Mono Vampire will carry Thailand's hopes at the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017
BANGKOK (FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017) - Thailand may have been absent from the FIBA Asia Cup 2017, but they will be SEABA's singular representatives to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017 in Chenzhou, China.
Carrying Thailand's flag at the Champions Cup will be the Mono Vampire Basketball Club. Mono Vampire are among the top Thai club teams, winning the last three Thailand Basketball League (TBL) titles. A number of their players have also seen action for the Thai national team, including Sorot Sunthonsiri, Chanachon Klahan, Teerawat Chanthachon, Chitchai Ananti, Ratdech Kruatiwa and Kannut Samerjai.
Based on their preliminary list, Mono Vampire are also looking to add a couple of foreign players to bolster their ranks and improve their chances of doing well at the FIBA Asia Champions Cup. Among the foreign-born players included in their preliminary roster are Filipino guards Jason Brickman and Paul Zamar as well as Americans Reggie Johnson, Michael Singletary and Anthony McClain. Superb Thai-American wingman Tyler Lamb, who played for the national team in the recently concluded Southeast Asian Games, is also on the list, though he will be considered a naturalized player if he is chosen in the final list.
Regardless of who makes the final roster and how well they do in the competition, however, Mono Vampire have already made landmark achievement just by participating. The last time a Thai club played at the FIBA Asia Champions Cup was way back in 1998 when Bangkok Club crashed out of contention after going winless in four games. This time around, Mono Vampire will surely have more firepower, and they should have a much better showing.
Defending👑🏆 China Kashgar 🇨🇳 & runners-up @AlRiyadiClub 🇱🇧 drawn in the same Group 🤩 #FIBAAsiaCC
— #FIBAAsiaCC (@FIBAAsiaCC) August 25, 2017
👉 https://t.co/SUlAV515xA pic.twitter.com/eahdncQ197
The Thais were drawn into Group A together with Kazakhstan's BC Astana, Iran's Petrochimi, Palestine's Sareyyet Ramallah and a yet-to-be-determined team from Japan. Defending champions China Kashgar are in Group B together with squads from the United Arab Emirates, India, Lebanon and Chinese Taipei. The top four teams in each group will move on to the knockout Quarter-Finals, where the victors will advance to the Semi-Finals. The winners in the Semi-Finals will dispute the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017 crown in the Final.
FIBA
