Sun Jun’s apology

The poor showing of the Jilin Northeast Tigers in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Samsung Invitational Championships prompted star player Sun Jun to personally apologize to Commissioner NoliEala before the Chinese squad left Manila for the Mainland yesterday morning.

Jilin, ranked third in the 14-team Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) First Division, failed to win a single game in the Invitational eliminations and lost by an average margin of 22.3 points.

The Tigers were next to last in team standings in both offense and defense. They were behind only Fash Yugoslavia in turnovers, averaging 23.8 miscues an outing. Jilin shot only 39.9 percent from the field, 26.2 percent from three-point range and 63.6 percent from the line. The numbers belied Jilin’s apparent lack of interest in playing competitively in the tournament, raising speculation the Chinese came here for a paid vacation.

Not too many know that fading Chinese star Ma Jian, virtually incapacitated as a player because of a gimpy right knee, was responsible for the Tigers’ participation in the Invitationals–the PBA’s first of its kind since 1984. Ma contacted his friend Sun Jun to bring in the Tigers and came along for the ride.

Sun Jun, 33, is the Tigers’ key player, skipper and general manager all rolled into one. His word is law in the Tigers camp. A three-time Olympian, Sun Jun lost his spot in the Chinese national team after the 2000 Sydney Games. But his exclusion was no indication he’s over the hill. In fact, Sun Jun’s still a deadly shotmaker. This past season, he hit at a 32.7 clip and led the CBA in scoring. For his efforts, Sun Jun was named MVP.

Since the CBA season ended last April, Sun Jun has been inactive. So he reported for work in the PBA overweight and out of shape. He scored only eight points on 2-of-14 field goals in Jilin’s first game, a 97-82 loss to Alaska. Sun Jun, however, stormed back with a bang–erupting for 34 against the Philippine team and 36 against San Miguel Beer. Jilin lost to the Philippines by 23 and the Beermen by 16. In the Tigers’ farewell contest, an exasperated Sun Jun played sparingly–10 points in 18 minutes–as the Chinese bowed to Coca-Cola by 35.

Ma was one of four reinforcements who joined the Tigers here. The others were Wong Shougiang, Yin Yue and Zhang Kun. Nine players from the Jilin squad that took third place in the last CBA campaign came over. Missing from the cast were import Malcolm Mackey, Wang Bo, Chang Bin and Zen Wei Wei.

Wang Bo, a 6-8 forward, was drafted into the Chinese national pool. Chang Bin, the team’s tallest player at 6-11, didn’t make the trip, too, and is likely being held as a backup for the national team.

Eala said Sun Jun was disappointed with his teammates’ lackluster performance. "As general manager, Sun Jun has the authority to hire and fire players," noted Eala. "He told me because of the team’s poor finish, he will cut at least four players. He explained that the layoff is no excuse. Sun Jun mentioned the Tigers never got the breaks from the referees but anticipated it so that’s no excuse, too."

Sun Jun begged for Eala to invite the Tigers back next season so they can redeem themselves.

"The absence of two big players who were picked for the Chinese national team hurt them," said Eala. "Sun Jun wants another chance. He told me next time he’ll bring in several former national players like 7-1 Shan Tao. He’s ashamed of how they performed. And since he’s the Tigers general manager, Sun Jun has some explaining to do back home."

Ma wasn’t expected to play long minutes because of his knee problem. He made a cameo appearance in Jilin’s first game, playing the last two minutes. Ma compiled two rebounds and an assist. He took a single attempt from the field, a triple that missed. Against the Philippine team, Ma played longer than expected–24 minutes–and delivered six points on 2-of-3 treys, three rebounds, an assist and a block. Ma obviously overextended himself because he sat out Jilin’s last two games in civvies.

Eala said he’s batting to retain the Invitationals format next year. He’s thinking of several ways to jazz up the competitions.

"One thing, I underestimated our caliber of play," he admitted. "Maybe, next year, we’ll allow the foreign teams to bring in an import each. Jilin, for instance, is used to playing with an import so it was handicapped in our tournament. If that happens, we’ll also allow the PBA clubs to play with an import to even the competition–with the Board’s approval."

Postscript. Congratulations to Talk ‘N’ Text team manager Frankie Lim and wife Olen. They’re the proud parents of a newly-born, 8-pound, 24-inch baby boy. Olen delivered last Thursday at the Makati Medical Center. The boy is named Gabriel Tyler–nicknamed Tye–and came 13 years after Olen last gave birth. The Lims now have two boys and two girls.