French dunkers coming to town

They’re known as the world’s most spectacular dunkers or smasheurs, if you please. Their repertoire includes the wildest jams never seen in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They gyrate in midair. They twist, pump and spin 360 degrees, passing the ball in between their legs in the process. They elevate with a ball in each hand and throw it down one after the other. They take off from the free throw line and do a 720 degree turn before slamming it home. They windmill, double winch, cartwheel, and soar over a row of obstacles.

Move over, Harlem Globetrotters. The Slam Nation is now the greatest basketball show on earth.

And the celebrated Paris-based smasheurs are coming to town on Aug. 12 to perform their gravity-defying, aerial show. They’re booked to slam and jam during the halftime break of a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) game on Aug. 15 at the Cuneta Astrodome and before the championship match of the Nike Battleground Asia National Finals on Aug. 17 at the Festival Mall in Alabang.

Slam Nation was formed in 1997 and has done over 250 shows all over the world. In the NBA, the high-leaping dunkers were the featured act at halftime of several games headlining the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers. They did a 35-day gig at Disneyland in Paris and also performed during National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I contests.

The Nation is composed of seven daredevils, namely, 5-11 Steve Lobel of France, 6-3 Serge Moulare of the Ivory Coast, 6-3 Kevin Lescot of Gabon and Guadeloupe, 6-6 Dejan Ristic of Serbia, 6-2 Joachim Ekanga Ehawa of Cameroon, 5-11 Kadour Ziani of Algeria and 6-2 Abdoulaye Desire Bamba of the Ivory Coast.

Lobel, 24, is nicknamed the Frogman for his incredible leaping ability. His specialties are the windmill dunk and the between-the-legs running jam. Moulare, 26, is called the Spiderman because of his long arms and likes to dunk with two balls in a single leap. Lescot, 16, is the kid in the squad but his inexperience doesn’t show when he elevates for a slam.

Ristic, 25, plays pro hoops in Paris and is the tallest in the Nation. Ehawa, 25, is also a pro player in the French league and likes to spin 360 degrees after passing the ball in between his legs on the way to the hoop. Ziani, 29, was a French champion in high jump and once played soccer in the French national division. His specialty is a double windmill jam and a 360 degree spin dunk from the stripe.

Bamba, 32, is the Nation’s senior statesman. Nicknamed the Acrobatic Man, he uses gymnastic fundamentals in executing his patented cartwheel dunk. He made his first dunk–a reverse slam–at 15 on a playground in Abidjan.

Nike Marketing manager Auty Villarama said the Nation is the featured attraction during the Nike Battleground Asia National Finals–the first time an authentic full-court, 5-on-5 game will be played in a mall.

Six teams from Cebu, Davao, Pampanga and Metro Manila are competing in the National Finals. The early qualifiers are University of the Visayas for Cebu, Holy Child School of Davao and Pampanga High School. The Metro Manila slots will be disputed by more than 60 schools tomorrow at Aquinas Gym in San Juan.

Villarama said aside from running the games at the Activity Center in the middle of the mall, Nike will set up a specially designed venue called the Uptempo Room at the Expo on the fourth level where nine modules for various tests of skill (including shooting, dribbling, passing) await participants.

Before the finals, Villarama said Nike will conduct a two-day "Hot House" course for the Battleground Asia players at the RFM Gym. Red Bull skills coach Kirk Collier of South Carolina State, Red Bull coach Yeng Guiao, Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio and Sta. Lucia Realty coach Alfrancis Chua will conduct specialized sessions for big men and guards to prepare the players for the Battleground Asia games.