THE MEETING WAS ACCIDENTAL, if not coincidental.

Last Friday afternoon I bumped into PBL commissioner Chino Trinidad and incoming league chair Mikee Romero of Harbour Centre while they were having coffee in an open Italian café at the Shangrila Mall.

Chino said he was just killing time before a 4 p.m. appointment nearby when Mikee walked in with his Harbour staff, among them team manager Erick Arejola and Junel Baculi.

Mikee was having a planning session for his Taguig team in Liga Pilipinas and his champion PBL squad, which only has four holdovers from last season.

To augment the depleted lineup, Mikee said the team may have to tie-up with a UAAP squad whose owner has already sought an audience with him.

* * *

Since the Harbour staff was not yet complete, Mikee invited us to sit and talk awhile over a cup of coffee.

Noting the presence of national coach Junel Baculi, who was sporting a new hairstyle and had slimmed down considerably, I asked if his group would be discussing the RP team as well.

Mikee replied by introducing the new athletic director of National University who is no other than Junel.

“He will take charge of all the other sports like track and field, swimming, and table tennis, not only basketball.”

No, Mikee said it is not NU that has offered to tie up with Harbour. Neither is he a friend of new owner Hans Sy.

Mikee said it was his friend, NU part owner Teddy Ocampo who had hired Junel.

I concluded that the task of forming a champion team in four years, as envisioned by Hans Sy, would fall on the shoulders of Junel.

“Maybe it would be more realistic to aim to form a championship-caliber team than a champion team,” Mikee said.

* * *

The way Chino was talking, Fil-Am Gabe Norwood, who has returned to the United States, would be no big loss to the PBL, if and when he decides not to come back.

“But I have a feeling he will return, because where else will he go?

“He’s too small for the European leagues or Australia’s NBL and as of the moment, playing in the PBA is out of the question, because of the rules imposed by the PBA itself on Fil-Ams.”

I didn’t ask but I presumed that one of the rules is that one of the Fil-Am’s parents must be a Filipino citizen at the time the cager was born.

Chino said Norwood’s parents were American citizens at the time of his birth. It was only his grandfather on his mother’s side who was a Filipino citizen then.

According to Chino, only a presidential order will enable Norwood to play in the PBA.

* * *

Had Emeka been able to play for San Beda this season, the Red Lions would have been a shoo-in for this year’s NCAA title.

But who the heck is Emeka?

Emeka, they said, is a 6-foot-9 Nigerian who was supposed to play for the Red Lions alongside Sam Ekwe.

Unlike Ekwe though, the two said Emeka is a really good player.

* * *

According to them, SBC coach Frankie Lim had taken Emeka with the team to train in the United States in preparation for the 2008 NCAA season. When it was time to fly back to the Philippines, Emeka said he had to go home because his father was ill.

Obviously Emeka didn’t go home because the next they heard, he was going to play for a US NCAA Division l team.