T1 will be adopting the same policy as Japan’s B.League, Korea’s KBL, and Australia’s NBL in getting Asian imports to bolster their teams.
And T1 has its eyes on the Southeast Asian market – specifically the Philippines.
T1 knows how big the Filipino market in Chinese-Taipei is. Philippine teams have always been blockbusters every William Jones Cup tournament.
“If you remember, there was one year at the William Jones Cup where Taiwan was playing the Philippines. There were more Filipino supporters at that game than Taiwanese supporters,” T1’s head of competition affairs Chia Fan told Focus Taiwan.
“Filipinos passionately love basketball and their basketball stars, especially when they are competing overseas.”
There are currently four Southeast Asian players in the league in Jordan Heading (Taichung), Jason Brickman (Kaohsiung), Caelan Tiongson (Taoyuan), and Thailand’s Chanatip Jakrawan (New Taipei).
Photo from T1 League
Asian players are classified in the “third category” of players in T1 teams along with foreign students in Taiwan and overseas ethnic-Chinese players.
Teams can sign two third-category players. New Taipei has Jakrawan and Shih Hsin University’s Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga.
And T1 is not stopping with tapping Asian imports.
With almost 145,000 Overseas Filipino Workers in Taiwan, T1 is inclining their teams to also look into finding talents in Filipino-organized community leagues.
“I think the league basketball players can interact with the migrant worker leagues to find any basketball talent that’s in Taiwan.”
