BANGKOK, Thailand – Since he’s familiar with some of their rivals, AirAsia Philippine Patriots coach Glenn Capacio is expecting a tough competition when the 3rd AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League starts on Jan. 14.

“Mas maganda ang ABL dahil malalakas ang mga teams ngayon,” said Capacio after watching the opening games of the "To Be Number One Basketball Challenge” Thursday here. “Ang tingin ko, wide open race to.”

The reason why he’s expecting the title race to be an interesting one is because most teams have Filipino players as imports and some of them have played for the Patriots before.

Indonesia, he said, is reinforced by Filipinos Harold Sta Cruz, Ricky Ricafuente and former Adamson guard Jerick Canada while Singapore has tapped former Patriots import Donald Little, ex-pro Donald Dulay and erstwhile Mapua cager Ian Mazo.

Capacio said the four-day fund-raising event is not even enough to gauge their strength, saying: “Mahirap pa ring i-gauge ang team namin. We haven't played a tune-up game with our imports but I'm confident with the guys dahil veterans naman sila and they can adjust to the system.”

Capacio said they have to put more premium on defense if they want to regain the title they lost to the Thais early this year.

“We have to control the boards for us to run and we also have to focus more on defense," added Capacio whose boys are battling the Saigon Heat at presstime.

The Patriots, co-owned by businessman Tony Boy Cojuangco and Harbour Centre president Mikee Romero, will have Nakiea Miller and Anthony Johnson as their imports.

Meanwhile, newcomer San Miguel, behind the steady game of point guard Chris Banchero, outlasted the Indonesian Warriors while the Thai Slammers trounced the Heat of ex-NBA cager Julius Hodge and Fil-Am John Smith, 78-55.

Also shining for the Beermen were former Patriot Benedict Fernandez, imports Richard Jeter and Dalron Johnson, and 6-foot-10 rookie Junmar Fajardo.