The Hong Kong Basketball Association (HKBA) is braced for a tough year after the withdrawal of top teams from the First Division, a ban on foreign players and the departure of national coach Tim Darling. It's all a far cry from the challenges facing the North American NBA, which tips off its own shortened season today at its lowest ebb for many years. But the local game could be looking at its worst season this decade in terms of attendance when play begins in March. And on the national team front there is not enough funding to hire a quality foreign coach. Canadian Darling's contract expired last December and the HKBA are looking for a local coach to guide the national squad for September's Asian Championship in Japan. Champion team Regal dropped a bombshell last November when they announced they would concentrate on this year's Asian Basketball Confederation Champions' Cup and Asian Professional League at the expense of the domestic competition. Last month, Seapower and Suntex followed Regal's lead after the HKBA decided to ban foreign players from the league. Eight teams, including Second Division side Billion Ocean who borrowed their league membership from Suntex, will compete in the revamped league. It is the first time in nine years that the league will be an all-local affair. HKBA chairman Norman Chan Sui-tim defended the decision, saying that it was time to give more on-court chances to home-grown youngsters. Chan said they might lower ticket prices but hoped the Hong Kong Playground Association, which owns MacPherson Stadium and Southorn Stadium, would reduce the venue rentals for them. Seapower's manager Shum Ching-fai said the current economic recession, together with the lack of competitiveness in the local league, prompted them to withdraw from all local tournaments for a year. 'The commercial value of investing in basketball is very low for us because the attendance is bound to go down,' Shum said yesterday. National team forward Li Wai-lun said while the ban on foreign players would keep fans away, it would improve the level of local players, especially second-tier players, as a whole. On the national side, Chan said they had to accept the fact that they did not have sufficient funding to employ a foreign coach. The HKBA hired Darling for last December's Asian Games with a salary of more than $40,000. While the Sports Development Board provided special funding of about $30,000 per month, the HKBA's officials paid the rest from their own pockets. At the Bangkok Games, regional giants China and Japan proved too strong for Hong Kong and the SAR's team also suffered defeats to Thailand and Uzbekistan. They scored their only win over Kyrgyzstan in the round-robin competition. More basketball - Page 19