RP Youth Team

[dreamwalker]

Canada already has had a couple of players in the NBA. Not only that, they even have more players in the US NCAA Div. 1.

You can't say the same thing about the Philippines.

Keep in mind that the average Filipino player is physically short. Name one NCAA/UAAP player that impresses you most and try to imagine adding 4 to 5 inches to his height, what do you think ?

Yao Ming is not that talented, he's just tall.

[dreamwalker]

Steve Nash is not even originally from Canada.

He's from South Africa.

True, we are not all originally from Canada.

Steve John Nash was born on February 7, 1974 in Johannesburg, South Africa. His father, John, played professional soccer, a vocation that took him and his family all over the world. Steve’s mother, Jean, was a sports fan, so she didn’t mind the globetrotting lifestyle. As John’s career wound down, the Nashes settled in Canada. They first lived in Regina, and then moved to Victoria City on Vancouver Island (which is located on Canada’s west coast, less than 30 miles from Washington). By this point, Steve had a younger brother, Martin.

Being so close to the U.S., Steve enjoyed many of the trappings of a normal American kid.

[dreamwalker]

Are you a Canadian Basketball player dreamwalker??? what College or H.S do you play in Canada?

8 years ago, was ready to go back to the Philippines and try my luck and hopefully play in the NCAA/UAAP at 17 years old was already standing 6-foot-4 (I'm half Filipino and half-Canadian) and used to play 2, 3 and 4 positions. but fate was unkind, had a horrible car-accident on our way to the airport and lost one leg and both of my parents in the process.

And thus my monicker the "Dreamwalker" good one eey ???

I wasn't destined to be a basketball player but as an engineer......

[Dinamita]

8 years ago, was ready to go back to the Philippines and try my luck and hopefully play in the NCAA/UAAP at 17 years old was already standing 6-foot-4 (I'm half Filipino and half-Canadian) and used to play 2, 3 and 4 positions. but fate was unkind, had a horrible car-accident on our way to the airport and lost one leg and both of my parents in the process.

And thus my monicker the "Dreamwalker" good one eey ???

I wasn't destined to be a basketball player but as an engineer......

wow, are you serious?... what a sad story...
but everything happens for a reason...

[dreamwalker]

wow, are you serious?... what a sad story...
but everything happens for a reason...

Well that's life, besides I have better privileges than you guys, I always have a reserve space whenever I park my car (handicapped parking)....

Everybody is predestined to be somebody else,

.......we know not yet but hopefully for the better.

[dreamwalker]

Massive build-up for RP youth cage team

The Daily Tribune
By Julius Manicad
11/26/2007

Hopefully, the RP Youth team that the cage officials are forming will be as competitive as they should be in time for two international tournaments next year.

It’s because it is already much too late, since the team will have barely six months to prepare for the Seaba Youth basketball tournament in May, and the Asian Youth sometime in September next year.

Franz Pumaren, head coach of the RP Youth squad, revealed the blueprint for the formation of a competitive squad, and that they are already in the process of identifying the potential talents.

He, together with his deputies Ato Badolato of San Beda College and Sandy Arespacochaga of Ateneo de Manila University, is set to name 24 rising stars this week where 12 will be selected to don the national colors.

Among the early qualifiers are Ryan Buenafe and Arvie Bringas of San Sebastian College, Nico Salva of San Beda, Marco Fortuna and Bryan Manguera of De La Salle Zobel and Niko Monachini, a 6-foot-5 Filipino-Canadian standout. Pumaren, however, explained that the pool is still open and “anybody who has the talent and national interest is still welcome to come in.”

But first, he should be born on or after 1990.

“The batch of 1990 is a relatively deep pool. And it makes our job of trimming the list to 24 a lot tougher,” Pumaren, the chief engineer of the De La Salle University dynasty in the UAAP, said during the inauguration of the brand-new office of BAP-Samahang Basketbol ng PIlipinas at the Philsports compound recently.

“We have to set the foundation as early as now because these kids will be the future of our international team. This early, we have to instill to them the pride and honor of playing for the national team.”

BAP-SBP president Manny Pangilinan earlier announced that the youth squad, along with the national basketball training center and women’s national team, will have a staggering P76.5 million allotment from private donors starting next year until the next three years.

He said Nokia and TAO Corp., a business and pharmaceutical firm, have also pledged their support for the housing and education of the youth training pool, giving the 18-under squad something to look forward for.

