MANILA, 13 September — Like a puzzle within a puzzle, the team North Korea would be sending to the Busan Asian Games is wrapped in mystery.
With the sudden withdrawal of India, North Korea is expected to fill the void in Group C where the Philippines is the top team, and the Filipinos will have to deal with the Nokors in the elimination round — something head coach Jong Uichico doesn’t exactly look forward to.
“We’ll go into that game (against North Korea) virtually blind, once that happens,” said Uichico, who is seeking to bring the Asiad gold back to the Philippines which last won it in 1962.
The brilliant bench taskmaster’s concern is understandable, of course: going into a game with no idea of the team you’re playing can be a nightmare for a coach, especially in a short tournament like the Asiad.
Indeed, Uichico is wary of the inclusion of North Korea as his RP-Selecta team eyes to wrap up preparations for the Busan, South Korea, joust next month with a series of exhibition matches with Qatar.
“Of course, I would prefer India in our group than North Korea since we do not know anything about them. What I mean is, does the North Koreans shoot as well as the South Koreans?” Uichico said.
North Korea’s team composition and training is unknown to Uichico’s coaching staff as the inclusion of the basketball team remains a mystery until the Asian Games start.
“Just like the South Koreans, we have not seen them play in exhibition matches although I know they usually compete in the ABC (Asian Basketball Confederation).”
“(The North Koreans) have been out of circulation for so long you have no idea how good they are now,” said Uichico.
That is why, Uichico considers North Korea as nothing less than a giant question mark in Busan since the reclusive country rarely send teams to competitions abroad.
But when it does, North Korea fares well.
Led by Ri Myon Hun — Asia’s tallest player at 7-foot-9 — a North Korean team gave the Philippines a scare before losing in a close game in the 1990 Asiad in Beijing, China, where the country was represented for the first time by an all-professional team from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) coached by Robert Jaworski.
Interestingly, the same Nokor team finished runner-up to China the last time it joined the Asian Basketball Championship (ABC) three years later in Jakarta.
Since then, nothing much is known of the North Koreans, except for a rare appearance in the 1996 Jones Cup in Taipei where Ri reappeared to play for the national team.
Should Ri play in Busan, the 6-foot-7 Yao Ming of China won’t be the tallest player in the tournament.
At the 1996 Jones Cup in Taipei, Ri wowed the crowd, including the scouts by firing 27 points against a US collegiate squad coached by Russell Turner of Wake Forest University.
“Playing against him is like shooting through a tree,” said Turner. “He shot free throws very well and he could dunk without leaving his feet but he doesn’t rebound and he doesn’t get up in the air.”
“On his tiptoes, he had his hand on top of the rim–that gives you an idea of his wingspan,” said Dallas Mavericks scout Tony Ronzone who played in the Philippines with Sean Chambers for the International Basketball Association All-Stars in 1988. “I remember Manute Bol who was 7-6 and this guy is at least three inches taller. You can’t teach height, so he’s impressive. But that’s not all with him. He could do a lot of things.”
Michael Coyne, an agent who tried to bring Ri to the NBA, said: “People rave about Yao Ming’s shooting but I’d put Ri against him any day of the week. We’d be watching his drills and somebody would say, ‘Has anyone noticed the guy hasn’t missed the last 15 minutes?’ And we’re talking perfect textbook form. He was a machine from the three-point line. From around 12 feet, he could turn and shoot over anyone.”
There are four brackets in the eliminations. Group A is made up of China, Hong Kong, and Lebanon. Group B is composed of South Korea, Japan, Kuwait, and Mongolia. Group C lists the Philippines, United Arab Emirates, and India. Group D counts on Taiwan, Kazakhstan, and Qatar.
Organizers may hold a redraw to accommodate North Korea or simply assign a bracket for the 14th entry.
If an assignment is made, Group A will be ruled out because the South Korean organizers aren’t about to embarrass their Northern neighbors by throwing them in a pool with powerhouse China and Lebanon.
Group B will also be ruled out because of South Korea’s presence and besides, there are already four teams in the bracket. So it will be tossup between Group C and D. North Korea might end up in Group D to avoid an early confrontation with the Philippines.
