The Philippine team, a ragtag squad hastily assembled after several schools prevented their players from participating, placed a lowly fourth in last year’s edition of the tournament organized by the South East Asia Basketball Association (SEABA) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Malaysia won the title.
This year, the Basketball Association of the Philippines has formed a team composed of topnotch junior players from the country’s established leagues. The team, led by head coach Johnny Tam and his assistant Ching Marcelino, will be backstopped by last year’s holdover Kevin Astorga from International School, Darryl Bautista of Adamson, Michael Haw Sy of Xavier University, Jerry Cruz of UST and San Beda’s Ogie Menor and JR Taganas, among others.
The wide-bodied Taganas was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the recently-concluded InterSecondary Basketball Championship in the National Students Basketball Championship also held at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena.