Uichico joins Guiao at bench in Jones Cup

Uichico joins Guiao at bench in Jones Cup


Games Today
1 p.m. – Lebanon vs. Jordan
3 p.m. – RP vs. Kazakhstan
5 p.m. – Iran vs. Korea
7 p.m. – Taiwan A vs. Taiwan B


TAIPEI – Jong Uichico, coach of the Philippine team that came within a heartbeat of challenging Yao Ming and China for the gold medal in the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, arrived here Sunday afternoon, a few hours before Powerade-Team Pilipinas was to face host Taiwan in the 31st William Jones Cup tournament.

The head coach of Jayjay Helterbrand, Cyrus Baguio and the Barangay Ginebra Kings, who battled the San Miguel Beermen through seven games in the Motolite-PBA Fiesta Cup Finals, flew in with assistant Art dela Cruz and proceeded straight to the game at the Hsinchuang gymnasium.

Coming on the heels of a 90-59 humiliation suffered at the hands of defending champion Jordan Saturday, Uichico’s presence should be a stabilizing factor at the sideline, having experienced first-hand the grinding demands of international competition.

The Philippines was up by two points in the waning seconds of the semifinal game seven years ago against host South Korea when Lee Sang-Min let fly a 3-point shot that swished in at the buzzer, denying the country a place in the final against Mainland China.

As a footnote, South Korea went on to beat China for the championship.

Providing insights come game time will not be the sole purpose of Uichico’s arrival though.

Rickie Santos, the PBA’s operations and technical chief, bared that Powerade-Team Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao wants Uichico to have an “active participation” in the deliberation when the 14-man roster is pruned down to the final 12 Monday or Tuesday.

The official lineup will then be sent to the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas for submission to organizers of the 25th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship in Tianjin, China next month.

The Tianjin tourney is the regional qualifier to the 16th World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey in 2010.

Santos, who is in communication with Uichico and PBA commissioner Renauld ‘Sonny’ Barrios, said the Kings mentor pointed to the lack of foreign exposure as the reason for the RP team’s devastating loss on opening day.

“Kailangan na kailangan daw talaga ‘yon, sabi ni coach Jong” Santos said.

Going up against an overmatched Australian selection, taking on the challenge of two PBA selections, playing a group of American missionaries, and a stint in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association in Medan, so far, have constituted Powerade-RP’s entire tuneup program since it was assembled last November.

“That’s why the Jones Cup is critical for our preparation,” Guiao said before the team’s departure last Thursday. “Through this tournament, we will know if we are on track for Tianjin.”

The Jordan game may have indicated the Nationals are way off.

They missed 17 three-point shots, were outrebounded, 47-33, had 11 less assists, and had nobody scoring more than 10 points after Asi Taulava.

By comparison, the Jordanians, who eliminated the Philippines in the 24th staging of the FIBA Asia Championship in Tokushima, Japan two years ago, converted 12 triples and shot 57 percent from inside the arc, using their size and agility to overwhelm the Nationals.

“We need to put toughness in our game and to have the mentality na hindi na PBA style ang laro rito,” Guiao said. “We have seven more games to get into that mental framework. And I believe that once we make that adjustment, we’ll be able to compete.”

The 31-point loss, Guiao said, can be put in perspective.

“We will know in the next few games whether the players can turn that loss into a source of motivation or discouragement,” he said.

“In a way, it’s also good to allow them to lose in such a way so that they will understand how hard they have to work and how far they still have to go.”