Hoops guru maintains Castro could play in NBA

MANILA, Philippines - Legendary coach and Nike director of international basketball for global sports marketing George Raveling said the other day he’s not surprised that the Philippines finished second in the last FIBA-Asia Championships and expressed confidence the national team will be competitive in the FIBA World Cup next year even as its performance hinges on the luck of the draw.

Raveling, 76, was in town for a visit with Nike sports marketing director Goro Nakajima. Last Sunday, the Nike officials were at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to watch the Barangay Ginebra-Talk ‘N’ Text PBA game where Japeth Aguilar hit a triple with 1.1 seconds left to lift the Kings to a 97-95 win before over 14,000 fans.

Ginebra was down by a point and had possession for a final shot with 22.2 ticks to go and milked the clock before Aguilar buried the trey. “That was a huge gamble,” said Raveling. “I would’ve called for a shot with about 10 seconds left so if you miss, you might be able to get a second attempt or if the other teams gets the rebound, you could foul since it’s just a one-possession game. But I was impressed by that small point guard (Emman Monfort) who hustled in the fourth period.”

Raveling, who received the John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this year, said he was also impressed by the Texters’ Jayson Castro. “I’m told several players on the national team played in that game, including two point guards (Castro and L. A. Tenorio),” he said. “I think there was enough talent on the floor to convince anyone you’ll have a competitive team in the World Cup in Spain but of course, it all depends on the draw and which bracket the team will play in. Could any of the players on either team make it in the NBA? Maybe, Castro as a role player. I heard he was voted Asia’s No. 1 point guard and I could see why. To be an NBA player, you’ve got to be extremely good at one particular aspect, whether it’s shooting or ballhandling or being quick or rebounding. I don’t think there’s an NBA player who just has average skills. He’s got to be outstanding at least in one particular aspect like Dennis Rodman who’s in the Hall of Fame because of his defensive rebounding.”

When Raveling was here for the first time in 2007, he said the Philippines should be at least in the top four in Asia. “At that time, the Philippines wasn’t on anyone’s radar because of the FIBA suspension but I’ve always known Filipinos to be the most passionate basketball fans in the world,” he said. “So I’m not surprised the Philippines took second in the last FIBA-Asia Championships. I remember in 2007, I watched a PBA game and I think there were 18,000 fans in the stadium. I couldn’t even see where the aisles were because there were people all over. Another country where the fans are really passionate is Greece only the fans go a little overboard like in the Euro League Final Four in Rome some years ago when Greek fans burned streamers in the stadium, causing the evacuation of about 18,000 fans and the cancellation of a game.”

Raveling said he noticed that from his first visit six years ago, Filipino players seem to have grown taller, singling out Aguilar. Ginebra, in fact, has a seven-footer in Greg Slaughter and one of the PBA’s most improved players is 6-10 JuneMar Fajardo who’s on the national team.

Raveling was a coach for 47 years and retired in 1994 after figuring in a car accident that sent him to the ICU for two weeks with a collapsed lung, nine fractured ribs and a fractured pelvis and clavicle. He was the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1983 and led his varsity teams to six NCAA Tournaments. Three of his outstanding college players went on to play as PBA imports – Washington State’s Don Collins, Iowa’s Kevin Gamble and the University of Southern California’s Ronnie Coleman.