MANILA, 20 February 2004 — Sen. Robert Jaworski, one of the most brilliant basketball coaches in the Philippines, is aching to call the shots again for the national team in the international stage.
Despite his hectic schedule as a senator of the republic, the man called basketball’s Living Legend is dreaming of bannering the country’s colors in major tournaments abroad as a coach.
“I still love to represent the country,” said the 57-year-old Jaworski, “but I just don’t know how to do it.”
He once coached the Philippine team that captured the silver medal behind China in the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing.
Still, Jaworski believes the Philippines can still recapture basketball supremacy in Asia.
But he said this could only happen if basketball officials in the country put their act together and lay the right groundwork towards achieving that particular goal.
“The preparation for the national team should be a priority. They have to gather talented young players and let them age together,” said Jaworski, who became senator after an illustrious basketball career.
Making up the Philippine team to the 1990 Asiad were Ramon Fernandez, Samboy Lim, Allan Caidic, Hector Calma, Alvin Patrimonio, Benjie Paras, Ronnie Magsanoc, Chito Loyzaga, Yves Dignadice, Zaldy Realubit, Rey Cuenco and Dante Gonzalgo. Until now, the runner-up finish remains the country’s best in the Asiad.
For the record, the 1994 team of coach Norman Black finished fourth, the 1998 squad of coach Tim Cone settled for third, while the 2002 group of coach Jong Uichico wound up fourth after narrowly missing the final on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by a South Korean gunner.
Jaworski said the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) needs all the help it could get to form a national team that could be competitive against the very best in Asia. This was his reaction to BAP’s reported plan to sever its ties with the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) in the formation of the national team for the Asian Games.
He proposed that the BAP and the PBA work hand in hand to formulate a plan that would have young, talented players aging together.
“It’s not that easy and it’s gonna be a long, tedious process. But that’s the only chance we’ve got of coming up with a decent fighting team,” he said.
Jaworski unwittingly reiterated what PBA chairman Buddy Encarnado stated Friday.
“Remember, it is not only the BAP or the PBA who would be affected in case of another basketball disaster in the international arena. It’s the entire Filipino race,” Jaworski said.
Earlier, Jaworski fears that drug tests being conducted on players in the PBA are flawed.
Jaworski, who starred along with Ramon Fernandez in Crispa-Toyota reunion gam recently, filed Resolution 616 which seeks a full inquiry on the issue of players accused of being drug dependents who are cleared in independent examinations.
He called on Eala to act immediately and correct what he said are “flaws” in the PBA’s drug testing system.
Reacting to Eala’s statements that he stands firm on his decision to suspend the players who had tested positive for an illegal substance in the PBA’s mandatory drug testing last month, Jaworski said the players’ rights had been violated and this should be addressed immediately.
San Miguel center Dorian Pena, who had been slapped a two-game suspension for marijuana use in the pre-season, Red Bull star Davonn Harp, Barangay Ginebra forward Jun Limpot, Talk ‘N’Text backups Noli Locsin and Angelo David and FedEx slotman Ryan Bernardo all failed the test.
Three team utility men along with FedEx physical therapist Kenneth Dichoso also failed the drug test.
Eala suspended the players who failed the mandatory testing indefinitely and all of them will be subjected to rehabilitation programs ranging from four months to one year.
“Look, we are speaking here of the players’ future, of their reputation having been tarnished and their families besmirched so why wait for some other time?” Jaworski added.
“I say there were errors in the process because how can you explain the fact that (Jun) Limpot, apart from testing positive for an illegal substance, was also found to be positive for a medication intended to cure epilepsy,” he said.
During the hearing, Eala pointed out that substances only trigger false-positive results in the initial screenings, but these results are eventually nullified in the confirmatory tests done at the PNP Crime Lab whose drug-testing machines are ‘drug specific.’
On the questions on whether ‘human error’ may have altered some of the results, Eala said: “Yes, there could be a possibility of human error, but the possibility is different from reality. We are confident about the soundness and fairness of our procedure.”
Eala also said no less than Department of Health Undersecretary Antonio Lopez testified during the hearings that drugs or food supplements with methampethamine are not sold over the counter.
Still, Eala expressed his gratitude to both the Senate and the House of Representatives for giving the league the opportunity to defend itself over the spate of controversies that resulted from its all-out campaign against illegal drugs.
Meanwhile, Jaworski pushed for the country’s readiness to host the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in December next year for only the third time in history.
Jaworski said the unhealthy relationships among the country’s top sports leaders won’t do any good as the Philippines tries to duplicate its 91-gold haul during the 1991 Manila SEA Games.
Jaworski was referring to the apparent animosity between the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), the two bodies, representing the private sector and the government, that should be working hand in hand.
“I think before we invite people to a party, we must clean our house first or stand to be embarrassed with the mess that we are currently facing as a family,” he said.
Jaworski said the next SEA Games is fast coming but the organizers have yet to decide on the official venues or whether new sports facilities will have to be built.
During last year’s PBA classic rematch between Toyota and Crispa at the packed Araneta Coliseum Jaworski — playing for the first time in a long, long while — hit a three-point shot off an assist from Fernandez that capped Toyota’s 65-61 victory over their arch-nemesis.
Indeed, nobody else could get bigger than Jaworski, the heart and soul of the Toyota ballclub during their heyday in the 70s and 80s. So when the game was on the line, the acknowledged Living Legend of Philippine basketball gallantly took the shot — his only basket of the game — that won the game for Toyota that sent the 6,725 paying fans in uproar.
Truly, the reunion match lived it up to all the media hype. It was actually the front act of the PBA All-Star weekend, but after the fun and thrilling finish, it looked like it would be a hard act to follow by the contemporary stars of the pro league.
And just like in countless times, Jaworski hit the shot that mattered most.
His booming triple came with 23.3 seconds remaining, icing the final score. Bogs Adornado, the league’s three-time MVP, who earlier buried a triple to make it just a 61-62 count, sealed Crispa’s doom with a missed triple of his own on the other end.
