Fil-Aussie main cog in Energen's U-16 machinery

NHA TRANG CITY, Vietnam – Reeling from absence of their key players, Energen Pilipinas hopes to draw the best from Fil-Aussie Jordan Heading when the Nationals open their campaign in the second FIBA-Asia Under-16 Men’s Championship beginning tomorrow here.

The 6-1 Heading has impressed the coaching staff with his moves and shooting ability two days before the event where the Philippines gained automatic berth in the next round with only two other teams – Indonesia and host Vietnam – in their bracket in Group D. The three other groups have four teams each slugging it out for three slots in the next round.

Defending champion China is grouped with India, Malaysia and Chinese Taipei in Group A, Korea with Iraq, Uzbekistan and Lebanon in Group B and Iran with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Japan in Group C.

“He is perfect for us at No. 3 position, he’s very athletic and can dunk with both hands,” said coach Olsen Racela of the 15-year-old Heading, a second year high school student at the Taipei-based Morrison Academy, whose Aussie father Tim and Filipino mother Sally Asuncion are based in Taipei.

The Nationals will be missing the services of San Beda’s Arvin Tolentino, Gideon Babilonia and Radge Tongco and La Salle-Greenhills’ Gelo Vito, who all failed to join the squad owing to their previous commitments with their respective schools in the current NCAA season.

“I’m used to having a bigger role in my team but it’s about the team right now it’s not about me, so I would rather just do two different stuffs,” said Heading. “But if it comes to carrying my team on my shoulder, I’ll be up to it.”

Heading, who joined Energen a month ago, said they hope to use their quickness in beating the taller, bigger competition.

“I haven’t seen the other teams play but I can’t imagine they’re so much better than us because I’ve never seen kids my age as good as my teammates now,” said Heading.

“I mean they’re going to be bigger than us, there are seven footers in China and India but one of the coaches said our guards are the quickest in Asia and we’re definitely going to use that to our advantage because we got a lot of skills.

“These guys are crazy ball-handlers, crazy in-and-out moves, I think we’ve got very good chances because we all want it so bad, we’re motivated and it’s time that the Phl gets the reputation that they deserve,” he said.

The other players are SEABA veterans Henry Asilum of Sacred Heart-Cebu, NU’s Hubert Cani, San Beda’s Rev Diputado, Xavier’s Kyles Lao and Reedley’s Jay Javelosa.

Malayan’s J-Jay Alejandro, Victory’s Nic Dalafu, San Beda’s Andrei Caracut, Ateneo’s Tomas Ramos, NU’s Prince Rivero and Xavier’s Isaac Go complete the cast of the team sponsored by Energen, distributed in the country by TriDharma Marketing Corp.

Ateneo’s Earl Murphy and Arellano U’s Daryl Pascual are the team’s reserves.