Pinoy cagers smallest in Nike basketball camp

BEIJING - The Nike All-Asia Basketball Camp officially opened Wednesday night, gathering the top young players from the region to give them the opportunity to hone their skills and possibly make them the next Yao Mings, Wang Zhizhis, if not the Tim Duncans, Jason Kidds, Kevin Garnetts, Vince Carters or Allen Iversons.

The All-Asia Camp, the first ever in this part of the world, follows a rich tradition with Nike holding All America and Euro Camps for years now and counting Ming, Zhizhi, Duncan, Kidd, Garnett, Carter and Iverson among their alumni.

In fact, the All-Asia 02 campers, including six Filipino boys, were delighted to see their names in the player roster side by side with the Nike Camp Wall of Fame that also includes Ray Allen, Mike Bibby, Sam Cassell, Chris Webber, Rasheed Wallace, Damon Stoudamire, Jamal Mashburn, Danny Manning, Shawn Kemp, Juwan Howard, Robert Horry, Grant Hill and Glenn Robinson.

Nike camp director Rich Sheubrooks and Nike basketball global director Ralph Greene welcomed 60 players to the camp. Forty-seven of them are Chinese from the different provinces of the country, six Filipinos, four Taiwanese and three Koreans.

The youngest is Liu Da Tian from Liaoning at 13, while the oldest are Park Kue Sub and Lee Chang Wook both from Korea who are turning 17 this August. The tallest is Yi Jiang Liang from Guangdong at 6-foot-11.

There are several players standing 6-foot-5 and above, easily dwarfing Filipino players Johan Uichico (6-2), Michael Vincent Baldos (6-2), Ken Barracoso (6-1), Rejan Lee (5-9), Joseph Casio (5-8) and John Calger Condevillamar (5-8). But the RP boys have shown they can hold their own during practice after the welcome dinner Wednesday.

The players were divided into six teams, playing eight-minute scrimmages, with the coaches keenly watching on the sidelines.

The coaches were to hold a draft later on to determine the players’ team assignment for the rest of the clinic/training. The teams will be named the Wizards, Bulls, Raptors, Lakers, Nuggets and Mavericks - after the six NBA teams outfitted by Nike.