Pre-season glimpse

Aside from all the sports clinics and classes, the summer is also a good way to check out the school-based basketball teams and how they’re preparing for the upcoming season. In Manila, both collegiate and high school teams participate in at least three tournaments, all at the same time. This excludes tune-up or friendly games or trips outside Manila. For us in Cebu, five of CESAFI’s collegiate teams are playing in the ongoing CESAFI Partners while the two others follow their own program. Some eight high school teams are playing in the Coca Cola PBA Youngstars Basketball Tournament, an Under 16 competition. But what do we look for in these games? How do coaches treat these summer tournaments?

For starters, it’s common knowledge that the real goal of every school team is to win the big tournament. For Manila teams, this would either be the UAAP or the NCAA. For Cebu, it’s obviously the CESAFI for collegiate and high school teams, and the Milo-backed BEST SBP Passerelle tournament for the age group programs. The CVIRAA is also in there as a goal for the high school and grade school divisions. The summer is thus used to serve as a means to fine tune the team, decide on the final line-up for the big league and to get the team to bond together as a unit. And the best way to do it is by playing more competitive games. These games end up to be more than just practice games needed to get to know how the team has learned the coach’s system and if they can play as a unit.

One of the more interesting highlights this summer would have to be the series of tune-up games of the Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT) and Southwestern University (SWU). Mapua, even if busy with its Filoil and Fr. Martin Cup schedule, flew into town to play four straight games in four days against SWU and the ML Kwarta Padala ballclub in different venues. We had the chance to watch the first game which Mapua won, 77-72, thanks to a barrage of triples in the last two minutes of the game.

But more than the result per se, we also had the chance to see once again how and why Manila is distancing itself from us here in Cebu in terms of competitiveness. One thing that we couldn’t help but notice was their physical conditioning. All Mapua players were not only agile. They were also well-built. This was clearly the fruits of a strength and conditioning program that they implement. When their point guard stood beside his SWU counterpart, it was like seeing a well-fed kid against a kid who hasn’t eaten. Ditto for every player down the line-up. No offense meant to Cebu but this is the same thing that we see in all Manila-based collegiate teams. The other thing that one couldn’t help but notice was Mapua’s end-game composure. When the game was tied and SWU’s fans were cheering on their Cobras, Mapua didn’t crumble. They suck it all in, executed their plays then made all those triples to silence the crowd at the Aznar Coliseum. While SWU didn’t exactly panic, Mapua was more calm and composed in the final minutes of the game. But this wasn’t gained overnight. This came from their deep exposure to intense competition in the Filoil and Fr. Martin stints. Both leagues feature both UAAP and NCAA teams so you’ve got the best of the best. Some Mapua players even play for PBA D-League, a venue for tougher competition that features college sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduates. Take note that as I talk about Mapua, they’re not even the top-ranked team in the NCAA. This shows us how “far” we are from the best of Manila.

This leads me to us in Cebu. What do we want for our collegiate teams and programs? Will we settle for being just the best outside Manila? Don’t we want to compete with the best that Manila has to offer? We complain about losing players to Manila, but it’s clearly because basketball is so much better and more developed there. We even have Cebu players going to Manila colleges that aren’t even close to Cebu’s schools in terms of academic programs.

It’s high time that our CESAFI family pick itself up and be more competitive. And by this, the benchmark should be the UAAP and NCAA. That’s the problem when we only look at the Vismin as our territory. We’re already the best in the Vismin; but we’re just a big fish in a small pond. There’s a bigger pond out there in the real world. And we’re not part of it. The big question is if Cebu is ready to take that challenge.

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Time-out: The Milo-sponsored BEST basketball clinic will be held May 14-19, 2012, at the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Mango Avenue Campus Gym. For info, contact 583-7196, 0908-895-2933 or 0923-342-8193.               >>> You can reach me at [email protected].