems than focusing on a sport that isn’t cricket or soccer.

Because there is no demand for basketball success in Sri Lanka, finances for the developing sport are significantly lacking.  Without the money, it severely hampers a team’s ability to procure equipment, facilities, and technology, not to mention employing staff.

Without the right facilities and technology, communication and basketball development is stunted.

“We have very few indoor courts, and 90 percent of the time we play outside,” said Ignatius Canegaretnam, vice president of the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation.

A scan of their official team page on FIBA.com shows no positions listed, no place of birth, and no previous experience (not that they don’t have any, it’s just not listed).

One piece of information that stood out?

The average height of the Sri Lankan national team is 5-foot-11 (181cm).

“We don’t know anything about (Sri Lanka),” said Yeng Guiao, Philippines coach, whose team would first face Sri Lanka.“We have no scouting report on them and we haven’t seen them play.”

Work in Progress
In Sri Lanka’s first game, the small island would get blasted by Team Philippines, losing by a whopping 84 points, 115-31.

Undersized Sri Lanka wouldn’t score reach double-digits in any one quarter, registering just 9, 8, 9, and 5 points in each respective quarter.

“Basketball is still at the developmental stage in Sri Lanka.” said coach Guiao after the Sri Lanka-Philippines match. “If these were cricket, they would have beaten us badly.”

The comment drew a smile from Sri Lankan coach Ajith Kuruppu.

“This is our first game in the Asian Championship since 1995 in Seoul, and the Philippines is really a strong team. We hope to improve through the next matches,” said Kuruppu.

The next day, Sri Lanka was destroyed by Korea, 122-54, a margin of 68 points.  The Koreans hit 25 of 51 three-pointers..

Despite a 0-41 record in Asian Basketball Championships, it is still very important for these teams to represent; to play quality opponents, and to develop their basketball program.  This is the first time in 15 years that a Sri Lankan basketball team has been able to qualify for the tournament.

“One of the reasons we play (in Asia Basket), we’re preparing for the South Asian Federation Games in Dhaka (Bangladesh) in January.” said Canegaretnam.

“ Of course, the main reason is to make basketball catch up with cricket and soccer in Sri Lanka.”

Links and Resources: Official Sri Lanka Basketball Federation (SportingPulse), Sri Lankan NT may not make to Asia Championships (Interbasket), Asia Championships Basketball Forum (Interbasket), Without support, Cameroon plays for pride, family (Interbasket)

Two regional basketball championships are going into their third, and final day, of preliminary games today.

The 2009 Africa Nations and the Asia Championships are finishing up their round robin play.After day 2, Angola, Nigeria, Senegal, and Cameroon have advanced into the quarterfinals of the 2009 Africa Nations Championships of Basketball

The top three teams in each of the four groups will move onto the quarterfinals to be played on Saturday, August 8th local time.

National Teams that are promised a berth in the quarterfinals for Afrobasket are defending champions Angola, Nigeria, Senegal, and Cameroon, all four of these teams went undefeated in their first two days of pool play. Follow the African Nations Basketball Championships in our Afrobasket forum.

On the Asian side, 2007 Asiabasket champions Iran, China, Jordan, Korea, and the Philippines have started 2-0 going into their third games today.  After winning their first two games, these five teams will move onto the quarterfinals even if they lose today.  For more about the Asia Basketball Championships, visit our Asiabasket forum.

The final goal of the gathered national teams is to grab one of three available berths to the World Championships in 2010.  Both Africa and Asia will send the top three finishers from the tournament to the 2010 global basketball tournament.

Links and Resources: 2009 Afrobasket Schedule (Fiba.com),  2009 Asiabasket Schedule (Fiba.com)

Title: Asia Championships of Basketball
Location: Tianjin, China
Official Website: http://china2009.fiba.com/
Description: The 2009 FIBA Asia Championships of basketball (discuss) will be held in Tianjin, China from August 6-16, 2009 with 16 teams divided into four groups.

The sixteen teams competing for the gold and a spot in the 2010 World Championships are hosts China, Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Philippines, Qatar, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan.

Discuss the 2009 Asia Championships of Basketball in our forum.

Despite the absence of Yao Ming, the tournament still features many national stars in Yi Jianlian (China), Hamed Haddadi (Iran), Kim Min-Soo (Korea), Rony Fahed (Lebanon), Zaid Abbas (Jordan), Sun Yue (China), Lin Chih-chieh (Chinese-Taipei), Samad Nikkah (Iran), Fadi El-Khatib (Lebanon), Wang Zhizhi (China), Yuta Tabuse (Japan), and Tien Lei (Chinese-Taipei).

