TNT, Bolts ready for EASL
It’s all systems go as EASL’s first home-and-away season reels off on Oct. 11 with PBA Governors Cup champion TNT taking on the Chiba Jets at the Funabashi Arena, less than an hour’s drive from Tokyo. The other PBA team playing in EASL is Meralco with the Bolts making their debut against B-League champion Ryukyu Golden Kings in Okinawa on Nov. 11.
Eight teams, split into two brackets, will play six games each, three home and three away, from Oct. 11 to Feb. 7 then the top two finishers in each group advance to the Final Four on March 8. Group A is composed of TNT, Chiba, Korean league champion Anyang Jung Kwan Jang Red Boosters and Taiwan PLeague+ champion Taipei Fubon Braves. Group B is made up of Meralco, Ryukyu, KBL runner-up Seoul SK Knights and PLeague+ runner-up New Taipei Kings.
After TNT plays Chiba on Oct. 11, they move to Manila for a rematch on Nov. 1. Then, TNT plays Fubon at the Taipei Heping Stadium on Nov. 15, Anyang at Anyang Gymnasium on Dec. 6, Fubon in Manila on Dec. 20 and Anyang in Manila on Jan. 24. Meralco engages Ryukyu in Okinawa on Nov. 11, New Taipei Kings at the Xinzhuang Gymnasium on Nov. 29, Ryukyu in Manila on Dec. 13, Seoul in Manila on Dec. 27, New Taipei in Manila on Jan. 3 and Seoul at the Jamsil Students Gymnasium on Feb. 7.
EASL allows each team to play two imports plus an Asian heritage reinforcement. TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa said the team has signed up 6-7 Rondae Hollis-Jefferson of the University of Arizona and 6-9 Quincy Miller of Baylor University as imports. Jefferson, 28, is a six-year NBA veteran while Miller, 31, played in three NBA seasons. Jefferson took TNT to the PBA Governors’ Cup throne last season and Miller averaged 29.8 points for Converge in the last PBA Commissioners’ Cup. Meralco is likely to enlist 6-8 Feron Hunt of Southern Methodist University and 7-0 Uros Lukovic of Serbia as imports. Hunt and Lukovic are playing for the Bolts in the Doha International Championships. Hunt, 24, played two games for the New York Knicks in the 2021-22 season and saw action for Dallas, New York and Minnesota in three Summer Leagues. Lukovic, 34, was on the Serbian U18 and U20 national squads and has scoured the leagues in
