MANILA, 18 April 2003 — While many are against what they termed as “invasion” of Fil-foreign players in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), surely many are also in favor of their arrival.
Take for instance Ramoncito Campos, a many-time Filipino Olympian, who said he is supporting move to get more Fil-Am players, as well as foreign trainers, to help the country recapture its lost glory in Asian basketball.
“Why are we lagging behind in Asia?” asked Campos, a member of the first batch of former Filipino cage greats inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. “Simply because Filipinos don’t like to have foreign trainers or coaches like Bill Bayno (former head coach of Talk ‘N’ Text). If Bill knows what he’s doing, why not hire him)?” Currently the assistant director of De La Salle’s Office of the Sports Development, Campos said Talk ‘N’ Text slotman Asi Taulava’s performance in last year’s Busan Asian Games was commendable.
“I think he is a great player. He’s actually the best player we can produce for the Asian Games,” said Campos.
The 6-foot-9 Taulava emerged as the Philippine national team’s best performer, being the top scorer with 13.9 points in seven games, including an Asian Games personal high of 27 points. The slamdunking Fil-Tongan also shot 54.3 percent from the field and hauled down 11 boards per game.
Taulava helped the Philippines finish fourth place despite the benefit of a nine-month training. The effort was hardly recognized by the Senate, which is currently conducting an investigation on fake Fil-foreign players. Taulava, one of the most celebrated yet controversial Fil-foreign players to play in the PBA, was among the players deported by the Bureau of Investigation in 2000 for their failure to complete documents establishing their Filipino bloodline. He was able to come back last year after completing his immigration documents. Last month, Taulava found himself again at the center of another controversy. The hulking 6-foot-10 slotman, who is Talk ‘N’ Text’s acknowledged franchise player, was suspended, together with Fil-Am Dorian Pe?a of San Miguel, for two games each after they were tested positive for banned drugs during routine check-ups of players.
The two cagers were found to have slight traces of marijuana in their urine samples during a mandated hepatitis tests conducted by league physician Ben Salud under the direction of the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) before the start of the 2003 PBA season. Salud’s findings were validated by the Philippine National Police (PNP) crime laboratory.
“We need Fil-Ams. You see, by now, I can say we are lagging 10 years behind China and South Korea. That’s because Filipinos never learn. If they don’t like foreign coaches, then by all means get foreign trainers. It’s training that Filipinos are missing, including learning new trends like those found from coaching camps,” said Campos, a member of the 1948 London, the Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympic teams.
Campos said the PBA, the country’s premiere basketball league, has failed to produce the kind of shooters needed to make the Philippine national team highly competitive in major competitions abroad. He cited that shooters are dying breed.
In fact, for the Philippines to become a powerhouse once more in the Asian region, there is a need to develop and produce three to four gunners in the mold of many-time national player Allan Caidic.
“China is in a very high level right now. They know what they are doing on the court, even South Korea. So we have to produce more Caidics. Why do I say that? Because they play zone defense. Their zone defense actually stops us from penetrating, which is something we tried to keep doing. But penetrating inside is not effective in an international competition,” he said.
In 1962, coach Enrique Crame piloted the national squad–bannered by Caloy Loyzaga, Kurt Bachmann, Narciso Bernardo, Gerry Cruz, Boy Marquez, and Eddie Pacheco, among others — to its fourth and last Asiad gold medal in Jakarta. When the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) was born in 1975, the exodus of the country’s top cagers to the pro ranks left the national team without a tinge of hope to regain supremacy in the region. But with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) approving the participation of pros in international competitions in 1989, the Philippines was back in business.
In consultation with the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) — the country’s FIBA affiliate, the PBA committed to lend its players to the national team for the Asian Games every four years.
The Philippines has been represented by PBA players since the 1990 Beijing Asian Games. Coach Robert Jaworski brought the first PBA batch of All-Stars to Beijing in 1990 and returned home with the Asiad silver medal.
Coach Norman Black steered the second batch at the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games. The Philippines lost to host Japan in the battle for the bronze and finished outside the medal circle.
In 1998, coach Tim Cone took a third group of PBA All-Stars to Bangkok and delivered a bronze after a close win over Kazakhstan in the playoff for third place.
The Philippine Basketball League (PBL) — traditionally the breeding ground of would-be PBA players — is also opening its doors to Fil-foreign players, particularly Fil-Ams. As long as they can produce valid documents proving their Filipino lineage, they are most welcome to play in the PBL and establish a one-year residency before they are allowed to barge into the cash-rich PBA — if and when the latter’s proposal is carried on.
“If he has an American father and a Filipina mother who can produce a duly authenticated birth certificate, then we will consider that player a Fil-Am and therefore, will be allowed to play in the PBL,” said PBL chairman Dioceldo Sy. “It’s as simple as that. But we will limit it to one Fil-foreigner to a team.” PBA Commissioner Noli Eala had earlier said that starting next year, they might require aspiring Fil-foreign players to first establish a one-year residency in the PBL before they are allowed to see action in the country’s premiere league.
Eala, on his first year as PBA boss, said applying the residency rule on Fil-foreign players would help the pro league establish their legitimacy while giving the teams a better look at their potential draftees. Unlike in the PBL, which only requires a Filipino birth certificate from either parent, Fil-foreign players are required to do more — secure a clearance from the Bureau of Immigration and an affirmation from the Department of Justice — before they could join the PBA.