And that’s exactly how Pumaren envisions it.

Philippine basketball could not get anything better than this, the future is looking bright.

My only wish is its continuity, nurturing young talents and develop them individually into a well rounded athlete.

At huwag kalimutan pakainin ng maraming star margarine ng tumangkad ng husto. (don't forget to feed them a lot of star magarine to grow up even more)....

Ihanda nga lang ang immodium o diatabs kung sakali (ready the immodium or diatabs just in case)....

[geo]

hey dreamwalker I'm sorry i called you a gay on the other thread. I'm really very sorry for what I did, I know I hurt your feelings. Hope that you'll forgive me but if not, then maybe i deserve it.

[dreamwalker]

hey dreamwalker I'm sorry i called you a gay on the other thread. I'm really very sorry for what I did, I know I hurt your feelings. Hope that you'll forgive me but if not, then maybe i deserve it.

Apology well taken, allow me to do the same and feel sorry for what i have said, you're a good man and a good threadster, peace.....

[islander]

Dreamwalker, are you from toronto?

[dreamwalker]

Dreamwalker, are you from toronto?

Nope, I'm from a small city in British Columbia called White Rock but I'm a big Raptor fan, are you from Toronto....?

Oh well,
..... your Maple Leafs sucks

..... my Canucks Rules

.......No kidding bro they really do.....peace..

[alex15]

Sports
Message from El Presidente
SPORTING CHANCE By Joaquin M. Henson
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Basketball legend Ramon Fernandez is back in the game. No, he’s not coming out of retirement at the age of 54 although the word is El Presidente can still sink his elegant shot with ease.

Fernandez has agreed to head the BAP-SBP training center in the Visayas and is launching his regional program with tryouts at the Sacred Heart School in Gen. Maxilom Ave., Cebu City on Dec. 15 for girls and 16 for boys.

“Mind you, this is for boys and girls,” said the durable Chief Executive whose term is indefinite (and it doesn’t look like any coup is in the offing). “There are only three women’s teams in the local school league. I’ve met with the Cebu coaches with the Region 6 director and they were all very enthusiastic and will support the program. We want to flush out the good young players to understand, come and join the training program.”

It took BAP-SBP executive director Patrick Gregorio and national training center director Eric Altamirano six months to design the program. Now, the blueprint is final and what’s more, the BAP-SBP found a giant sponsor in Tao Corp. Welcoat assistant coach Alex Compton was designated the National Capital Region territory head to lead the campaign in the Big City. Supporting the program in Mindanao are Region 11 director Boy Cua and lawyer Manny Nitoreda.

“With El Presidente, Alex, Manny and Boy, we’re ready to make the big push forward in laying the groundwork for the future of Philippine basketball,” said Gregorio.

Compton said the main thrust is to improve the individual skills of the country’s top young players through intense, skill specific, weekly training sessions. The target is to tap prospects in the 14-18 age bracket.

* * *

“The center will serve as a training ground to prepare young players for the national youth teams that will compete in the 2010 Junior Olympics,” explained Gregorio. “We also aim to identify a network of coaches to work with and deliver the prospective players.”

Gregorio said the plan is to establish an under-19 residency program where the focus is on providing a positive training environment for young players, develop a close working relationship with the grassroots program and the junior national teams, and replicate the training center model throughout the country.

In NCR, the tryouts will be on Dec. 22 for girls and 23 for boys at the Xavier School gym in Greenhills. Players will be split into two age brackets, 14-15 and 16-18. Only 80 players in each bracket will be invited to participate in the tryouts.

In Mindanao, the tryouts will be held on Jan. 12 for girls and 13 for boys at the Ateneo de Davao gym on Roxas Ave., Davao City.

A selection committee will process the nominations from school coaches in NCR, the Visayas and Mindanao to determine those to be invited for the tryouts.

After the regional tryouts, the top 80 boys – 40 from 14-15 and 40 from 16-18 – will attend specialized camps. The NCR camp will be on Jan. 4-6, the Visayas on Jan. 18-20 and Mindanao on Jan. 25-27.

Then, the selection committee will pick 20 boys from 14-15 and 20 from 16-18 to train in intense weekend camps from February to June. Chosen players from the three regional camps will next be brought to the Brent International School in Mamplasan, Laguna, for a six-day, in-house “elite” camp.

