Nokia NBTC regionals start

The Nokia National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) D-League regional finals will open on April 7 (Wednesday) at the Bethel Gym in Lucena City for South Luzon and on April 14 at the SBMA gym in Olongapo City for the North Luzon qualifiers.

Survivors of the inter-city qualifiers in South Luzon are Batangas-BBL (Batangas), Hi-Smart Bacoor (Cavite), QPL (Lucena) and ABC Ideas (Bicol) in this 18-and-under tournament backed by Nokia Philippines and TAO Corporation under the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas headed by Manny Pangilinan and executive director Noli Eala.

Battling for the North Luzon bragging rights and berths in the national finals are Star Margarine (Baguio), Mayor Pablo-SLC (La Union), Smart Pampanga (Pampanga), Smart Olongapo (Olongapo) and Blue Boy Nepo (Angeles City) in the event also backed by San Miguel Pure Foods Company, Smart Communications and Burlington.

Still to be completed are the qualifiers’ list for the Visayas regionals set April 21-23 at Dumaguete City and Mindanao regionals on April 28-30 in Cagayan de Oro City.

“The matches are getting even more exciting for those teams which qualified in the regionals. But those teams that did not make it to the next level have already won because of the basketball training that these teams got and can pass on to respective communities,”said Nokia NBTC D-League director Eric Altamirano, who also using the tournament to screen future hopefuls to the Nokia RP U-18 team that will do battle in the Fiba U-18 Championships set in September.

“The aim remains the same and that is to develop the fundamentals of these players and get them ready for upper level basketball,”Altamirano added.

A total of 108 teams have entered the tournament that started only last December with all participants, both players and coaches, learning from the unified training program instituted by the organizers headed by training director Alex Compton.

The Nokia NBTC D-League, which virtually serves as a grassroots program in the country, aims to develop top-notch players geared towards the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Philippine Basketball League (PBL), Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and the Liga Pilipinas.