The top three teams from the four groups advance to the second round of the championship.

* Group A: Japan, Korea, Philippines, Sri Lanka.
* Group B: Chinese Taipei, Iran, Kuwait, Uzbekistan.
* Group C: China, India, Kazakhstan, Qatar.
* Group D: Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, UAE.

The top three overall teams will automatically qualify for the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey.  Even without finishing in the top three, there is still a chance to qualify for the WBC as 3-4 more teams can be selected as wild cards by FIBA to complete the 24-team field.

The final games of the 2009 Jones Cup were played last night and the standings for all nine teams have been determined – with Iran continuing their dominance in Asian play.

1. Iran (6 wins – 2 losses)
2. Jordan (7-1)
3. Lebanon (6-2)
4. Taiwan-A (6-2)
5. Korea (5-3)
6. Philippines (2-6)
7. Taiwan-B (2-6)
8. Japan (1-7)
9. Kazakhstan (1-7)

By defeating the Filipinos 85-60 on the last day of the tournament, Iran (6-2) took home the title despite Jordan having a better overall record (7-1).

The finish wasn’t without a little confusion and controversy as four teams tied.

Because of the point system that the Jones Cup uses in determining the winner,   Iran and Jordan (as well as Korea and Taiwan A) all ended with 14 points.  For each win, a team is awarded two points, for each loss a team is awarded one point.

With that Jordan should have took home their third straight title, however Jordan did not receive a point for their one loss when they decided to withdrew from their game against Iran.

In protest of Hamed Haddadi‘s actions that incited a brawl between the two teams, and the subsequent decision not to eject Haddadi from the game, Jordan refused to finish out the game and Iran was awarded the win.  The decision cost Jordan the tournament.

Jordan came into the tournament as the two-time Jones Cup defending champions, having won the 2007 and 2008  tournaments.  Recently, Mahram (Iran) had defeated Zain (Jordan) in the 2009 Asia Cup Championships.

Lebanon placed third as it beat Taiwan, who finished fourth.

Korea placed fifth with a respectable 5-3 record.  The Powerade-funded squad from the Philippines ended up with only two wins with six losses and finished in sixth place, RP’s worst finish in the annual tournament.

Rounding out the standings were Taiwan B (7th), Japan (8th), and Kazakhstan finished last with a 1-7 record.

The tournament does not determine seedings or qualifications, but is a friendly tournament to help teams prepare for the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship in August in Tianjin, China.

Taipei, Taiwan -  The 2009 Williams Jones Cup is underway.

This international tournament, held every year in Taiwan, features nine teams this year: Iran, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and Team Kwanghwa (Taiwan).

(Discuss the 2009 Jones Cup tournament in our forum)

This year is the tournament’s 31st year,  and the diversity of the tournament is unmatched.

Since 1977, national squads, professional clubs, and university teams from all over the globe have participated in this tournament.

Past winners include national teams from West Germany, Mexico, Jordan, and Canada as well as the University of Hawaii to professional teams such as Great Mates (Australia), San Miguel Beer (Philippines), and Athletes in Action (USA).

The USA is not participating in this year’s tournament, but has won 15 of the 29 tournaments.  The national team from Jordan has taken home the trophy the last two years.

After South Africa pulled out of the tournament last minute, the 2009 Jones Cup is the first time that all the teams are from one continent.

The Women’s competition started July 12th, while the Men”s competition began the 18th of July and will end on the 26th.  The tournament is named after Renato William Jones, a well-known basketball promoter and one of the founders of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA).

Links and Resources:  Jones Cup 2009 (Interbasket forum), 2009 Jones Cup Official Site (http://www.jonescup31st.com.tw/)

Kobe Bryant is back in Asia this summer after doing tours of the various Asian cities in 1998 and 2007.

This time around, Nike is sending Kobe to Manila (Philippines), Singapore, Taipei, (Taiwan), and three Chinese cities; Hong Kong, Shanghai and Cheng Du.  The schedule of his trip reads below:

• July 21: Manila Philippines
• July 22: Singapore, Singapore
• July 23: Taipei, Taiwan
• July 24: Hong Kong, China
• July 25: Shanghai, China
• July 26: Cheng Du, China

Fresh off the 2009 NBA Championship and NBA Finals MVP, Kobe Bryant will fly to six cities in six days teaching basketball skills, doing camps, and competing against local players in each of these Asian locations.

On the first leg of his tour, Bryant told a crowd of his fans in the Philippines, “It feels great to be back… to be around people who enjoy the game as much as I do.”

