Learning from coach

Some call it luck. Others say it was magic. Beyond the science of basketball was divine intervention. Coach Joel Banal only describes it as "a blessing!"

He is undoubtedly the hottest coach right now. In two years, he was able to steer his teams to the amateur commercial championship (PBL), collegiate crown (UAAP), and a victorious campaign in the professional league, the PBA. Everybody knows the success story. "After the Alaska series, I felt we had a chance. They (Coke) embarrassed us in game one, gave us a clinic in fastbreak. In game three, our goal was to learn how to beat Coke." Before then, the Phone Pals were 1-4, beating the Tigers only once in the elims.

After Game 3, the obvious next goal was to even the series, which, much to the surprise of many, Asi Taulava and the rest of the team managed to do. Game 5 was crucial. Banal told his players he felt they would have a very good chance of winning Game 6 if they won that Friday. He reminded his boys about their team owner, Manny Pangilinan’s birthday the following Monday. "And what better gift can we give him?"

When they won in game 5, they felt they had to finish the series at 6th. Before the game, coach Banal showed his players the All-Filipino championship ring he got with Alaska some years back. Each one of his players got to hold it. And then he told them, "If you want this, you have to get it tonight."

Once again he got his message across and the team responded favorably.

There is something in coach Joel Banal’s messages that even I, as a courtside reporter, am learning to appreciate and enjoy. I first noticed it when I had a chance to talk to him before a game shortly after he was named interim coach. He spoke in peace, with quite confidence and silent strength. He was, and still is, very approachable. And despite all the accomplishments, he remains humble. Interviewing him is always a good experience, always inspiring. One learns not only about basketball, but also about the bigger game in life.

• On winning a championship in the PBA:

"It’s important to have a vision. Without vision, people perish. You don’t know where to go. At the onset of a little struggle or hardship, you give up because there’s no vision."

He claims coaching a team in the most popular professional league in this side of town has always been his longest dream. He was appointed or hired as head coach three times, "but only on paper," he clarified. Most recent disappointment was when he lost the job to former Purefoods coach Eric Altamirano.

He admits he almost gave up basketball in 2001. He had 13 years of straight basketball –playing and coaching, that it was too frustrating to suddenly find himself out of a job. Instead, he concentrated on helping his wife put up a pre-school, Second Mom Childcare and Pre-school. Little did he know that the forced diet on basketball was a blessing in disguise.

• On having a "charmed" season:

"They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not get weary," echoing a favorite quote. This has been his guiding principle through that phase in his basketball career. And now he feels God is just giving back the blessings because he was jobless for a year in 2001.

• On Ateneo’s two-game losing skid in the UAAP:

"A good manager is one whose subordinates can play without him."

He gave it his best though, even through the draining PBA series, he never missed Blue Eagles practice. PBL players – Rich Alvarez, Larry Fonacier, Wesley Gonzales, and LA Tenorio, went back to train with the team only three weeks before the start of the season. The team had no choice but to conduct twice a day practice sessions to catch up. Coach Banal would be with his Ateneo wards from 6-8 a.m., run to his Phone Pals, and then go back to Moro.

"After losing to the FEU Tamaraws (July 17) people who saw me for the first time after the victory in the PBA were congratulating me. I said, ‘I just lost’. I couldn’t even thank them." He also joked that at one point during the Tams game, he was looking for Asi Taulava in the bench because they were getting beaten in rebounding.

• On winning:

"Desire to win is my gasoline. You want to win that’s why you work hard." Endorsing another favorite quote, "Whenever you take part in a race, run in order to win."

• On the pressure to prove that the whole thing is not a fluke:

"In basketball, you’re only as good as your last game. My prayer is that it doesn’t stop here. I feel there’s a purpose for me that’s why I am this blessed."

• On the sport every Filipino loves:

"I’m all faith in basketball."

To be practical, I recycle the tapes I use for interviews. But I made the decision as I was transcribing this particular encounter. I will keep this tape as is. The words are inspiring, encouraging, and challenging . . . so true, not just in basketball.

You may reach this writer at www.jannelleso.com or through text, key in <JANNELLE> send to 2978