Wounded gladiators back for new PBA war

by Agnes R. Cruz

Menk finally playing in Ginebra jersey

MANILA: With the Pusan Asian Games over, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has resumed business with the staging of its premier conference - the All-Filipino Cup.

Although the residue of the Philippines’ stunning setback in the recent Asiad is still in the air, hostilities in the premier league are expected to reach fever pitch immediately.

The PBA has welcomed back the wounded gladiators from Pusan, South Korea. They have long returned home and are back with their mother ball clubs after doing service for the national team in the Pusan Games.

So what can you expect? Of course, it’s the PBA’s own war on its backyard, right?

The Jong Uichico crew -- the fourth pro team sent by the PBA in the prestigious quadrennial competition -- came within seconds of beating host South Korea until Lee San Min knocked in a three-pointer at the buzzer and the Filipinos suffered their most painful defeat in Asiad memory, 68-69, in the semifinals.

So devastated were the Filipinos that they came out flat and lethargic against Kazakhstan and lost the battle for the bronze, 66-68.

Thus, the Fil-Am-backed Nationals, made up of millionaire superstars from the PBA, matched the fourth-place finish of the Philippines, then coached by American Norman Black, in the 1994 Hiroshima Games. It was the worst performance of a national squad since PBA players suited up for the Games in 1990.

So the Filipinos were still unable to break the 40-year title drought in the Asian Games.

Back in the PBA, All-Filipino Cup defending champion San Miguel, which will be rejoined by head coach Uichico and three Asian Games campaigners, still sets out as the tournament favorite despite the absence of an injured Danny Seigle.

In the last three seasons, San Miguel has not ended a year without at least one title. The Beermen went title-less in the first two conferences this year.

Danny Ildefonso, Roderick Racela and new acquisition Dondon Hontiveros are carrying the fight for the Beermen in this season-ending tournament to defend the crown they won over Ginebra last year.

Despite the absence of Uichico, the Asian Games head coach, and three key players, the Beermen consistently made it to the semifinal round of the Governors Cup and the Commissioner’s Cup with interim head coach Bethune Tanquingcen doing a respectable job.

San Miguel also drew sterling pinch-hitting performances from Nic Belasco, Dorian Pe, Boybits Victoria, Dwight Lago and Joey Mente, among others. These guys will be sliding back to their old roles, that of second stringers.

The Beermen would have been more formidable with ace gunner Seigle around. But Seigle suffered a torn Achilles heel two days prior to the Asiad and immediately underwent surgery. He will be out for four to six months.

Hontiveros, who was acquired by the Beermen from Tanduay Rhum in a trade involving Freddie Abuda last December, is expected to fill the spot vacated by Seigle.

Like San Miguel, Purefoods also has three Asian Games returning to its fold in the persons of Andrew John Seigle, Noy Castillo and Boyet Fernandez.

Likewise, Philippine Team assistant coach Eric Altamirano is regaining his post as head coach of the Hotdogs from Paul Ryan Gregorio who led Purefoods to the championship of the Governors Cup.

Barangay Ginebra is parading a new acquisition in Asian Gamer Eric Menk whom the Gin Kings got from the defunct Tanduay Rhum last year.

Menk started his career with Tanduay in 1999 and played with the Rhum Masters for three years. He was traded before Tanduay sold its franchise to FedEx.

With the entry of Menk, Ginebra has become an intimidating team with the 6-foot-6 Fil-Am teaming up with veteran slotman Jun Limpot and James Wallkvist at the frontcourt and Mark Caguioa, Jayjay Helterbrand and Bal David rotating at the backcourt.

A frontline of Menk, Limpot and Wallkvist gives Ginebra enough height to match up against bigger teams and gives Caidic more flexibility with his rotation.

Caidic will also have at his disposal tested enforcers Banjo Calpito, Ronald Magtulis and Wilmer Ong.

Long been considered as the league’s crowd darling, Ginebra had sorry performances in the season’s first two conferences because of lousy imports and a merry mix of injuries to key local players.

FedEx, on the other hand, has an intact roster as the Express are the only team not to lend a player to the Busan journey.

Interestingly, for Uichico, Caidic, Altamirano and their players, their teams’ All-Filipino Cup opening games could be a sort of feel-out game for the meantime as the three coaches reunite with their respective teams after being loaned to the national team for 10 months.

Yet, the return of their coaches and their ace players to their folds readily made San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra among the teams highly picked to figure prominently in the fight for the most cherished PBA crown.

The consensus among the coaches is that the two sister teams and probably Red Bull and Sta. Lucia Realty are the teams to beat in the conference.

For his part, Altamirano believes San Miguel, Red Bull, Ginebra and Coca-Cola are enjoying an edge over the others.

Still, Altamirano is confident the Hotdogs -- the Governors Cup champions -- would fight pound for pound with the return to action of Seigle, Castillo and Fernandez.

Altamirano’s assistant, Ryan Gregorio, who acted as interim coach in the former’s absence, steered Purefoods to the championship of the Governors Cup but saw his team crash out of the elimination round in the Commissioners Cup.

Also, spicing up excitement, if not intensity, in the league is the raging battle for the commissionership that Jun Bernardino is set to relinquish at the end of the year.

Contenders for the post are current executive director Sonny Barrios, Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines (BCAP) president Chito Narvasa, broadcaster Noli Eala and Shell governor Rey Gamboa.

Likewise, there is an ongoing showdown between Narvasa’s BCAP and Talk n’ Text, which has hired another American coach in Paul Woolpert to replace the controversial Bill Bayno. *

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