RP 5 back in Asian contention

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines’ fourth place finish in the recent FIBA-Asia under-16 cadet tournament is a clear indication that after nearly 20 years of struggle, the country is finally back as a contender in the region.      

Coach Eric Altamirano said yesterday it was a long time coming but now, the pieces are in place for a much-awaited renaissance.

“We’re definitely in the right direction,” said the 43-year-old Altamirano who played in six PBA seasons until 1994.”For the first time in about 20 years, there is continuity in our program leading all the way up to the senior men’s level with coach Rajko Toroman. Everything is linked up. Our national training center for the 14-18 age group has branched out to 32 cities nationwide with 110 teams. This is our feeder system for the future.”

Altamirano said preparing for the FIBA-Asia tournament involved a grueling process that began with an invitational camp last December when even Bobby Parks’ Fil-Am son Bobby Ray came. After choosing the core of the national team, Altamirano took the under-16 boys to a 10-day camp in Canberra last April and another 10-day camp in Beijing last June.

“The camps built up our confidence,” said Altamirano. “In Canberra, we trained at the Australian Institute of Sport and beat three state champions in a pocket tournament. In Beijing, we held our own against the Chinese developmental team. We weren’t intimidated. We knew we could compete. That’s the key.”

A week before the FIBA-Asia joust, Altamirano’s squad swept a four-nation invitational warm-up competition in Cebu, beating Japan, Chinese-Taipei and Iran twice, 88-83 and 77-57, in the process.

The acid test was the FIBA-Asia tournament that assembled 16 countries at the Bandaraya Stadium in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, last Nov. 19-27. The Philippines was bracketed in Group B with Kazakhstan, Bahrain and Japan. In Group A were China, Myanmar, India and Jordan. Group C was made up of Korea, Singapore, Syria and Kuwait. Chinese-Taipei, Thailand, Iran and Malaysia comprised Group D.

In the preliminaries, the Philippines was untouchable, downing Japan, 64-59, in overtime, Kazakhstan, 76-50, and Bahrain, 62-45. Altamirano’s team crushed Syria, 71-57, to open the quarterfinals then lost a 76-70 heartbreaker to Iran before trouncing Jordan, 60-45. In the semifinals, the Philippines blew an early 17-7 lead, was down by only eight in the third period and lost an 85-66 decision to China. Finally, Iran beat the Philippines, 83-73, in overtime for third place.

“We were one of the smallest teams, if not the smallest, in the tournament, smaller than Malaysia and Thailand,” said Altamirano. “But we didn’t back down playing against Iran with two 6-10s and a 6-9 playing together and China whose average height was 6-4. Bobby Ray (Parks) could’ve made a difference but we don’t even want to think about that. Bobby wants to pursue a Division I career and we respect that. He couldn’t commit to playing with us for an extended period.”

The Philippines’ tallest player was 6-2 Kevin Ferrer and six were under six feet.

Altamirano said the team suffered a big blow when starting point guard Cedric Labing-isa hurt his knee in the second period of the first game against Japan and sat out the rest of the tournament.

“Because we’re small, we don’t really play the half-court because we get only one shot at a time,” explained Altamirano. “That’s why Cedric is so critical with his quickness. Half of our output is from transition particularly against Iran whose players are a little slow. We need to play transition to beat bigger teams.”

Still, the Philippines had a chance to beat Iran not just once but twice.

“Our quarterfinal game against Iran was crucial because a win would’ve matched us with Korea instead of China in the semifinals,” said Altamirano. “We lost to Iran by six. In the playoff for third, we were up six over Iran with three minutes left then our two big men, Ferrer and Paolo Romero, fouled out and Iran forced overtime with free throws.”

Altamirano said the team survived a scare against Japan. “We lost Cedric in the game and Japan had a surprise package, a quick guard who didn’t play in Cebu,” he continued. “Luckily, we prepared how to play against teams that are quick and shoot from outside.”

If the Philippines played Korea instead of China in the semifinals, Altamirano said it would’ve been anybody’s game. “We match up well against Korea in terms of quickness,” he noted. “But we never got to play Korea in Malaysia.” Since China and Korea made it to the finals, they will represent Asia in the FIBA under-17 world championships in Hamburg next year.

Altamirano said he owes a lot to Toroman for his guidance and counsel.

“Coach Rajko was with us in Cebu,” said Altamirano. “Even in Malaysia, I was in contact with him for his inputs. I’ve learned a lot from him. It would be an honor for me to serve in his staff with the senior men’s team.”

Altamirano paid tribute to his own staff for the No. 4 finish in Malaysia -- assistants Joey Guanio, Mon Jose and Vic Ycasiano with conditioning coach Dan Rose and physical therapist Jimbo Corre.

But Altamirano said the players deserve all the credit -- Kiefer Ravena, Von Pessumal, Jeron Teng, Dan Sara, Ferrer, Angelo Alolino, Romero, Labing-isa, Jeoff Javillonar, Nestor Bantayan, Michael Pate and Cris Tolomia.

“We brought the best of our under-16 players to Malaysia,” said Altamirano. “We’re hoping to retain the nucleus for a FIBA-Asia under-18 tournament next year. Eventually, the outstanding players will move up to the senior men’s program with coach Toroman.”