The outstanding cagers from the “elite” sessions will be sent to the Nike All-Asia camp in June. Players rounded up for training will automatically be candidates for the national youth teams competing in the 2008 FIBA junior championships for boys and girls.

For girls, the top 40 from the regional tryouts will qualify to attend the national training center from February to June without going through another round of eliminations.

* * *

In a parallel approach, national youth coach Franz Pumaren recently picked 55 players in the under-18 category to form his initial pool for training. The list will be trimmed to 24 next week. Pumaren’s boys will be seeded to attend the training center weekend camps from February to June.

Gregorio said the training model will benefit provincial prospects whose access to top-level competition, nutrition programs and conditioning regimens is otherwise limited. “It’s a perfect set-up for our country that is divided into so many provinces,” he noted. “We want to refine our players from the palayan to the bagsakan to the marketing end. We also want to address the gap in the development of tall, young players in the provinces.”

Gregorio said the FIBA youth tournaments to look forward to next year are the under-18 junior women’s tournament in Indonesia starting July 19 and the 20th under-18 junior men’s tournament in Iran starting Nov. 20.

A SEABA qualifying competition is scheduled in Malaysia in May to determine the regional representatives to the zonal under-18 junior men’s championships in Iran.

“Things are moving,” said Gregorio. “We’re asking FIBA if our Philippine men’s team, with coach Chot Reyes, can participate in the Stankovic Cup in October in Kuwait. And we’re affirming our bid to host the Diamond Ball in Manila.”
The Diamond Ball will gather the five FIBA zone champions, except the US, to play in a tournament with the host team two weeks before the Beijing Olympics. It’s a stand-alone meet that will serve as a tune-up for five teams playing in Beijing. The five teams are African champion Angola, Oceania champion Australia, European champion Russia, Asian champion Iran and defending Olympic champion Argentina, replacing the US.

If Manila wins the bid for the Diamond Ball, the Philippine squad will get a rare chance to battle five Olympic qualifiers, including Iran. In the recent FIBA-Asia Olympic qualifiers in Tokushima, the Philippines lost a close decision to Iran in a game that was decided by a controversial technical foul in the last minute of play.

[dreamwalker]

Sports
Message from El Presidente
SPORTING CHANCE By Joaquin M. Henson
Sunday, December 2, 2007

“Things are moving,” said Gregorio. “We’re asking FIBA if our Philippine men’s team, with coach Chot Reyes, can participate in the Stankovic Cup in October in Kuwait. And we’re affirming our bid to host the Diamond Ball in Manila.”

The Diamond Ball will gather the five FIBA zone champions, except the US, to play in a tournament with the host team two weeks before the Beijing Olympics. It’s a stand-alone meet that will serve as a tune-up for five teams playing in Beijing. The five teams are African champion Angola, Oceania champion Australia, European champion Russia, Asian champion Iran and defending Olympic champion Argentina, replacing the US.

If Manila wins the bid for the Diamond Ball, the Philippine squad will get a rare chance to battle five Olympic qualifiers, including Iran. In the recent FIBA-Asia Olympic qualifiers in Tokushima, the Philippines lost a close decision to Iran in a game that was decided by a controversial technical foul in the last minute of play

Reassembling Team Philippines in a very short notice is tantamount to disaster. These 5 olympic qualifiers, champions of their own regional zones had been preparing for months almost close to a year. No way the Philippines can provide a decent showing, much less hit payback time against Iran.

Unless, we include at least 2 imports preferably 7-footers and hopefully we measure up against world class competition. This would be the right time to validate the need of naturalizing a 7-foot-rebounding devil.

Curiously, does the rule for the recruitment of a 7-footer only applies to the men's senior team or does it also apply for the RP youth team ?

Would it be a wise investment if we recruit the same for the youth team ? These probable foreign young recruits will learn from Sam Ekwe's experience that something good awaits them in the future if they decided to stay. A process of continuity for Philippine basketball as a whole.

Your arguments please, thank you....

[thadzonline]

I personally think naturalization can be done at any level

[C2Hamm]

they shouldn't naturalize anybody for the seniors team. when will that guy jell with our NT?
let's naturalize to play with our current youth NT. once these guys get to their prime, everyone will know how everyone plays.

[Alex07]

AIA mentality

I hope there would be a basketball school for the Philippines where they would not only train athletes but also coaches.These facility would have a state of the art facility.