ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) - Brandone Francis knows well the responsibility of representing something bigger than himself.

"I LOVE INDONESIA."

 

That's why he keeps on giving it his all when he puts on that Prawira Harum Bandung jersey. The numbers speak for themselves. At the end of Round 1 for Prawira, the 29-year-old leads all players in scoring with 26.3 points per game after a 31-point performance en route to a win.

So far, that's tied the most amount of points scored in the Basketball Champions League Asia (BCL Asia) Qualifiers, highlighted by a dominant 15-point fourth quarter for Francis.

 

This is the road to BCL Asia, after all, so Francis knows he'll need to put in his best efforts.

"Oh man, it is an amazing terminology, champions against champions," he said of BCL Asia. "I mean, it can't get no better than that. I'm just so happy to be a part of it.

"It's an amazing opportunity for Prawira Bandung and it is an honor for us to come out here and compete against these great teams and represent the nation of Indonesia."

The pressure is nothing to sneeze at for Prawira and Francis. They are here in Ulaanbaatar as the champions of the previous Indonesia Basketball League (IBL) season - a historic one as it was their first domestic league title in a long time.

 

"It's been a lot," said Francis of that past campaign.

"We hadn't in like 25 years. Some of our guys on our team weren't even - they're 21-22 years old. So I mean, I can't tell you how long it has been."

"They're so happy we were able to come as a group to win a championship for the city of Bandung. It's just an amazing thing to do and hopefully, we can continue to keep working and maybe have another chance at the championship once again."

"It was great. I think we were prepared. We were able to have our amazing season.

"We had the Sixth Man of the year. We had Yudha who, to me, was the local MVP. I feel like I had a pretty good season. We had a lot of things going on in our club that year then, we were able just to come on top. This year, everybody wanna beat us, but I'm so happy to be back and to be able to try to take it once again."

Prawira Bandung's quest to repeat in the IBL went off to a bumpy start as they won only two of their first five games. However, once Francis returned to the roster midway through the season, they rattled off three straight wins in the league.

Now, they are gaining even more momentum in the BCL Asia Qualifiers Round 1. Even though they suffered a tough loss to Hong Kong Eastern Basketball Team on the second gameday, they were able to win their second game to secure second-place in Group A and a more favorable spot heading into the Qualification to Round 2 game, at least on paper.

Should they continue to advance through to Round 2, Prawira Bandung will head back to play at home and will also face Pelita Jay Basketball, a familiar foe. Pelita Jaya have already qualified for Round 2 after clinching first-place in Group B. The two teams faced each other in the IBL Finals last season and are both contenders to return this year.

It would indeed be a game to watch should they set up an Indonesia derby clash in the BCL Asia Qualifiers.

"It'd be nice. Of course, I'm ready," said Francis. "They're a great organization. I respect them a lot. I love everything they are about. So I love Pelita Jaya and I know it's always gonna be a battle whenever we play."

"But, at the end of the day, I'm a Bandung guy. I'm on this side."

"Right now, that's my only focus. To represent this jersey to the highest of my talents."

After winning a title with the team, the Bandung blood runs deep in his veins as Francis has expressed. He's forged a bond with the team and it's easy to see how much he enjoys playing with the team as well as how much the team enjoys having him on their side.

"We're a tough-minded team," he said.

"I don't think nobody plays better offense than us in the half-court, respectfully to a lot of teams."

"We've only been together for 2-3 weeks now and I think things are gonna keep rolling for us."

"One thing that I'm more excited about is the way we've been playing defense. We're holding everybody on the 70-80 points."

"For us, to play both sides of the court continue to play hard and together [is great]. I think we're very hard to beat and at the same time, we always gonna play great teams."

"We just gotta be able to do the things that we need to do as a club."

On his end, Francis will also keep doing what he does which is playing at a high-level and representing the jersey on his chest. It's what he's done throughout his career whether playing for the Dominican Republic national team or across leagues around the world.

"My first shot in the national team was when I was 18 years old, so almost 10 years ago. I've been around, you know, Francisco Garcia, Jack Michael, Al Horford, Karl Towns like players like that."

"It's been an honor for me to represent my country since being a teenager so it's been great. It's always an honor."

"This last decade has been a blessing for me to wear that jersey and represent my country everywhere that I've been."

And Francis has been all over the place. From playing in the ACB in Spain ("… my first game was against Real Madrid") to playing in Venezuela and Colombia as well as playing at the collegiate level in USA.

But he loves where he's at in this moment.

"I'm happy to be in Asia. I wouldn't mind to finish my career here. I love it," he said.

"I love Indonesia."

"We'll see what's next," he added, naming the China's CBA, Japan's B.League, and Korea's KBL as places he'd like to play in. "But I love Asia."

"I love what they're about. I love how much you guys love basketball."

That's why he's been so hyped about playing in BCL Asia and it shows.

"Like I said, Asia is a great continent of having great players. I know every team has great players, good [foreign players]. Everybody wants to win…"

"I'm so glad to be part of it."

"It's my first one, the Champions League."

"I couldn't be more excited to be doing it here with these guys."

FIBA