Asiad cage aspirants down to 30

The candidates list for the Philippine team to the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, Korea has been pruned down to 30, and the buildup for the ambitious bid to win the coveted gold medal in the quadrennial joust goes full blast starting Monday.

MBA marquee players Romel Adducul, Chris Clay and Jeffrey Flowers, Fil-Am pointguard Jimmy Alapag, and Asiad veterans Johnny Abarrientos, Olsen Racela and EJ Feihl were among those added to the 17 players named earlier by coach Ron Jacobs.

The others are Rafi Reavies, Boyet Fernandez, Dondon Hontiveros, Patrick Fran, Chris Calaguio, and Renren Ritualo.

Those earlier named by Jacobs to the pool are Danny Seigle, Danny Ildefonso, Andy Seigle, Noy Castillo, Rudy Hatfield, Poch Juinio, Davonn Harp, Mick Pennisi, Chris Jackson, Jeffrey Cariaso, Dennis Espino, Marlou Aquino, Ali Peek, Kenneth Duremdes, Eric Menk, Asi Taulava and Don Camaso.

Dropped from the pool were John Arigo, Omanzie Rodriguez, collegiate players Mike Cortez and Sunday Salvacion, and Fil-Am Rob Johnson.

The group will be divided into two 15-man candidate teams which will see action in the 2002 PBA season opening conference. One will carry the banner of RFM Swift with Elmer Yanga as team manager.

Coach Jong Uichico said he’ll oversee the candidates teams’ stint in the PBA from the sidelines while assistant coaches Allan Caidic and Eric Altamirano call the shots on the bench.

Clay, Flowers and Alapag, among those who stood out in the tryouts attended by about 60 players, were named to the pool with the Fil-Ams confident they could obtain the Department of Justice confirmation of their citizenship in the next few days. The three were declared ineligible in the recent PBA draft for failing to submit the DOJ papers before the deadline set by the league.

Uichico said he’ll discuss with PBA commissioner Jun Bernardino whether Clay, Flowers and Alapag will be allowed to play in case their documents are still not ready when the tournament opens on Feb. 10.

On Cortez’s ouster, Uichico said he felt the Fil-Am guard might find it hard to keep his commitment to the national team while spearheading La Salle’s bid in the UAAP.

The candidates pool starts working out together Monday at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center inside the Ateneo campus in Quezon City.

Uichico decided to form two 15-man candidates teams with a number of national hopefuls nursing various injuries, including Abarrientos, Racela, Peek, Duremdes and brothers Dan and Andy Seigle.

While stressing their main goal in their PBA stint is to train and not to win championship, Uichico said they intend to give everybody equal exposure as much as possible.

"But not everybody will play in all the games because we’re thinking on not using players up against their mother teams," said Uichico.

Losing the most number of players to the national pool is Coca Cola with five in Juinio, Abarrientos, Cariaso, Reavies and Hatfield. Airfreight/FedEx, meanwhile, is the only team not represented in the pool.