SBP to form Young Men's Team - SEABA

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) will form a national team of young collegiate stars to the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.

But the decision, it appeared, was unilateral. Meaning, the plan was solely the SBP’s.

So how about the collegiate leagues, particularly the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which have a history of barring their players from competing for flag and country when their respective seasons are ongoing?

Noli Eala, the SBP executive director, didn’t touch on a possible collision with the collegiate leagues when he expounded on what transpired in the SBP’s executive board meeting on Tuesday.
“It’s the consensus that preparations for the basketball competition must begin as soon as possible. We feel there is enough talent [even among our younger players to be dominant in the Asian Games],” said Eala.

The team to the SEA Games, Eala stressed, would be composed of players aged 19 to 22.

It could be recalled, though, that in the 1993 Singapore SEA Games, the late national head coach Tembong Melencio had to contend with a “rag tag” squad because the UAAP then refused to lend its players, notable of whom were Dennis Espino and Bal David of University of Santo Tomas, among others.

His hands tied despite having trained the team of collegiate stars for quite some time, Melencio had to form another squad that had as last-minute inclusions an ex-pro in enforcer Onchie de la Cruz and the lesser known among the Codiñera brothers, Pat Codiñera.

Just this week, Ateneo cuffed one of its rising stars, Kiefer Ravena and Von Pessumal and so did UST with Kevin Ferrer and Perpetual Help with Joshua Alolino, who are members of the Nokia-RP team which will play in the Fiba-Asia Under-18 Championship in Yemen. All four are locked in the ongoing UAAP and NCAA hostilities and will join their teammates, who left Wednesday for Yemen, after they have completed their commitments with their respective schools.

But the SBP preferred a positive outlook on what it called its Young Men’s Team. “This will give additional exposure to our next-generation players at the Asean level,” said Eala.

Schedule for tryouts for the 2011 SEA Games team will be announced right after the collegiate season. The SBP will also appoint the head coach of the team soon.

Among those being eyed for the Young Men’s team are UAAP Most Valuable Player RR Garcia and Aldrech Ramos of Far Eastern University, Nico Salva and Greg Slaughter of Ateneo, Samuel Marata of De La Salle and Calvin Abueva of San Sebastian College. The Philippines was represented by Mikee Romero’s Harbour Centre team in the 2007 Korat SEA Games which it handily won. Laos, the host last year, did not have basketball on its program.
Meanwhile, Eala said Indonesia has withdrawn from the seventh Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Women’s Championship the country is hosting next month.

Because of the pullout, International Basketball Federation (Fiba)-Asia secretary-general Dato Yeoh said the Indonesian federation was slapped a $20,000 fine.

With the withdrawal of Indonesia, the tournament is now pruned down to five teams—the Philippines, defending champion Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Laos.

The Seaba Women’s Championship is scheduled October 24 to 29 in Manila, the first tournament to be hosted by SBP since the 2005 Fiba-Asia Champion’s Cup.

The national women’s team coached by Heidi Ong is eyeing its first Seaba crown, which will serve as its ticket to the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, this November