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It’s one thing to play against local competition, an entirely different thing to face the best in Southeast Asia.

Satria Muda, the country’s most successful professional basketball team, has its work cut out for it as opens its campaign in the inaugural Asean Basketball League on Saturday.

The reigning four-time Indonesian Basketball League champion clobbered Pelita Jaya Esia 92-66 in a tune-up game on Tuesday, a walk in the park that certainly won’t be the norm during the ABL season.

Coach Fictor Roring has brought in Americans Alex Hartman and Theo Little to add height to his club, and guard Rensy Bajar from the Philippines to provide speed and experience in the backcourt. Tuesday’s game gave the reinforcements a chance to bond with their new teammates.

“The game was definitely good for us,” Hartman said. “We didn’t know each other before the game, but that improved after we played together.”

Overall, Fictor said he liked what he saw, making special mention of Little’s efforts.

“[Theo] has been very cooperative,” Fictor said. “Since he arrived, he’s always shown enthusiasm. We’ve discussed a lot of things after the training sessions.”

Fictor started Bajar, Hartman and Little with Ronny Gunawan and Youbel Sondakh, who struggled in the early minutes but got better as the game progressed..

Bajar, who had a spell playing professionally in Indonesia a few years ago, said the team needed to work on its chemistry.

“I’ve only had two practice sessions with my teammates, so we need more time to adapt to the system,” the Filipino said.

Hartman said that he was more concerned about technical adjustments.

“We need to work better on defense. We need to get back in transition after we turn the ball over,” said Hartman, who suited up for Satria Muda in a regional tournament in 2008.

“The players are definitely better now than they were the last time I was here,” he added. “Everyone is just bigger and stronger, and the team as a whole is better.”

That’s a good sign for Fictor going into Saturday’s game against the Philippine Patriots, considered favorites to win this year’s ABL. Although Fictor said scouting reports on the Filipinos have been scarce, Bajar was more than willing to share some information.

“They signed up [American] Jason Dixon and they have big players,” Bajar said of the Patriots. “But I like our chances. I think we can beat them.”

Dixon, a 2.06-meter center who has played in the Philippine professional league, was a teammate of Yi Jianlian and former NBA player Smush Parker at the Guandong Southern Tigers in 2002.

He will team up with former University of Florida player Brandon Powell for the Patriots.

After playing the Patriots in Jakarta, Satria Muda will fly to Bangkok for a game against the Thailand Tigers on Oct. 18, before returning home to face the Kuala Lumpur Dragons on Oct. 25.