A loss to the Nokors would be costly for Uichico’s Fil-Am-backstopped squad — fourth team of PBA players to set sail for the Asiad — assuming the other seedings hold.
Finishing second in Group C would mean the Filipinos relegated into a virtual ‘Group of Death’ that includes host South Korea and Lebanon in the quarterfinals, admittedly a tougher path to the crossover semifinals.
The Filipinos are set to make their debut against the UAE on Sept. 28.
In this case, Uichico can only hope North Korea would be drawn to meet UAE first before playing the Philippines, so as to give his staff the chance to size up the reclusive Nokors.
“I hope that would happen,” he said, “otherwise, we need to get in a lot of research for this team.”
Although there are reports that say Ri Myong-hyun would not play for North Korea in Busan, scouts are having a hard time acquiring game tapes and tournament records to provide information about its players.
The only reports Asian basketball officials knew about the North Koreans are claims that the team has a couple of pure shooters and some tall players.
“They could be a better team than the one that placed second to China in 1993. Or maybe, North Korea would be sending a different team, one that is not as strong as we fear it to be,” a source with links to the ABC said.
Although immersed with their own training, Uichico is closely monitoring the preparation of other Asian countries participating in the competition set later this month.
Scouts Binky Favis and Paul Howard are expected to arrive this week from Indianapolis where they observed the matches of China and Lebanon, qualifiers from Asia to the recently-concluded Fiba World Basketball Championships.
“These teams (China and Lebanon) may be losing via routs to the other countries but remember that they are competing against better foes. And even if they will lose, China and Lebanon’s play will be much better when they go up against us in the Asian Games,” Uichico said.
The Philippines is priming itself up for the Busan Games with another exposure against a foreign team at home, playing Qatar in a two-game series in the final phase of their buildup for the regional quadrennial meet.
“It’s a welcome news because we’re really looking forward to play more games before leaving for Korea,” said Uichico after Qatar team general manager Rashed Al Takrooni accepted the Philippines’ invitation for the series set Sept. 22 and 23 at the Araneta Coliseum.
With the Qataris — currently the No. 5 team in the region — coming over, Uichico’s team had its flight to Busan re-booked from Sept. 22 to 25. The Qataris will proceed to Busan after the Qatar-RP series.
Against Qatar, Uichico hopes they get the needed games that could further sharpen their tools for the Asiad war.
The Qataris placed fifth in the last Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) men’s championship in Shanghai, China. The bulk of the team composed the Al-Rayyan squad which ruled the ABC Champion’s Cup last April in Kuala Lumpur.
Bannering the Qatar team is 6-foot-8 forward Yaseen Ismail Musa Mahmoud, two-time ABC All-Stars slam dunk winner who had attended the New Jersey Nets training camp. Other key Qatar players are 6-foot-3 guard Daoud Mousa Daoud and 6-foot-10 slotman Muhammad Saleem Abdulla.
Completing the Qatar roster of coach Ali Fakhroo are Khalid Masoud Al Nasr (5-foot-3), Bakar Abdulla Al Kuwari (5-foot-6), Mael Salem Abdulla (5-foot-11), Baker Ahmad Muhammad (6-foot-5), Muhammad Orabi Al Jabri (5-foot-8), Husam Omar Abdulmajeed (6-foot-7), Abubaker Muhammad Abubaker (6-foot-7) and Muhammad Saleem Abdulla (6-foot-7).
The flamboyant Mahmoud was in the lineup of the ABC All-Star team which played the PBA All Stars in two games here two years ago. Mahmoud skipped the series, though, with the Qatar team in deep preparation for the Pan-Arabic Championship.
Earlier, Uichico decided on the 12 regular members of the all-pro basketball team to Busan and left out Boyet Fernandez, Chris Jackson and Mick Pennisi of the roster.
