Slaughter now a dominant center

Smart-Gilas national basketball team coach Rajko Toroman said the other day Greg Slaughter is maturing to become a dominant force at the slot and the 6-11 Fil-Am center has improved dramatically since joining the elite squad.

Slaughter, 21, is redshirting at Ateneo this year to be eligible for the UAAP next season but his priority will remain Gilas. He previously saw action for the University of Visayas. His American father William is 6-3 and his Filipina mother Emma Fuentes, 5-7. Born in the US, Slaughter has lived the last few years in his mother’s home province of Cebu.

 “Greg went up against seven-foot players in our recent Serbia games and held his own,” said Toroman. “He’s ready for the PBA right now. He’s developed post-up moves and in the UAAP, I think he’ll dominate. He’s gaining confidence by the game. Marcio (Lassiter) and Jayvee (Casio) were our best players in Serbia. Jayvee, however, hurt his knee and we’re still not sure how bad is the injury. He’s due for another MRI and we’ll find out the extent of the damage. Marcio eventually wants to play in the PBA and right now, he’s under contract with us. He’s adjusted very well to our system. He’s much closer to his teammates now. Marcio is a tough defender and reliable scorer who can play two or three.”

As for Japeth Aguilar, Toroman said he’s still working to get in shape, mentally and physically. “He had one great game in Australia that showed his potential,” said Toroman. “We expect much more from Japeth. Because he didn’t play much in college, he needs more exposure to improve his decision-making on the court. As he gains confidence, we’ll see him improve.”

Every player in the squad has raised his level of play, continued Toroman, singling out Chris Tiu, Mac Baracael, Dylan Ababou, J. R. Cawaling, Mark Barroca and Jason Ballesteros. Center Rabeh Al-Hussaini missed the recent Australian and Serbian tours to recover from surgery to remove bone spurs in his left foot. If Al-Hussaini is ready to play, Toroman will bring him along for the coming US and Canada series.

Toroman said he’s not waiting for Cebu’s 6-10 Junmar Fajardo and UE’s Paul Lee to join Gilas. “We’ve been inviting Fajardo for two years but his school won’t allow him,” he said. “We haven’t progressed in negotiating to recruit him. As for Paul, it’s too late for him to join. His focus is on the UAAP, PBL and later the PBA.”

Toroman said convincing an import to sign up is proving more difficult than expected.

 “We were close to bringing in Dwayne Jones but he was taken by the Phoenix Suns,” said Toroman. “It’s too bad because he just sits on the bench in the NBA. We were also interested in Earl Barron but he went to the New York Knicks and he’s doing very well. Brian Butch was picked up by Denver. The big guys are thinking NBA not about playing overseas so it’s been difficult convincing the top talents to consider us.”

Toroman said 6-10 center Jared Homan of Iowa State – the same school that produced Lebanese import Jackson Vroman – is now the top naturalization candidate to play for Gilas.

Toroman said from what he knows, FIBA-Asia has still to decide which city will host the 2011 Olympic qualifiers. Manila has expressed the intention to bid but Iran, Jordan and Lebanon are expected to provide stiff competition.

 “We were more competitive in Serbia this year even if we won only once compared to two games last year,” said Toroman. “It was a good experience for us. There was only one game where we were blown out and it was against a team with three Serbian national players, one Slovenia national player, an American import and several national junior players, including the MVP of the under-20 selection. With more size and experience, we could’ve won more games.”

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Retired UP vice president and professor Martin Gregorio, a basketball enthusiast whose sons Patrick, Ryan and Allan are all involved in the game, corrected an item in last Wednesday’s column about former PBA player Luke Dacula.

Here’s the note from Papa Martin:

 “Luke’s real name is Dacula. But tired of being hounded by the werewolf-like ‘ooohhhooo’ trademark call through the years, he requested for and was granted (by the court, I think) a change of name to Dator.

“Unfortunately, his very first appearance with a new name elicited much louder ‘ooohhhoos’, na may kasama pang fixman/crossfinger sign. Di na siya talaga tinantanan ng crowd, until the end of his career. Sa totoo lang, by force of habit, when his name was called in the PBA last Friday, I let out a mild werewolf sound which brought out smiles from your Tita Lucille. The only thing was I had a lot of explaining to do to my grandchildren.”

In the same column, I referred to PBA pioneer Alfonso (Boy) Mora as being a Letran product. My good friend Freddie Mendoza pointed out the mistake. Mora is actually from San Sebastian College.

Postscript. The Sports Vision Institute of the Philippines and the UP Department of Sports Science-College of Human Kinetics is holding the Philippine Sports Science Conference at the UP Nismed Auditorium with the theme “Integrating Various Sports Sciences Towards Peak Athletic Performance” featuring four areas in sports science – sports vision, sports nutrition, sports psychology and sports performance. The format includes lectures, interactive demos and discussions. The two-day conference, which is ideal for coaches, athletes and parents of athletes, started yesterday. For details, phone land lines 433-4653 or 355-4574 or cell 09178391230 or email [email protected] Lim’s Castrol Skywalker basketball camp starts April 25 and ends May 30, running for six Sundays from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The camp serves as a training ground for those aspiring to be a varsity players either in high school or college. For registration, call land lines 531-7554 or cell 0916-6989489. You may also add the Facebook account [email protected]. The camp has been around for six years now with Lim as director assisted by Tino Pinat, Mel Candano, Bon Lim and Carl Vendicacion, among others. Every summer, the camp brings together over 150 participants of all ages, boys and girls alike, some coming from as far as Subic and Batangas....The New Era University basketball team, under veteran coach Adonis Tierra, is holding a series of tryouts for juniors and seniors every Tuesday and Friday, 3 p.m., at the New Era gym in Diliman, Quezon City. Prospective players must be between 19 to 22 years old to qualify for the seniors tryouts and 18 and under for the juniors.