At the 2023-2024 Professional Basketball Awards held at Parnas Hotel in Seoul on April 1, Albano received 50 votes out of 111 votes cast by basketball reporters, beating his teammate Kang Sang-jae (47) by just three votes.
Albano, an American-Philippines Asian quarterback player, was honored as the first regular league MVP as a non-Korean player in the Korean professional basketball league, which was launched in 1997. Until now, the KBL has allowed regular league MVP qualifications only to domestic players since the beginning of the year, considering the overwhelming skills of foreign players, and has separately classified and awarded the foreign player MVP system.
However, since last season, the KBL has decided to grant the same award qualification only to players in the Asian quarter as domestic players, even though they are the same foreign players. The move was aimed at giving professional basketball a new attraction and enhancing the sense of competition and motivation of Korean players.
As a result, Ron Jay Abarientos, a former Asian quarter player of Ulsan Hyundai Mobis last season, won the KBL's first rookie award from a non-Korean nationality. And this year, Albano won the regular league MVP for the first time, marking the second consecutive year that the Asian quarter marked a new milestone in KBL history.
Albano, the leading player who led the 'DB regular league win'
Albano joined Wonju DB in the 2022-23 season after playing in the Thai and German leagues, and established a relationship with Korean basketball. From the first season, he became the starting player and played in 53 games, impressing his fans with outstanding performances of 13.3 points, 5.1 assists, and 1.4 steals.
This season, in its second year, it has become DB's backcourt ace by showing off more elevated skills. As Huh Woong moved to KCC and Du Kyung-min was classified as out-of-strength due to frequent injuries and transfer requests, Albano actually struggled across the main ball handler and shooting guard.
He played in 54 games and recorded 15.9 points and 1.5 steals with 6.6 assists (second place overall). Had he not been upset by Lee Jung-hyun (Sono in Goyang) in the final game of this season, he could have won the title of assist. However, the fact that he led the DB, the best leading guard of the year and failed to advance to the round of 6 last season, to the title of regular league title in just one season has not changed.
In fact, it wasn't just the situation where Albano was the most likely MVP vote before the vote. Although the votes could have been dispersed by being nominated for MVP along with teammates Kang Sang-jae and Lee Jung-hyun, who had impressive performances in the same team as Albano, who had outstanding personal performance, surprisingly, the votes eventually chose Albano's contribution, which showed the most consistent performance throughout the season. Albano's award was also meaningful in that it was a case of deviating from the popular vote, which had been pointed out as a variable in the MVP vote, or invisible discrimination against domestic and foreigners.
When the award was confirmed, Albano said, "It's such an honor to receive this big award. I'm grateful to my fans, my teammates and the coach. I'll always stand on the court with a humble heart."
The advancement of Filipino players with better skills and one-on-one abilities than Korean players is an exemplary example of the success of the Asian quarter effect. As Albano, Abarientos, Lens Avando and Samsef Belangel have proven to be sufficient on the Korean stage, the stock prices of dual guards from the Philippines with good personal skills are rising significantly.
In addition, they are also in the spotlight as a "cost-effectiveness" in that they can be recruited efficiently at a relatively low ransom compared to domestic guards who receive high salaries. As a result, there are even voices calling for the introduction of Asian quarters in women's basketball, which currently does not have a foreign player system.
Meanwhile, the winning team DB was the most prominent at award ceremonies, with Albano winning the regular league MVP, foreign player MVP Didrick Lawson, manager Kim Joo-sung winning the managerial award, and Park In-woong winning the Six Men award. Albano and Lawson were also named in the top five.
Lee Jung-hyun of Goyang Sono, who displayed the most unique performance among Korean players this year, maintained his pride as a native. Although he missed the regular league MVP due to poor team performance (ranking eighth), he was the only Korean player to receive the individual record award.
Lee won three-point shots (2.9 on average), assists (6.6 on average), and steals (2 on average) in the revived personal record category this season, as well as the skills development award and the season's best five, winning a total of five gold medals. It is the first time in KBL history that a player has been ranked first in both the assists and three-point shots at the same time. With 22.8 points (ranked fifth overall), Lee has become the top scorer among Korean players and the first Korean player to score more than 20 points on average in 13 years since Moon Tae-young (22 points at the time, retired) in the 2010-2011 season.
In addition, Paris Bath (Suwon KT, 25.4 points) won the league's top scorer, Asem Maray (Changwon LG, 14.4) won the rebound, and Duvan Maxwell (Daegu Korea Gas Corporation, 1.3) won the block. The once-in-a-lifetime rookie award was won by Changwon LGD's Yoo Ki-sang with a total of 86 votes. In the best five, Albano, Lee Jung-hyun, Lawson, Bath and Kang Sang-jae were named.
KBL, which has completed both the regular league and the award ceremony, will now begin the playoffs to determine the final throne from the 4th. While DB and LG went straight to the semifinals as the first and second place, respectively, SK in Seoul, the fourth place, Busan KCC in the fifth place, Suwon KT in the third place, and Ulsan Hyundai Mobis in the sixth place will clash in the semifinals. https://www.outlookindia.com/outlook-spotlight/2023%EB%85%84-11%EC%9B%94-%EC%8A%A4%ED%8F%AC%EC%B8%A0-%ED%86%A0%ED%86%A0%EC%82%AC%EC%9D%B4%ED%8A%B8-%EC%88%9C%EC%9C%84-%EB%B0%8F-%EC%B6%94%EC%B2%9C-%EC%82%AC%EC%84%A4%ED%86%A0%ED%86%A0-%EB%A8%B9%ED%8A%80%EA%B2%80%EC%A6%9D-top15-news-328577
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