Of course it isn’t all just international goodwill, the Nike also launched an exclusive shoe made especially for Asia.  The shoes, the Nike Dream Season, were released on July 1st and are a part of Kobe Bryant’s autograph series.

“I love (Asia),” Bryant said. “I am welcomed with open arms. They treat me like family.”

Links and Resources: Kobe to teach, promote Nike during 2007 Asian Tour (Interbasket)

Medan, Indonesia – The Philippines are champions once again, defeating Iindonesia 96-68 in the SEABA title game (discuss).  

After a tighly contested first quarter, the defending champions would cruise to a 98-68 win over hosts Indonesia to claim the 8th Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) crown at the Angkasapura Lanud Basketball Hall.

At the end of the first period, Powerade Team Pilipinas was tied with Indonesia at 22 points a piece but, the RP cagers would outscore Indonesia by 14 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 46-32 advantage.

Despite poor shooting, James Yap and the Philippines would eventually put away their opponents to repeat as SEABA champions. 

The champions went undefeated in their four games, defeating opponents by a Dream Team-eqsue 36 points per game, including a 48 point blowout of Singapore.

Indonesia has now placed second in the last three SEABA championships (2005, 2007, 2009) while the Philippines took home their sixth title in the seven tournaments that they have participated in (Philippines were banned by FIBA from the 2005 tourney).

Up next?   The 2009 FIBA Asia Championships.

With the win, the Philippines have secured one of the two slots for the qualifying tournament later this year. Asiabasket, as it is also known, will be held in Taijin, China (August 06-16, 2009). 

Indonesia also earned a spot by placing second in the SEABA.

Links and Resources: Team Pilipinas routs Indons to rule SEABA (gmaNews.tv), SEABA 2009 Championships in Medan Indonesia (Interbasket)  2009 SEABA Championships (Interbasket Forum), PBA National Team at 2009 SEABA (Interbasket), Pilipinas Basketball Forum (Interbasket), 2009 FIBA Asia Championships (Interbasket)

The 2009 SEABA Championships are underway in Medan, Indonesia (discuss).

As expected, the tournament favorites and defending champions got off to a great start as the Republic of the Philippines defeating Malaysia 100-73.   The two competitors have dominated the SEABA gold medals since the inception of the tournament.

The basketball-crazed Philippines is going for a repeat this year – which would be their sixth championship in the tournament’s short eight year history.  Malaysia has won the remaining two trophies (1994, 2005).

In the other completed game, Indonesia defeated Singapore 79-65.  Host nation Indonesia is looking for their first SEABA championship after placing second in the last two tournaments.  Losing out to the Philippines in 2007 and Malaysia in 2005.

You can follow and discuss the games in our SEABA thread in our forum.

The eight annual tournament occurs every two years and will continue play through Wednesday, June 10th.

Links and Resources: SEABA 2009 Championships in Medan Indonesia (Interbasket)  2009 SEABA Championships (Interbasket Forum), PBA National Team at 2009 SEABA (Interbasket), Fiba Asia Subzone Information (Fiba Asia.net), Philippines Basketball Forum (Interbasket), 2009 FIBA Asia Championships (Interbasket)

The 8th annual SEABA championships will be played this coming weekend (June 6-10, 200) in Medan, Indonesia.

SEABA, the SouthEast Asian Basketball Association,  is a sub-region of FIBA Asia that includes these ten Southeast Asian countries; Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Four of these ten national teams will compete for the gold medal in the 5-day tournament.

The tournament winner will automatically earn a berth into the 2009 FIBA Asia Championships being held in August 2009.

The Republic of the Philippines has dominated this tournament in its seven-year history, winning five of the possible seven gold medals including the last SEABA championship held in 2007.

It is very likely that the Philippines would be seeking their seventh consecutive title this year had it not been for a FIBA-mandated suspension in 2005.

The Philippines have brought home the first place trophy in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2007, while the Malaysian National Team has won the gold the remaining two tournaments (1994, 2005).

SEABA is just one of five subzones in FIBA Asia Region – the other zones include East Asia, Gulf, Middle Asia, and West Asia.  SEABA has inspired the ASEAN basketball league, a proposed league solely made up of Southeast Asian teams set to commence late-2009.

For more information you can visit FibaAsia.net.

Links and Resources: 2009 SEABA Championships (Interbasket Forum), Fiba Asia Subzone Information (Fiba Asia.net), Philippines Basketball Forum (Interbasket), 2009 FIBA Asia Championships (Interbasket), ASEAN basketball league (Wikipedia)