MANILA, 22 March — If the Asian Games will be held today, any of the two national candidates teams seeing action in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governor’s Cup, would easily beat Japan.
That’s for sure, if we are to believe Allan Caidic.
A four-time Asian Games campaigner and now assistant coach of the national team, Caidic said the Philippine team aspirants remain far from being beaten by the Japanese team in the Pusan Games set in September.
“I do believe Filipino players are still better,” said Caidic who, however, warned the nationals of being too overconfident so as to avert being upset by Japan.
“Japanese basketball is no longer mechanical. It’s sort of become Americanized, too,” he said.
Together with chief scout Binky Favis, Caidic was sent in by the national coaching staff headed by Jong Uichico to Japan for a reconnaissance mission in a bid to better draw up a battle plan for the national team and bolster the Philippines’ chances of winning back the Asian basketball gold it last won 40 years ago.
The Filipino “moles” stayed in Tokyo for five days to scout potential members of the Japanese national team.
They came back home recently carrying with them a vital report on the Japanese’s preparations for the quadrennial regional games where they are also considered as hot title contenders.
They had first-hand accounts of how the Japanese play, and immediately, their impression was that the Philippines’ brand of basketball is still better than the Japanese’s.
Caidic, however, said the nationals can’t afford to be complacent as the Japanese are capable of pulling off a surprise if ever they find themselves in a collision course in Pusan.
They watched four games of the semifinal round of the current Japan Basketball League and video-taped actions of the top stars of the league who could well comprise the Japanese team.
Caidic said they spotted among others old Japanese team mainstays Kenichi Sako, Takehiko Orimo and Mekaeru Takahashi — or Michael Dorsey — and new sensation Japanese naturalized Eric McArthur.
Caidic reported that McArthur, a bulky 6-foot-6 player, led the Aisin Seahorses to the championship in the recent All-Japan League.
McArthur and the Seahorses, however, failed to make it past the semis of the ongoing Japanese tournament featuring imports that included former PBA reinforcements Tony Lang, JR Henderson and David Booth, Caidic added.
And now that the Philippine team’s scouting mission in Japan has already been done, next in the agenda are trips to South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan.
The RP scouting mission will fly to Seoul to peek at the South Koreans, who are traditional title contenders, in the semifinals of their own league.
In Malaysia, most of the national team players by different countries, particularly China, other Middle East countries, are expected to see action in the ABC Champions Cup in May, while in Taipei, the Jones Cup is scheduled in June.
Uichico expects to spot the Arab teams in Malaysia and some other teams in Taipei.
Lebanon, among the teams expected to crowd for the Asiad gold medal, is reportedly recruiting three Lebanese-American to beef up its lineup.
The Lebanon report prompted Uichico and his staff to step up their scouting of the opponents.
Lebanon finished behind perennial champion China in the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) with a team backstopped by two Lebanese-Americans, Joseph William Vogel and Richard Hallet.
Vogel is a 6-foot-11, 245-pound center who played for Lebanon during the 1999 McDonalds Championships won by the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
However, it is still unclear if the two are the same reinforcements Lebanon is pursuing to boost its chances of winning the title in Pusan.
The national mentor said monitoring the former Russian states is what the coaching staff has a hard time doing.
“Right now, the best thing we have is the fact that there are club tournaments. But the players for the national team are usually scattered in different clubs so we don’t know where to scout their national team as a team,” said Uichico.
Uichico’s wariness for the former Russian states lies in the fact that Kazakhstan nearly pulled off a pair of upsets against the Philippines in the 1998 Asiad, with the Centennial Team barely escaping for a third-place finish.
China and Korea, the traditional pre-tournament favorites, have usually taken the top two slots in the quadrennial Games, but Japan, the Philippines, the former Russian states and Middle Eastern countries are expected to offer stiffer opposition this time around.
“Right now, all we can rely on are tapes from previous tournaments where these teams played. But we want a fresher look at them as much as possible before the Asian Games begin,” he explained.
So far, Uichico has already viewed over 20 tapes of games from the last edition of the Asian Games in 1998.
But he’s not taking any team lightly. And he’s expecting to view a lot more tapes.
“I can’t say if China is beatable or not,” said Uichico. “Their size is dominating — they’ve got those two seven-footers. But we’ve got a fighting chance. We just have to plan our attack very well.”
In keeping with the promise of leaving no stone unturned in its bid to regain glory in the Asian Games, Uichico vows to intensify the Philippines’ scouting mission abroad.
The RP coaching staff has put its scouting mission in motion while at the same time gearing up the national buildup at home barely seven months before the actual campaign in Pusan.
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.
The PBA is spending more on scouting the opposition — a very crucial factor to win the elusive gold.
Likewise, the PBA said the coaching staff will work doubly hard on scouting, stressing that they will send people to spy on the maneuvers of the Filipinos’ opponents.
PBA 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 would represent Asia.
