MANILA, 26 April — National coach Jong Uichico’s selection of his 15 players who would comprise the nucleus of the Philippine team to the 14th Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea, got a collective nods of approval.
Leading the well-wishers was Ron Jacobs, whom Uichico succeeded as national basketball team coach after the former suffered a stroke last December.
The brilliant American bench tactician gave his thumbs-up on the 15 players named by Uichico as the fourth batch of professional players bound for the quadrennial games.
Uichico said he informed Jacobs, discharged from St. Luke’s Hospital recently and now resting at home in Mandaluyong, of his choices which were a merry mix of homegrown and Fil-foreign players.
Jacobs, who is undergoing daily therapy and still unable to speak, indicated his approval by raising his thumb, according to Uichico.
It could be recalled that Jacobs was named national coach by Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Jun Bernardino last December and conducted initial tryouts before the Christmas holidays.
But he suffered a stroke last Dec. 23 and was confined in the hospital for over three months. Uichico was later tapped to replace Jacobs.
Shell’s Perry Ronquillo, who was among those who declined the coaching job after Jacobs was sidelined by stroke, gave his words of all-out support to the multi-titled Uichico.
Ronquillo said “it’s a very hardworking bunch and they are, indeed, a very good choice.”
“Some choices may be controversial, but I personally be the first one to support Jong because he really deserves commendation. Jong is doing the country a great favor by accepting the very difficult task of handling the national team,” said Ronquillo. This is our national team, let’s support Jong and Co.”
Ronquillo also lauded the inclusion of sweet-shooting Noy Castillo in the team because “he’s the best and most consistent shooter available right now. We should give him (Castillo) a chance to prove his worth,” he said.
Alaska coach Tim Cone, who steered the Centennial Team to a bronze-medal finish in 1998 in Bangkok, lauded Uichico’s determination to form one competitive team in Pusan.
“The difference with the national team right now is that it has players who hustle a lot,” said Cone. “The team can go big, can go with its flexible men, or can go with a defensive type of play using these hustling players.”
Cone said that the national team he handled was composed of the “best players in the PBA” and that there are no role players or players who do the dirty jobs on the floor.
“Definitely our chances will be pretty tough against the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, as well as against the Lebanese. It would be a big accomplishment for the team if they can bring home any medal. That’s something we should be proud of,” he said.
However, Cone said he was surprised why 6-foot-9 Marlou Aquino was not included in the team.
Veteran sports analyst and columnist Quinito Henson said: “Uichico’s cast of 15 looks like the best of the best among the players available to suit up for the country in Pusan. It’s balanced, competitive, versatile, and deep in several positions. It’s the kind of squad that could pull major upsets at the Asian Games.”
He continued: “… Uichico was able to size up the players in terms of their attitude, ability to sacrifice, and willingness to work under a team system … Uichico’s fighting fifteen are determined to wear the national colors proudly … and make us all proud.”
Meanwhile, Uichico ruled out playing in the Jones Cup this July even as he realized the importance of international exposure.
“There won’t be much competition in the Jones Cup because junior teams are usually sent to play,” said Uichico. “Besides, it’s too early in the calendar. We could give ourselves a false sense of security if we win the championship by beating junior teams. Of course, we need the international exposure but we need tough competition.
“The Italy tournament is still pending and I don’t know if that’s pushing through. We could invite a foreign team to play here or we could go abroad. What we don’t want is to play in a tournament where we could get blown out and we lose our confidence just before the Asian Games begin. Timing is important.”
Uichico vowed 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.
Interestingly, the PBA has earmarked at least 20 million pesos for the formation, preparation and actual participation of the national team to the Asiad.
Close to 24 million pesos was spent four 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.
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.”
In February, Ginebra mentor and national assistant coach Allan Caidic and Coca-Coca assistant Binky Favis were sent to scout potential national players in the Japan professional league.
Caidic said the Philippine team aspirants remain far from being beaten by the Japanese team in Pusan.
And now that the Philippine team’s scouting mission in Japan had 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.
The country is sending its fourth PBA-backed national team to the regional games.
It has long been an obsession for the Filipinos to win back the Asian basketball gold the country last won in 1962 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Philippines won the inaugural edition of the games in 1951 in New Delhi, India. It also reigned supreme in 1954 in Manila and in 1958 in Tokyo, Japan.
For the record, the Filipinos’ best finish in the Asian Games since the PBA was tasked to form the national team in 1990 was second behind traditional titlist China in Beijing in the same year.
The silver-medal winning team was coached by now Senator Robert Jaworski and included Ramon Fernandez, Chito Loyzaga, Benjie Paras, Alvin Patrimonio, Allan Caidic, Hector Calma and Ronnie Magsanoc.
