Energen Philippines primed for tough Fiba Asia U16 run
HO CHI MINH CITY—The void left by his former standouts no longer worries national coach Olsen Racela.
With his new core of talents, Racela expects a competitive run even if more than half of the Energen Pilipinas Under-16 Youth Team are making their international playing debut in the Fiba Asia U16 tournament this week.
“The nice thing about this group is they really compete,” said Racela. “We’re smaller, but we’ve practiced the past month together. We played against really strong teams, collegiate teams. So when it comes to cohesion, I don’t see a problem.”
The young Nationals arrived in Vietnam’s largest city Saturday before taking a connecting flight to Nha Trang, the tournament venue known for its scenic beaches.
The Philippines earned an Asian berth as champion of the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) U16 tournament in Banting City, Malaysia last August.
Several key players of that powerful squad won’t be around, including San Beda’s Arvin Tolentino, who powered the country to a title sweep with a tournament-best 19.5 points and eight rebounds.
Tolentino, along with San Beda’s Radge Tongco and Gideon Babilonia and La Salle Green Hills’ Gelo Vito, failed to get their release from their schools since the tournament coincides with the NCAA juniors semifinals and championship.
“We don’t want to dwell on that anymore,” Racela said on the absence of his vital cogs. “We don’t want these kids to feel that they’re the second-best team.”
In fact, Racela noted how his new talents—guards Jay Alejandro (Mapua), Andrei Caracut (San Beda), Nic Dalafu (Victory Christian International); forwards Tomas Ramos (Ateneo), Jordan Heading (Morrison High School), Prince Rivero (National University); and center Isaac Go (Xavier)—have stepped up.
“Most of our wing men are below six feet and Jordan is perfect for us at number three (small forward),” Racela said of Heading, a 6-foot-1 Filipino-Australian who only joined the team two months ago. “He’s very athletic and he can dunk with both hands easily.”
Racela added that Caracut boosts the team’s outside shooting, while Go, the tallest at 6-foot-6, provides both height and heft.
The tournament serving as a qualifier to the 2012 Fiba U17 World Championship unfolds on Tuesday, but the Philippines starts its campaign only the following day against Indonesia in Group D.
Rounding out the final 12-man roster are Henry Asilum (Sacred Heart-Ateneo de Cebu), Hubert Cani (National University), Rev Diputado (San Beda), Kyles Lao (Xavier) and Jay Javelosa (Reedley International). Listed as reserves are Earl Murphy (Ateneo) and Daryl Pascual (Arellano).
The country’s last under-16 team led by Kiefer Ravena finished a record fourth in the 2009 edition in Johor Bahru, Malayasia.
“Our goal is to try to make it to the semifinals first and pick it up from there,” said Racela.