A Philippine team, coached by Jacobs and bannered by Hector Calma, Alfie Almario, Jong Uichico, Tonichi Yturri and Rey Cuenco, won the 1982 RP Youth crown against China with the help of a scouting mission.
But while the reconnaissance mission against perennial Asian Games champion China and Korea seems to be in full throttle, the Uichico’s coaching staff admitted they still have 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.
Interestingly, Uichico has tasked American coach Paul Howard, a good friend of former national coach Ron Jacobs, to help the Philippines in scouting China and Lebanon in their stints in the world championship in Indianapolis, which will run from August to September.
“Paul has offered his services and we want to use all available help we can,” said Uichico.
Uichico expects Howard and Favis to have their hands full in the coming months.
He said the job would not be left entirely on the hands of the scouts, with a very distinct possibility that his assistants, Allan Caidic and Altamirano, and even himself going abroad.
“We want to know what we can do against these teams on a general basis,” said Uichico who said he will tap all available resources utilized by Jacobs, including the latter’s contacts when in comes to scouting.
“We want to know as much about the opposition as possible. We do not want to be groping in the dark when the tournament comes. And we are not talking about just one team here,” said Uichico.
A more detailed scouting of the Asian Games opposition has been laid down by Bernardino as one of the “musts” in the preparations of the team.
“If possible, we can track down the profiles of our enemies’ coaches,” Bernardino said when he laid down the framework of the comprehensive program he helped draw up.
The tournament high up in the coaching staff’s mind is the World Basketball Championship in Indianapolis in August, where China and Lebanon will see action.
“We must have some of our scouts there since we know that those who would compete there would most likely be our opponents in Pusan,” Uichico said. Uichico said that least of their priorities is the Jones Cup in Taipei sometime in September despite the fact that Japan and South Korea are seeing action in the tourney.
“Traditionally, only Japan and the Philippines send their national teams there,” explained Uichico.
“South Korea uses that tournament for its juniors team while the game tapes could be used to scout Japan.”
Meanwhile, Uichico, who took over the head coaching job when Jacobs suffered a stroke last year, said he will no longer call the shots for any of the two national aspirants teams in the Governors’ Cup.
His experience when he took over the coaching job in the absence of the regular ones had so affected his perspective that he vowed there won’t be a repeat.
“So far I have achieved what I intended to do on the bench. Now, I’m in the process of running a new perspective,” said Uichico, who steered Hapee-RP to a 65-64 win over Eric Altamirano’s Selecta-RP in their first meeting recently.
Apparently, Uichico had planned not to get involved in that game but his other assistants — Caidic and Favis — were in Japan.
Uichico said his being in the stands, not on the bench, gave him a better appreciation of the remaining 27 candidates seeking a spot in the Philippine team.
“It’s hard to evaluate each player when your on the bench,” said Uichico, who is readying the final composition of the Asiad-bound national team. “I will be making my decision very soon. It will be a hard decision to make because all of them are worthy of making the team.”
Uichico said the pool will be reduced to 18 candidates after the first conference although the number could go down to the final 15 should the two national candidates teams make an early exit in the Governors Cup.
The 15 remaining aspirants will campaign in the Commissioner Cup and none of them would know who among them will wear the national colors until they are in Pusan.
“Those 15 candidates will come with me in the Asian Games. I won’t name the 12 players dahil matagal pa ang submission ng lineups. Besides we don’t know who will stay healthy until Asian Games,” Uichico said.
There are 12 Fil-foreigners among the 30 candidates, who have been divided into two teams seeing action in the Governors Cup.
Making up Philippine Team A are Eric Menk, Kenneth Duremdes, Dennis Espino, Paul Asi Taulava, Olsen Racela, Chris Jackson, Patrick Fran, Dondon Hontiveros, Chris Calaguio, Rafi Reavis, Ali Peek, Poch Junio and Jimmy Alapag.
The Philippine Team B are composed of Marlou Aquino, Johnny Abarrientos, Boyet Fernandez, Danny Seigle, Noy Castillo, Renren Ritualo, Jeffrey Cariaso, Don Camaso, Rudy Hatfield, Danny Ildefonso, Mick Pennisi, Andy Seigle, Davonn Harp and EJ Feihl.
The Fil-Ams are oozing with height, heft, speed and talent giving the Philippines the best chance of beating the opposition, most notably the perennial Asian Games champion, China, in Pusan.
The national pool is still depleted with injuries to brothers Danny and Andy Seigle, Johnny Abarrientos, Eric Menk and Noy Castillo.
With most of the Filipino players out with a cocktail of injuries, focus will be on the Fil-foreign players who, many believe, will outnumber the pure local talent in the Philippine team.
A number will undergo rehabilitation, including reigning two-time PBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Danny Ildefonso, former MVP and many-time Philippine team mainstay Kenneth Duremdes and Centennial Team member Olsen Racela.
Duremdes has already undergone an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) test and initial results showed he is being bothered by a shrunken muscle on his left knee and a strained ligament on his right knee.
