MANILA, 7 March 2003 — In the face of Fil-foreign players invading the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), Sta. Lucia Realty is proud to be homegrown.
“It’s not that we are anti-Fil-Ams, said team manager Buddy Encarnado, “it’s just that we have to prove something, that the Filipino can perform equally with their Fil-Am counterparts.”
For the record, Sta. Lucia Realty has no Fil-Am player in its lineup, one of only two ballclubs in the pro league without a tinge of foreign flavor, but a roster expected to figure prominently for every championship this season.
The Realtors will be carrying a battlecry that says “Proud to be homegrown” for their campaign starting in the season-opening All-Filipino Cup.
“Actually, we could have opted for ‘Proud To Be All-Filipino,’ but we chose the word homegrown precisely to dismiss the notion that we are anti-Fil-Am,” said Encarnado, who is also the PBA vice chairman. “Not that we want to set up a racial tone but let me just say management is proud to field an all-homegrown talents which we hope will be at par if not better with teams beefed up by Fil-foreign players.”
He explained that management wants to give opportunity to local players in deciding to do away with the services of Fil-foreign campaigners.
“By giving opportunity to homegrown talents, we also believe that we can contribute more in developing citizens that will be assets to society because, after all, these homegrown talents will remain with us even when they no longer can play,” he pointed out.
The Realtors have new head coach in Alfrancis Chua, who replaced Norman Black, a new go-to-guy in former league MVP Kenneth Duremdes, and an entirely new makeover as they hope to launch a reign of dominance.
The arrival of Duremdes completed an exciting massive off-season rebuilding for the Robles franchise, one that begun with Chua taking over the coaching job from Black.
Encarnado, who has been with the Realtors since their entry into the league in 1993, said that concentrating on local born Filipinos had always been in the mind of management even when Black was still at the helm.
“With our acquisition of Kenneth we thought to go all out with the idea,” he said, referring to the 1998 league Most Valuable player whom the Sta. Lucia franchise plucked from Alaska Milk before the draft last January.
The flashy Duremdes, who remains one of the highest-paid players in the professional league, will provide experience and championship character, the same way he did when he helped Alaska become the winningest ballclub of the 90s.
Interestingly, Duremdes is also a perfect anchor for Chua’s fast-paced style, which should blend perfectly well with the intimidating force of Marlou Aquino and Dennis Espino in the paint.
Aquino and Espino welcomed Duremdes’ entry into the team, saying he would be a big help in the Realtors’ campaign.
Although the overhaul has forced the Realtors to let go of talented players like Omanzie Rordiguez, Marvin Ortiguera, Noynoy Falcasantos and Gherome Ejecrcito, Sta. Lucia’s supporting crew remains just as formidable.
Streak-shooting Paolo Mendoza, who reached a long-term extension deal with the Realtors in the off-season, will surely give the team a big threat from the outside, which could keep opponents from crowding Aquino, Espino and Duremdes inside.
The team also has able back-ups in every position.
Jason Webb, Chua’s former player at Tanduay, and Chito Victolero should give quality minutes behind Mendoza at the point guard position while Chris Tan, Jomar Tierra and Allan Yu will back up Duremdes in the 2-guard spot.
The front-line is also loaded with hefty bodies and able relievers in Wilmer Ong and Leo Bat-og.
It’s no wonder that Chua and Encarnado are excited about the coming season.
Encarnado said he wants “an aggressive, quick Sta. Lucia team” and needs “to infuse new blood and provide a new image.”
“In light of the new directions the team wants to take and because of the current competition, we have to make a decision to pursue a more aggressive style of basketball,” said Encarnado. “We want to upgrade and better ourselves. We want to fire up our players and take a new direction and need somebody who could harness their energy and talents.”
PBA fans often criticized the lack of intensity of multi-millionaire players, such as slotman Aquino as one of the min reasons for the disappointing performance of the Realtors, who were regarded as title contenders at the start of the 2002 season despite the loss of Espino to the national team. Encarnado, who mediated in a well-publicized and bitter contract settlement between Chua and Tanduay, believes they made the right choice to pick Chua as their new coach.
“A talent like that is needed in the PBA. Fans deserve a character as animated, as aggressive, as Alfrancis. We cannot help but look to Alfrancis Chua as the man who would be able to lead the team to the direction we want to go,” he noted.
Encarnado is confident Chua, a former Santo Tomas varsity player who made Tanduay’s amateur team the most successful in PBL history, would inject new life to a tall and talented team that has largely underachieved through the years.
Encarnado stressed the decision to let go of Black, who piloted the Realtors to two franchise milestones, including a first-ever title, since taking over the team in 2000 was nothing personal.
