Fil-foreigners, as expected, beef up Pusan-bound RP team

by Agnes R. Cruz

Fil-Tongan Paul Asia Taulava (center) will be at forefront of the Philippines’ campaign in Pusan.

MANILA: After playing his cards close to his chest, Philippine team coach Jong Uichico finally laid them all down on the table.

So here they are - the best players the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) could offer who will make up the Philippine national team to the prestigious Asian Games in Pusan, South Korea, later in the year.

As expected, the four-time PBA champion mentor went for the conventional as he chose the 15 players culled from the country’s premier league to pursue the Philippines’ ambition of bringing the Asian basketball gold back to this basketball-crazy nation where the sport is considered a national passion, if not a virtual religion.

Choosing from a talent-rich pool of 27 aspirants, Uichico plucked out eight Fil-foreign players and seven home-grown talents.

To be precise, four veterans of the Centennial Team that won the bronze in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games are joining the Fil-foreigners in the lineup.

Leading the list are Kenneth Duremdes, Andy Seigle, Dennis Espino and Olsen Racela, all members of the Centennial Team.

Also named to the magic 15 were Chris Jackson, Asi Taulava, Jeffrey Cariaso, Rudy Hatfield, Danny Ildefonso, Danny Seigle, Dondon Hontiveros, Eric Menk, Mick Pennisi, Boyet Fernandez and the controversial Noy Castillo.

All 15 will go to Pusan, but once there, three will be relegated as practice players.

The final 12-man lineup for the national team will be picked from the list before the quadrennial regional games starts on Sept. 28-Oct. 14.

“This is the best team that can give the Philippines the best shot to win the Asian Games gold,” said Uichico.

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 defending champion China.

Still, the multi-titled Uichico, who took over the coaching job after American Ron Jacobs suffered a stroke last year, remains non-committal on the chances of his wards, but he vowed they will go out fighting.

“I’m not promising that this team will win the gold medal. But I can guarantee everybody that these players will go out fighting up to the last second no matter what,” said Uichico who will be seeking to end four decades of title drought for the Philippines in the Games.

Uichico described his team as relatively small but thought “this can match up with any team in the Asiad and can be the team that can give the country the best shot possible at winning the Asiad gold medal.”

And as expected, the squad had a big Fil-foreign flavor with Taulava, Menk, Pennisi, Hatfield, Jackson, Castillo and the Seigle brothers in it.

So Uichico combined height and quickness.

He picked just five legitimate big men in Taulava, Menk, Ildefonso, Espino and Andy Seigle and blended it with perimeter gunners like Duremdes, Castillo and Hontiveros.

“If we go big, it’s useless against the Chinese because they are more mobile. We’ll still be mismatched. It will also be a disadvantage against small and quick teams like Korea,” he pointed out. “Our strength, I believe, is our quickness. If you will notice, the list is made up of eight small ones and seven big ones. The small ones are dominant. The idea is how to best match up with the opposition. So our best shot is to form a balanced team that is neither small nor big but has a lot of offensive threats. That’s why we opted to go small.”

Uichico meant he will use quickness, instead of size, to outplay the giants in Pusan.

Overall, the 15-man roster averages 6-3 with Andy Seigle, Pennisi and Taulava the tallest at 6-9. The shortest players are Fernandez, 5-8, and Racela, 5-10.

Conspicuously missing in the list are 1994 and 1998 campaigners Marlou Aquino and Johnny Abarrientos and Davonn Harp.

Abarrientos, who has long been a national team standout in his amateur and professional career, and the Fil-Am Harp told Uichico not to include them on the list before it was made public.

Abarrientos backed out because of health reasons. He has long been bothered by knee and ankle injuries in the Governors Cup.

Harp, one of the most consistent candidates for the national team, cited personal reasons.

Uichico said Harp would have been a practical shoo-in had he not opted to back out at the last minute.

The national mentor did not go to the specifics about Harp’s backing out.

Harp is currently facing a legal war with a female radio reporter trainee who is crying sexual harrasment.

As expected, controversy also marked Uichico’s announcement after the inclusion of Castillo in the national team.

Uichico readily defended his bold decision, saying the 6-foot-2 Castillo, a streak-shooter, could ably fill his need for a point guard who could easily make the switch to off-guard.

“I believe we need him so I made a decision, whether popular or not,” he said, adding Castillo was his “personal choice.”

Uichico said he was willing to bite the bullet in picking Castillo, the streak-shooting guard who was not able to join the tryout because he had surgery on his toe and a prolonged rehabilitation in the US.

Outside shooting is vital in playing against the zone and Castillo isn’t only a deadly perimeter rifleman but also a versatile backcourt operator who can play both guard spots.

Only four players in the roster had previous Asiad experience in Duremdes, Racela, Andy Seigle and Espino. Duremdes is going to a third Asiad after the Hiroshima and the Bangkok Games.

All in all, San Miguel Beer, Uichico’s mother team, predictably had the biggest contribution to the team with four, followed by its sister teams Purefoods (with three) and Coca-cola (two). Alaska, Sta. Lucia, Red Bull, Ginebra, Shell and Talk ‘N Text have a player each in the team. FedEx is the only PBA ballclub not represented. *

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