Yep. I couldn't see the logic of PBA teams being afraid of Kouame who is just a college player and way younger than the PBA players
When the NCC basketball team joined the PBA in 3 conferences starting in 1984, they were allowed to suit up naturalized players Jeff Moore and Chip Engelland.
They first participated in the first 2 conferences of the 1984 season - both of which were All Filipino. You can see the disparity of the experience and skill level of the pros when NCC couldn't crack the Finals for both conferences. Curiously though, Ron Jacobs kept complaining that the calls were heavily favoring the PBA teams - to which, this Crispa fan then, would agree. I remember a quote mentioned by then Assistant Commissioner Tommy Manotoc - "in case of doubt, make the call in favor of the PBA team." Simply put, if it's a borderline call between a charging or a blocking foul, the call would most likely be in favor of the PBA team. No way the PBA would allow an all-amateur team to embarrass the professional players by winning the championship. They didn't, and in the 2nd conference, Jacobs lambasted the officiating when it lost to Beer Hausen in the knockout game for the right to face Great Taste in the Finals. True enough, the calls were totally lopsided in favor of the Brewmasters. But as they say today - "it is what it is..."
Jacobs, in protest, deliberately didn't field in any of his naturalized players in the series for 3rd place versus Tanduay, resulting to lopsided losses in the first 2 games (margins of 14 and 32 points, respectively). In Game 2, a rookie named Dennis Abbatuan playing for Tanduay scored 51 points, to heighten Jacobs' protest. When Manotoc gave Jacobs a severe warning prior to Game 3 to give their best, Jacobs unleashed the NCC might and clobbered the Rhum Makers in Game 3 by 38 points with Chip Engelland scoring 60 points. Too bad though there was no Game 4 as the championship series already concluded after 3 games, with Great Taste sweeping Beer Hausen. As such, they ended the series with Tanduay winning, 2-1.
But in 1985, when NCC played once more in the 3rd Conference, and fielding Moore and Still (Engelland was ineligible to play in the up and coming ABC so Jacobs opted not to include him in the roster), no amount of tilting the odds in favor of the PBA teams when it came to officiating could stop the mighty national team from winning the Reinforced Conference. They swept the Manila Beer Brewmasters, 4-0, in what is still regarded as the most lopsided Finals series in PBA history. The average winning margin? 25.5 points, including 2 games by 37 and 32 points. Note that the PBA teams were reinforced with an import no taller than 6'5. Which only goes to show how vastly improved NCC was in a year's time - not being able to beat PBA teams without imports the year before to dominating the league the year after even with import-laced PBA teams.
Which leads me to my point - if the PBA could do that 36 years ago, why worry about losing to the national team this year? Kouame is just one import, sure he's 6'10, maybe 6'11, but it's not like we don't have locals who are as tall as him. In the 80's, the tallest local player was Romy Mamaril at 6'6, and yet, they were able to go toe-to-toe with the national team. Fernandez was especially exceptional that year, averaging a near triple double for the entire year (27 points, 15 boards, 9.9 dimes) and not even the naturalized Americans can stop him.
Let them go toe-to-toe. You prevent Kouame from playing and you're not lending your full support to the national cause, especially since Kouame is expected to be a key player for the team. Or are they afraid that Tab Baldwin may prove everyone that he was correct all along with his alleged vitriolic statements?
By the way, I haven't read anything about the PBA teams not wanting Kouame to play so if anyone would be kind to provide the link, it'll be appreciated.
