Wives in separate rooms

TOKYO – Two Smart Gilas players brought their wives to the FIBA Asia Cup here last week but they slept in separate rooms at the Grand Prince New Takanawa Hotel. Newly-weds Jared and Eunice Dillinger would meet up for breakfast every morning and it was the same with Enrico and Bing Villanueva.

The “honeymooning” players were assigned roommates during the competitions. Villanueva roomed with Marcus Douthit and Dillinger with Jeff Chan. Coach Chot Reyes came with wife Cherry but was exempted from the rule.

At a dinner hosted by SBP president Manny V. Pangilinan in a Tokyo steakhouse last Thursday, the couples were made to kiss on the prodding of the players’ teammates who clanged their glasses with utensils. The Dillingers and Villanuevas sat next to each other so the kissing was easy. But Reyes sat with PBA chairman Robert Non, Joseph Uichico, Ryan Gregorio, Butch Antonio, Rey Bancod, Andrew Teh and Patrick Gregorio. Reyes said he was exempted from kissing, too. The Reyeses, however, were just as lovey-dovey as the Dillingers and Villanuevas, holding hands while walking the Tokyo streets.

The dinner was highlighted by a battle of jokes between comic stand-up specialists Gary David and Ranidel de Ocampo. MVP, executive assistant Abet Dungo and Dr. Raffy Bejar enjoyed the impromptu “contest” which had to be a draw, judging from the equal degree of laughter generated by the two players.

SBP vice chairman Ricky Vargas and alternate PBA governor Patrick Gregorio came wearing their shiny Prada sneakers which they bought in London during the Olympics. The sneakers cost a third of the regular price in Manila stores. Vargas and Gregorio were clearly the envy of sneaker collectors. Someone joked that Gregorio purposely wore tight-cuffed denims to show off the Prada label of his sneakers which had the same color combination as his Nike Pilipinas jacket.

Non, PBA treasurer Ely Capacio and basketball operations manager Rickie Santos flew in from Manila for a brief one-day, two-night visit. They watched the Philippines beat Chinese-Taipei last Thursday and left the next morning. PBA vice chairman Ramon Segismundo stayed an extra day. PBA commissioner Chito Salud and special assistant/media bureau chief Willie Marcial were in Tokyo for five nights and watched the games against Chinese-Taipei, Iran and Qatar. Salud attended the FIBA Asia Executive Committee meeting last Wednesday.

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In the Qatar game, L. A. Tenorio strained his left hamstring and sat out the entire fourth period. Non, who represents Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Board of Governors, texted Marcial from Manila to ask about Tenorio’s condition while the game was in progress. Non was assured there was no tear. Dr. George Canlas, assigned by FIBA as the tournament’s medical director, confirmed it was nothing to worry about. Dr. Canlas came with his wife Glenda and their two boys Raffy and Ben.

Tenorio, scouted by opponents as one of Gilas’ key players, will make his Ginebra debut against Global Port at the opening of the PBA season this Sunday. One Fil-Am in the Kings lineup will be put on reserve as the PBA limit is five. The six Ginebra Fil-Ams are Eric Menk, Rudy Hatfield, Chris Ellis, Willie Wilson, Mike Cortez and Keith Jensen.

Salud said this Sunday’s opening will showcase the PBA’s “tribes” as a way to accentuate the theme of “fan interaction” embodied by the slogan “Kampihan Na.” Each PBA team has been ascribed a “tribal” moniker – Petroniverse for Petron, Gatas Republik for Alaska, San Mig Planet for San Mig Coffee (formerly B-Meg), Barangay Ginebra for Ginebra San Miguel, Barako Brigade for Barako Bull Energy, Ube Republic for Air 21, TNT Nation for Talk ‘N’ Text, Bansang Meralco for Meralco, Bayan Ng Rain Or Shine for the Elasto Painters and Batang Pier for Global Port.

The inaugural program will also pay tribute to the Smart Gilas team for winning the Jones Cup in Taipei and making it to the semifinals of the FIBA Asia Cup. Every player in the Gilas squad has seen action in the PBA except for cadet recruits Garvo Lanete of San Beda and Matt Ganuelas of Cal Poly at Pomona.

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Philippine Ambassador to Japan Manolo Lopez and wife Maritess hosted a dinner of sumptuous Filipino home-style food for the Gilas delegation at the Embassy in Roponggi last Wednesday. The Embassy staff rolled out the red carpet for the team. Consul general Marian Jocelyn Tirol Ignacio, consul Josel Ignacio, vice consul Ryan Pondoc and Manny Aguila attended the reception. The Embassy maintains a staff of about 70 deployed in five different departments – foreign affairs, labor, tourism, trade, agriculture and defense. Majority of the staff is assigned to the foreign affairs section.

Ambassador and Mrs. Lopez joined the Gilas cheering squad for the games at the Ota General Gym. After the Gilas win over Chinese-Taipei in the knockout quarterfinals, Ambassador Lopez was visibly relieved, saying “nakakanerbyos pala ang basketball.” The Gilas delegation was extremely grateful for the support shown by Ambassador and Mrs. Lopez and the Embassy staff.

Providing support for Gilas behind the scenes were hard-working team manager Butch Antonio, travel/logistics expert Andrew Teh, physical therapist Dexter Aseron and utility Bong Tulabot. Equally hardworking were the sportscribes from Manila, Musong Castillo, Rey Bancod and Nelson Beltran.