Uichico named Jeffrey Cariaso, Tito Castillo, Kenneth Duremdes, Dennis Espino, Rudy Hatfield, Dondon Hontiveros, Danny Ildefonso, Eric Menk, Olsen Racela, brothers Andy and Danny Seigle and Asi Taulava as the regulars in the squad that is seeking to improve on the “Centennial Team’s” third place finish in the 1998 Asiad in Bangkok.
Uichico submitted the roster to chief of mission and Asian Games task force head Tomas Carrasco in compliance with the task force’s deadline for the cage team to finalize its line-up.
“The line-up is already complete as far as we are concerned. But they still have the option to make changes during the manager’s meeting before the games provided the additions will come from the three reserves,” Carrasco said.
The 13 countries vying for the gold in men’s basketball will be allowed to make changes in their lineups only during the team managers’ meeting three days before the start of the competition. Therefore, barring any last-minute changes, the 12-man RP roster stays. Fernandez, Pennisi and Jackson will accompany the team to Busan but unlike the 12 regulars they will have to stay outside the Athletes’ Village for the duration of the Sept. 29-Oct. 14 meet. Their trip to Busan will be shouldered by the PBA.
Whether they were picked at random or not, the top 12 names in the entry list are believed to be the final composition of the country’s cage team to the Busan Asian Games next month.
Team officials said the names were picked at random although jaded observers think otherwise since the names of Pennisi, Jackson and Fernandez have long cropped up as those to be placed on the reserve list for the quadrennial event.
Since its formation late last year, the Philippine team’s preparations have been hounded by one setback after another.
Four years since the last Asian Games in 1998, the Philippines will embark on a mission yet again to reclaim regional basketball throne from the Chinese with the help of much taller, heftier, quicker and talented Fil-foreign players.
Overall, this marks the fourth time since the open basketball was introduced in 1990 that the PBA will be sending a selection to the Asian Games. The immediate goal is to improve on a bronze medal finish in 1998. The biggest task, however, is obviously to reclaim the throne from China.
A team coached by Jaworski lost to the powerhouse Chinese in the finals of the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, while the squad handled by Norman Black failed to win a medal after finishing fourth in the 1994 games in Hiroshima. Cone’s Centennial Team, after months of rigid training at home and abroad, won the bronze medal in Bangkok.
The last time the Philippines won the basketball gold in the Asian Games was in 1962 in Jakarta. The country also won the cage championships in the inaugural games in 1951 in New Delhi: in 1956 in Manila; and in 1958 in Tokyo.
Meanwhile, former national coach Joe Lipa said the team that is tasked to vie for the men’s basketball gold in Busan should have been bannered by pure Filipinos, instead of laced with Fil-Ams.
“I’ll be more happy to see if the national team that will represent the country to the Busan Asian Games will be made up of Filipinos who have contributed a lot to the development of basketball in the country since their high school and collegiate days,” said Lipa.
The fiery coach, however, gave the Busan-bound team a good chance to reach the medal podium.
“I believe they possess the talent, skills and preparation. They do stand a chance in Busan,” said Lipa, a many-time national coach.
Lipa is credited for giving the Philippines its first Asiad medal in a long while after an all-amateur squad led by Alvin Patrimonio, Jerry Codiñera and Allan Caidic placed third in 1985 in Seoul.
Lipa maintained he still respects the decision of the coaching staff led by Uichico in taking in eight Fil-Ams in the Busan-bound cage team.
“If the coaching staff and the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) feel that having eight Fil-Am players in the line-up will serve for the purpose of the country in winning the elusive gold medal, then it is their decision,” he said.
All but four players chosen by Uichico, and his assistants Allan Caidic and Eric Altamirano for the 12-man roster are not home-grown Filipinos. Fil-Ams Cariaso, Castillo, the Seigle brothers, Menk, Hatfield and Taulava outnumber homegrowns Hontiveros, Duremdes, Ildefonso and Racela.
The presence of Fil-Ams came amid reports the Olympic Council of Asia, which holds the Asiad, has started placing safeguards against suspected massive recruitment of foreign athletes by member countries and passing them off as locals to better their chances of winning medals.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit, however, said the members of the RP contingent, including the Fil-Ams in the basketball team, are all legitimate and they have their Philippine passports.
