MANILA, 7 December — Wanted: 12 dedicated men — alive.

Ron Jacobs is looking for 12 dedicated men — not necessarily the best — who would banner the Philippines’ ambitious bid to win the coveted gold in next year’s Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea.

Named recently by the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) as coach of the national team, a role he last held in 1985, Jacobs admitted that he proposed the idea of holding open tryouts for the 12 spots in the national squad to determine — once and for all — who really wants to play for flag and country.

“I will choose the 12 players whom I think are commendable, those who will be deserving and fit to play for the team,” said the brilliant American bench taskmaster who won for the Philippines a merry mix of major crowns abroad in the 80s. “They may not necessarily be the 12 best players but they will fit into the team and their roles.” The multititled Jacobs expects the road to the Asiad gold to be long and bumpy, and, indeed, filled with tough challenges.

And so therefore, it will take one solid, cohesive team working together — and working hard — to achieve the mission to reclaim the Asiad gold, according to Jacobs, who will be returning as national coach after 15 years.

With the program and calendar of events drawn up by the pro league and laid down before him, all Jacobs has to do is determine the 12 “dedicated” players in the land to form the national squad.

“My choices are not necessarily the 12 best players in the league (PBA). I will talk to the coaches and managers of the 10 PBA teams, the MBA, PBL, UAAP and NCAA who can recommend their best players whom they think will help the cause of the country. In such a way, nobody would be left out,” he said.

“I don’t care what size and where they came from. Height won’t give us an advantage, same thing with speed. What we need are 12 dedicated men who could win the gold,” he quipped.

And so he’s hunting down the 12 dedicated men for a tour of duty in Pusan. But Jacobs warned Filipinos of expecting too much from the soon-to-be-formed national quintet.

He said that the Chinese would still be the biggest test in the country’s bid to regain lost glory in the Asiad.

Jacobs cited how the Chinese have improved massively since the last time he coached the national team that beat China in the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Championship in 1986 — which turned out to be the country’s last major basketball title in international arena.

“Our major problem right now is that as everyday goes by, China gets better and better. Their fundamentals are also getting better and better and it will be a gigantic challenge for me,” he said. Since 1986, the Chinese have become almost unbeatable in Asia particularly in the quadrennial games where they held the crown with iron hands for more than two decades now.

He stressed that the task of beating China and Korea — the traditional title contenders — and even Lebanon — an emerging power in the region — is formidable. But he hopes that nine months of no—nonsense, honest—to—goodness preparations, and a ton of sacrifices can give the national team its best shot at the Asian Games gold which the country last won way back in 1962 in Jakarta.

Nine months — that’s how long Jacobs will transform the Philippine team to becoming a formidable title contender.

“Truly, this campaign will be a long process and will take a lot of hard work. It’s not an easy task. But if we work hard and do the right thing, we can be competitive. If we can be competitive, anything can happen. Good fruits came from hard work and we will work hard,” said Jacobs, “so I will need dedicated staff and players.” With this philosophy, Jacobs expects his 12 chosen players to be “well—rounded players who can play good defense.” And he made himself clear, saying the team’s defense will be his top priority — good defense, that is.

Outscoring the opposition is not enough to regain the Asiad gold, and defense will the key to winning the gold, Jacobs pointed out.

The only way for the Philippines to beat powerhouse China, host South Korea and emerging power Lebanon is for Jacobs’ wards to play hard—nosed team defense every game.

“It will be very difficult to beat them and we need 12 dedicated players who believe that they can beat not only China but also South Korea and Lebanon,” he said.

“China is a gigantic problem because they’re improving every single day. The only way to beat the Chinese is to play defense. We’re not going to beat China by outscoring them or relying on pure talent in a game. The Asian Games will be a game of possessions and players must sacrifice playing one-on-one plays because you can’t get through the Chinese by scoring 90 points and winning,” he noted.

The 58-year-old Jacobs, who owns a remarkable track record against both China and South Korea during his initial stint with the national team in the early 80s, said he expects to have his hands full against the two Asian powers in Pusan.

“I don’t think China would want to lose in Korea,” he said. “Besides, China gets better each day.

Their fundamentals get better and all that. We may have a pool of 10 million (players), but China has around 100 million, so you can take it from there.” What about South Korea? “I have a lot of respect for that team. And I don’t think Korea would want to lose in Korea,” he said.

Jacobs named some of his prime candidates for his team like Talk N Text’s Paul Asi Taulava, Tanduay’s Eric Menk, Alaska’s Kenneth Duremdes, San Miguel’s Danny Ildefonso, and the Seigle brothers, Danny (San Miguel) and Andy (Purefoods), Shell’s Chris Jackson and, surprisingly, Mike Cortez, a De La Salle University standout in the Universities Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP).

The open tryouts will start in earnest as early as next month with tryouts for non-PBA players. It will be completely handled by Jacobs and his coaching staff including the selection of the players who will make it to the two-team pool.

Jacobs will form two training teams which will be fitted against potential candidates in the PBA.

He intends to begin the training program of the national team by introducing the fundamentals of amateur basketball before concentrating on the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents.

By fundamentals, Jacobs meant that the team would have to go back to the basics of the sport — dribbling, shooting, passing — incorporated into drills designed to enhance the skills of the players.

“After the fundamentals, we will then move to defense, offense and special situations that call for a lot of brainpower,” said Jacobs.

Special situations involve loads of basketball intuition like determining the right time when to attack the basket and spending the shotclock wisely, Jacobs explained.

Candidates

Jacobs is hoping to form a team oozing with height, heft and hustle and he knows the talents also come in abundance from the other leagues.

