Team Selection Process Key to Regain FIBA-Asia Crown
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 07 Feb 2013
MANILA(PNA)-Sportsman Dante Silverio, team manager of the Philippine side that regained the Asian men?s basketball championship in 1973, attributed what turned out a circuitous but pool-proof selection process and a long, rigorous preparation for the Nationals? triumphant march to regaining Asian supremacy in the sport their countrymen love most.
?Yes, I give credit, first and foremost, to Basketball Association of the Philippines, its president, Lito Puyat and the coaching staff (Head coach Valentin ?Tito? Eduque, assistant mentor Carlos ?Caloy) Loyzaga, Nilo Veronaand conditioning guru Juan Cutillas) for coming up with the selection scheme and a very effective training program that spelled success to our title victory in that historic 1973 ABC (Asian Basketball Confederation) campaign,? Silverio told People?s Journal in an interview.
?Credit should also be given to the BAP technical committee, which religiously monitored the tryouts and the selection committee for the job well done in forming the final 14-man (which included two alternates) lineup that swept its 10-game assignment on the way to bringing home the pennant,? Silverio, a car-racer, golfer and basketball coach himself, said.
Silverio was referring to the technical body made up of BAP vice president for Luzon Fernando Bautista Jr., Bambi Aznar, Honesto Mayoralgo, himself as team manager and the coaching staff as well as the selection group of Puyat, BAP vice president for the Visayas Eddie Gullas, secretary general, Fr. Edgar Martin, Loyzaga and Mayor Demetrio Cortez, who were responsible for naming the initial 38 candidates.
These men, according to Silverio, were the ones who faithfully followed the players? performances in then the county?s premier commercial league MICAA from where candidates Robert Jaworski, Francis Arnaiz, Ramon Fernandez, Alberto Reynoso, Edward Camus, Rodolfo Segura and Orlando Bauzon of Toyota; Jimmy Mariano, Rogelio Melencio, Jaime Noblezada, Marcelino Diputado, Arthur Herrera, Roberto Salonga and Greorio Dionisio of Conception Industries;
Freddie Webb, Ricardo Cleodas, Valerio delos Santos, Rino Salazar, Ed Ocampo, Marte Samson and Mike Bilbao of Yco; Rosalio Martires, Manuel Paner, Ernesto Estrada and David Regullano of San Miguel; William Adornado, Philip Cezar, Edgardo Carvajal and Abet Guidaben of Crispa; Larry Mumar and Danilo Basilan of Universal Textiles; Romualdo Cabading and Jojo de Guzman of Manila Bank; and Loreto Tolentino of Consolidated Foods Corp. were uprooted.
Joining the MICAA superstars in the list hopefuls were NCAA standouts Freddie Hubalde of Mapua and Norberto Rivera of San Sebastian and UAAP mainstays Roberto dela Rosa of Far Eastern University and Mario Marasigan of the University of Santo Tomas.
From the time the names of the candidates were announced October 31 up to the time the final team composition was named three weeks before the December 1-15 classic, the list was pruned down to 30, then to 18, 16 and 14 as Mariano, who was chosen the team captain, and company played a total 31 tune up games.
The 30 who survived the first cut were divided into three teams of 10-amn each that played and swept three-game series against Nationalist China?s Flying Tigers. Twelve players were dropped further to form a two-team line ups (RP Whites and RP Blues) that toured the archipelago from as far as Baguio City in the North and Davao in the South.
?Actually that 31-game series, especially that tour in almost entire Philippines, was, to me the reason kaya napamahal ang team sa mga kababayan natin so that the country?s hosting became a truly national undertaking,? Silverio related.
?Filipino from all walks of life watched our games in the province. For several times, both members of the Armed Forces and the rebel NPAs and Muslims alike sat side-by-side inside the full-packed stadium, momentarily forgetting the animosities that existed between them,? Silverio attested.
After that, and with the aspirants down to 14, followed the tougher six-game matches with Yugoslavia?s Partizan Club. The Pampanga-based Clark Diplomats, likewise, tested the Filipino newly-acquired mettle next before Eduque?s boys battled the Australian national team that capped the six-month build up program.
The final line up as recommended by the technical and selection committees and by the BAP executive board was made up of forwards Mariano, Cleofas, who was later chosen assistant tean captain, Adornado, Jaworski and Paner; centers Reynoso, Fernandez and Guidaben; guards Melencio, Regullano, Arnaiz and Martires. Named alternates were Dionisio and Mumar.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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