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Source: Jonas Terrado, Manila Bulletin

-- Satria Muda BritAma believes it can beat the heavily-favored Philippine Patriots in their title showdown in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) which starts Friday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Team imports Nakiea Miller and Alex Hartman, who spearheaded the Jakarta-based squad's upset of the Singapore Slingers in last weekend's semifinal series, said the Patriots are in for a big surprise.

"I think SMB (BritAma) is going to win," Hartman told The Bulletin. "Will it be easy? No way, but I'm confident we can step up to the challenge. Every game will be close. But my prediction is us winning the series 3-1."

"We are confident, trust me," added Miller. "We lost our first game (against Singapore) by 20 and came back and won at home by 30-plus points. We won a hostile game in Singapore. Do you think we're ready?”

The Indonesians are heavy underdogs, considering how the Patriots have won all of their three matches during the elimination round. But roster changes by both squads might make this series a guessing game.

"Our expectation is to take it one game at a time. We really want to steal a game in the Philippines to switch the home court advantage in our favor. It is no easy task since we never beat them this season,” said Hartman.

"But we also never played them with the full roster we have now. They have a different roster and we are playing the best basketball as a team right now. The season is almost over, now it’s just who wants it more. And we are hungry," said Hartman.

The 6-foot-6 Hartman, who averaged 18.2 points this season, expects a tough match-up with the high-leaping Gabe Freeman.

"It will be tough because he is athletic and is very aggressive. So I will have my hands full," he said. "I understand he rebounds hard. But I'm very confident in my defense. I always guard the other team's best athlete and I look at this no different."

Miller on the other hand, will play toe-to-toe with 6-foot-10 Jason Dixon in what will be expected to be a bruising battle inside. The lanky big man is also expecting a hostile crowd like he experienced in Singapore, when the war of words spilled into the league's official Facebook page.