‘RP cagers can beat Japanese’

The RP team scouting mission in Japan has been done and the Filipino scouts’ impression is that local basketball is still better than the Japanese although the Nationals can’t be complacent lest the Japanese might pull off a surprise if ever they find themselves in a collision course in the Busan Asian Games this September.

"Japanese basketball is no longer mechanical. It’s sort of become Americanized, too. But I do believe Filipino players are still better. Kailangan lang talaga walang kumpiyansa," said four-time Asiad veteran and now national assistant coach Allan Caidic, who together with scout Binky Favis, had a five-day stay in Tokyo to take a look at potential would-be members of the Japan national team.

Caidic and Favis watched four games of the semifinal round of the current Japan Basketball League and video-taped actions of the top stars of the league who could well comprise the Japanese team to the Busan joust.

Caidic told The STAR they spotted among others old Japanese team mainstays Kenichi Sako, Takehiko Orimo and Mekaeru Takahashi – or Michael Dorsey – and new sensation Japanese naturalized Eric McArthur.

Caidic said McArthur, a bulky 6-foot-6 player, led the Aisin Seahorses to the championship in the recent All-Japan League. McArthur and the Seahorses, however, failed to make it past the semis of the ongoing Japanese tournament featuring imports that included former PBA reinforcements Tony Lang, JR Henderson and David Booth, Caidic added.

The RP scouting mission is scheduled to fly next to Seoul to peek at the South Koreans. Also set is a trip to Malaysia for the ABC Champions Cup in May and another trip to Taipei for the Jones Cup in June.

Meanwhile, Sta. Lucia Realty parades another new find in Mark Davis as it takes on Talk N Text at the resumption of the Samsung PBA Governors Cup at the Makati Coliseum today.

Listed as a 6-foot-7 forward, the 28-year-old Davis is veteran of four NBA teams and is replacing Lelan McDougal coming off a stint with the Dakota Wizards (four games) and the Sioux Falls Skyforce (16 games) in the CBA.

Among the last players cut by the Toronto Raptors prior to the 2002 NBA season, Davis averaged 14.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists for the Wizards and the Skyforce.

The Realtors are struggling with a 1-2 win-loss card while the Phone Pals are hot on a two-game surge.