A total of 43 players from the PBA, the MBA and the PBL were named by Jacobs as candidates for the two Philippine training squads that will compete in the PBA first conference next year.

The bulk of the players from the MBA and the PBL are likely to make it to the pool since the PBA board of governors allowed Jacobs to name no more than 16 players from the PBA in his final wish list.

Jacobs has appealed to make it 18 as in the case of coach Tim Cone in 1998.

As expected, Fil-Ams Taulava, Menk, Seigle (Danny) and Noy Castillo led the list of players invited to join the tryouts that will be conducted for no less than a week starting on Dec. 10 at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center inside the Ateneo campus.

Asian Games veterans Johnny Abarrientos, Marlou Aquino, Dennis Espino, Kenneth Duremdes, Olsen Racela and Andy Seigle also made it to the roster.

Six MBA standouts were also invited namely Omanzie Rodriguez, Romel Adducul, John Ferriols, Chris Calaguio, Rafi Reavis and Bruce Dacia. Three PBL mainstays in Renren Ritualo, Yancy de Ocampo and Mike Cortez were also included in the roster.

Other PBA players called for the tryouts are Pop Cola’s Rudy Hatfield and Poch Juinio, Ginebra’s Jayjay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa, Red Bull’s Davonn Harp, Mick Pennisi, Junthy Valenzuela, Kerby Raymundo, Willie Miller and Jimwell Torion, Alaska’s Ali Peek, John Arigo and Rodney Santos, Purefoods’ Boyet Fernandez, Talk N Text’s Jherome Ejercito, Don Camaso, Patrick Fran and Vic Pablo, Tanduay’s Jeffrey Cariaso and Dondon Hontiveros, and Shell’s Mike Hrabak.

Conspicuously missing in the list were four-time Asian Games veteran Alvin Patrimonio, Ginebra stars Jun Limpot and Vergel Meneses and San Miguel defensive aces Nic Belasco, Dorian Pena and Freddie Abuda. Jacobs hopes to get a closer look at players he’s not familiar with, especially those coming out of the college and amateur leagues, during the tryout sessions.

At the same time, the tryouts can be a good gauge on the players’ desire to be in the team, according to Jacobs.

“So from there, we can see who wants to play for the national team and who doesn’t want to,” Jacobs said.

He stressed that players’ reputation alone won’t earn them spots to the team neither will he make “political choices”.

The PBA board approved Commissioner Jun Bernardino’s Asiad program next season, which starts with two import-laced conferences where two training teams formed by Jacobs would be participating.

The only modification being sought by the board is for Jacobs to immediately name his 16 potential candidates from the PBA not later than Dec. 17.

The purpose of that, it appears, is to enable the clubs to know early how many players they would lose to the Philippine team next season — and what type of imports they need to fill the gaps.

Jacobs isn’t exactly happy with the proposal.

“I will still have to figure that out. For example, how will I know if my choices are available?” said Jacobs, referring to the players’ state of health.

He cited as examples Ildefonso, San Miguel Beer’s slotman, and guard Olsen Racela, both of whom, Jacobs said, are scheduled to undergo surgery at season’s end.

“Whether it will be a major or minor operation I don’t know. Danny Seigle as we all know is also not healthy,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs also said he’s still in the process of forming his staff, but added that his ward, San Miguel coach Jong Uichico, is a shoo-in for a spot among his assistant coaches.

He still waits for the amateur coach whom the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) will recommend.

“My assistant coaches should know how I work and will have to give up everything in this undertaking,” he stressed.

‘Reconnaissance mission’

The PBA has earmarked at least 20 million pesos for the formation, preparation and actual participation of the national team to the Asiad.

This was agreed upon by the members of the PBA board for as long as the pro league’s expenses do not exceed the budget used for its 1998 Asiad campaign in Bangkok.

Close to 24 million pesos was spent three years ago as part of the national team’s preparations, including its stint in the PBA Centennial Cup and an inter—state tour of US where the nationals went up against tough collegiate squads.

Since there are no definite plans yet regarding out-of-the-country tuneup stints for the Pusan-bound squad, the PBA is planning to spend more on scouting the opposition — a very crucial factor according to Jacobs.

The PBA said the coaching staff will have to work doubly hard on scouting, stressing that they will send people to spy on the maneuvers of the Filipinos’ opponents.

“We’re gonna send people to the Chinese league, watch tapes and use our network to enhance our knowledge of the opposition,” he said.

In fact, Commissioner Jun Bernardino wants every team considered a threat to the Filipinos scouted, including Kazakhstan and the other former Soviet republics, vastly-improved Lebanon, and of course perennial contenders China, Korea and Japan.

The scouting will be done especially in international tournaments where the Philippines is not participating — like the World Basketball Championship scheduled in Indiana in August. China and Lebanon will be there.

After analyzing the defensive and offensive patterns of China and Lebanon, Jacobs said the team would play against a selection of imports, who will simulate the Chinese and the Lebanese.

“We did it before in the 1982 RP Youth team. Jeff Moore and Ricardo Brown were among those who simulated the Chinese,” said Jacobs.

The 1982 RP Youth team composed of Hector Calma, Alfie Almario, Jong Uichico, Tonichi Yturri and Rey Cuenco among others went on to win the Asian Youth basketball championship crown against China.

But while the reconnaissance mission against perennial Asian Games champion China and Korea seems to be in full throttle, Jacobs admitted that he has no knowledge of what to expect against countries from the former Soviet Union block.

Likewise, the PBA is also planning to hire Korean-speaking, Korean-based Filipinos to serve as liaison officers, and hotel, transportation and even restaurant reservations.

This way, the nationals will be safe from the dirty tricks that might be used by the hosts.