RP Dozen starts Olympic quest Francis Ochoa Inquirer
July 28, 2007
TOKUSHIMA, Japan—Commit these names to memory.
Asi Taulava. Mark Caguioa. Danny Seigle. Jimmy Alapag. Dondon Hontiveros. Kelly Williams. Gabe Norwood. Kerby Raymundo. Jayjay Helterbrand. Mick Pennisi. Erik Menk. Renren Ritualo.
Upon their shoulders rests the country’s Olympic dream.
And oh, add four more names: coach Chot Reyes, the basketball overlord who dared dream big, plus Ranidel de Ocampo, Tony dela Cruz and James Yap.
Everything starts Saturday for a group of pricey Philippine Basketball Association superstars as they open the country’s bid to nail a ticket to Beijing 2008 via the Fiba Asia men’s basketball championship.
The San Miguel-Philippines squad, as they are collectively known, takes on Iran at 6 p.m. (5 p.m in Manila) Saturday at the Tokushima municipal gymnasium here.
A victory over the vastly improved Middle Eastern squad gets half the job done as far as the first phase of the mission is concerned—getting to the quarterfinals.
Bracketed in what has been described as the Group of Death, a victory over the Iranians will put the Filipinos in a situation where they need just another win in their next two games to advance.
After Iran, San Miguel-RP faces a China squad that will be beefed up, at the most, by four China Team A standouts, and then a Jordan team still on a high after ruling the recent Jones Cup in Taiwan.
“At least now, we know how Iran plays and we don’t fear Jordan anymore,” said coach Reyes, who emerged from a practice with the nationals before heading off to the managers’ meeting where the team submitted its final roster.
De Ocampo, Dela Cruz and Yap missed the cut for the final roster but will stay on as practice players for the RP team.
De Ocampo became dispensable when Kelly Williams snagged a Philippine passport, enabling Sta. Lucia’s PBA Rookie of the Year to represent the country. Dela Cruz also slid to the reserved list after Norwood also acquired a passport.
Ritualo bumped off Yap from the list.
Yap, the 2006 PBA MVP, joined the team late, unlike Ritualo who has been with the squad for a long time and has snugly fit into a 12th-man role.
The preliminary round calls for a single round robin among the four teams in each of the four groups. The top two teams advance to the quarterfinals.
The winner of the tournament books a slot to the Olympics. If China wins the tournament, it tows the second placer along because the Chinese are already assured of a slot in the quadrennial games by virtue of their being hosts.
