MIBL hosts draft night, basketball tourney begins next month

THE IT&E Marianas International Basketball League held its draft night on Saturday at Aqua Resort Club in preparation for the IT&E MIBL Fantasy Draft Tournament that will begin mid-November.

On draft night, the teams — Eats Easy, Aqua Resort Club, La Mesa Kusina, AK Toyota, Latte Built and IT&E — recruited players based on the lottery numbers they picked.

Said MIBL cofounder Clint Albert: “We decided to do a draft style tournament because we wanted to pioneer a different style of basketball tournament that will be added among the existing tournaments and leagues we run (Semi Pro, 3×3, Kings of The Game).”

He added,  “The draft tournament, since it’s the first time done on island, is a tournament that will bring a different type of competition.”

The teams and coaches are given a chance to form their own “dream teams” from the player pool. 

For their part, players will also get a chance to play with other players who are usually on other teams.

“It builds a better sense of unity in the basketball community and camaraderie among peers. Plus, it’s just fun! It’s like playing NBA 2K!” Albert said.

He added that the draft was set up to make sure all teams are equally matched.

“After the draft you will hear that certain teams are the favorites and may emerge on top, but as MIBL has envisioned, the teams are pretty equal and it is pretty hard to tell at this point which teams will gel well and have cohesiveness as a unit,” Albert said.

MIBL would like to thank their MVP sponsor IT&E, the team managers, AK Toyota, La Mesa Kusina, Eats Easy, Aqua Resort Club and Latte Built. MIBL is also grateful to Hot Deal for providing some prizes and Agape School for hosting the tournament. 

Teams

IT&E                                 

• Head Coach: Preston Basa

• Assistant Coach: Zack Diaz

• Airson Atan

• Ed Diaz

• Kelvin Fitial

• Jesse Santos

• Preston Basa

• Rodel Pastrana

• Jacob Wang

• Bill Li

• Meljune Capalad

• Ronald Esmores

• David Ji

• Carson Sumor

• Albert Agustin

Latte Built

• Head Coach: Matt Iguel

• Gerald Flores

• Elijah Aughenbaugh

• Donovan Brennan

• Francisco Mizutani

• Mariano Junior Aguon

• Tom Pangelinan

• Katsutoshi Pangelinan

• Athan Taisague

• Matt Zhang

• Junie Camacho

• Juke Chen

• Russell Hocog

• Kevin Leomo

AK Toyota

• Head Coach: Dennis Guidotti

• Shane Deleon Guerrero

• Juan Camacho

• Frank Ferrer

• Joel Javier

• Jetsen Jandoc

• Webster Taracatac

• Chris Lilles

• Raymond Velasco

• Mark Jerome Directo

• Bryan Rejano

• Mario Rutab

• Joseph Ellazar

La Mesa Kusina

• Head Coach: John Saludez

• Assistant Coach: Jun Hernandez

• Coby Santos

• Mac Mintac

• Djaymarch Ong

• Jeffrey Che

• Brian Natividad

• Jr Galang

• Aga Sapo

• Yugie Cruz

• Jerome Reyes

• Gabby Camacho

• Rayan Hipolito

• Ace Doca

• Joel Saplan

Aqua Resort Club

• Head Coach: Hank Sablan

• Assistant Coach: Arvin Daluyen

• Greg Sablan

• Jack Aranda

• Glen Aquino

• Bradley Palacios

• Michael Ma

• Keith Santos

• Terence Leung

• Caleb Cui

• Stephen Chen

• Arvin Daluyen

• Jayson Glean

• Jacky Liu

Eats Easy

• Head Coach: Clint Albert

• Assistant Coach: Jave Sablan

• Jeffrey Castro

• Jaymark De Guzman

• Joseph Sablan

• Gregory Deleon Guerrero

• Clint Albert

• Arfin Chua

• JC Ferrari

• Kerwin Dayao

• John Hu

• Daniel Li

• Jay Macaraig

• Sam Darag

• Jaime Antonio