Breaking Down the ABL Teaser

The ABL released a subtle (but also not so subtle) teaser, leaving us to #GuessWhatsComing. Here’s our best shot at #GuessingWhatsComing.

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It was only for a short 16 seconds, but fans of the ABL should be much elated at what those 16 seconds mean.

So what does the ABL Teaser mean?

We’ve all heard the rumors, since it seems like people are really bad at keeping secrets. It is widely believed that the ABL will be having 9 teams in total this season when ABL COO, Jericho Ilagan, tweeted out a cryptic but not so cryptic tweet earlier this month.

Even with this very convincing evidence, there has still yet to have been any official announcement to confirm.

Until now!

…I think?

The 16-second teaser was comprised of 4 different sections which seemingly was teasing 4 different “logos” subtly hiding them behind graphic and sound effect clues. Coupled with #GuessWhatsComing, this is the most concrete evidence so far that the league will now be adding 4 more teams to their roster of 5 returning teams which were officially announced this week here and here.

David Lee from The New Paper (Singapore) kind of already reported it already so there’s that, too.

Breaking Down the ABL Teaser

There’s only 16 seconds and 4 sections of break down so this shouldn’t be too hard.

The CLS Knights logo is pretty easy to make out especially with the sword hilt and the letters of the team name. The sound of swords clashing was a nice additional touch. Again, since the CLS Knights had already announced their participation in the ABL there wasn’t really much guessing to do here.

This one would have probably been a lot more harder to figure had the Formosa Dreamers not have already held a press release on the 20th. Must have been quite hard to play around with the logo and the theme since “Dreamers” is such a difficult word to play around with.

Check out the Formosa Dreamers Facebook Page while you’re at it.

Now here comes the tricky part.

HOLD YOUR GADDAMN HORSES.

There’s a castle and it’s surrounded by lots of thick clouds under a full moon.

Is this confirmation that we’ll have a team called the WEREWOLVES?!?!

…in all seriousness now, there seems to be a revolving logo hiding behind the clouds (it’s not that hard to notice, but I still want to point it out). You can pretty much make out the bat symbol at the top of the crest and also the “O” at the edge of the logo as well.

Unless this is some secret team created by the Wayne Enterprises of Gotham City, I think it’s a safe bet to assume that the Mono Vampires are going to be one of the 9 teams in the ABL next season.

And like seriously, David Lee from The New Paper (Singapore) kind of already reported it already so there’s that, too. You should really read that.

The last one here should confirm one thing and that is that there is most likely going to be a team from China in the ABL this season.

That’s going to be wild. Last season was quite a step enough already, breaking the borders and going into East Asia with Taiwan and Hong Kong. Going into the territories of one of the biggest basketball nations in the world like China is certainly going to be a huge step forward.

This is, of course, assuming that there is actually a team from China and not just a team from China Town in some ASEAN country.

The logo appears to be the face of one of those Lion Dance costumes. If the team turns out to be called the China Lion Dancers, I’m definitely 100% on board the Lion Dancer Bandwagon.

Why does this ABL Teaser matter?

This means that the ABL will be have 9 teams this season, first and foremost.

Since us basketball fans are used to watching the NBA and all their 30 teams, having 9 teams in the ABL might not seem like much. However, you have to take in consideration that this will be the most number of teams that the league has ever had since 2012 and 2013 when they had 8 teams in both seasons.

The return of an Indonesian team and a Thailand team in the same season is a big deal too, as both are considered powerhouses in the ASEAN region. Though it was a successful and entertaining 2016-2017 ABL season, it also felt like something was missing with out Thailand and Indonesia fighting for the rights as the league’s best team.

Finally, having a Chinese team (if it happens) is huge.

Even though we’re not completely sure of what this team is or who it’s associated with, this is CHINA we’re talking about. Even a slight chance at tapping into that audience is going to be huge for the league and the teams participating.

The Opening Day of ABL 2017-2018 on November 17 can’t come and faster.

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