Tough grind starts today for RP 5 in Vegas

LAS VEGAS–Five games in five days. That’s the grueling grind facing the Philippine basketball team in the first-ever Global Hoops Summit at the Cox Pavilion on the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) campus. The Filipinos make their debut here against the Aoshen club of China at 10 this morning (Manila time).

Coach Chot Reyes supervised an early afternoon workout at the practice facility of the Thomas and Mack Center yesterday and after the two-hour sweat session, declared the players ready for war. He was assisted by Tim Cone, Binky Favis, Aboy Castro and trainer Dennis Aenlle.

The Philippine team players are Mike Cortez, Jay-Jay Helterbrand, Ren-Ren Ritualo, James Yap, Tony de la Cruz, Rich Alvarez, Kerby Raymundo, Sonny Thoss, Don Allado, Billy Mamaril, Romel Adducul, Kelly Williams and Dondon Hontiveros.

The delegation left Manila last Thursday except Hontiveros who is scheduled to plane in a few hours before the Aoshen game and will sit out the contest.

San Miguel Corp. is sponsoring the Philippine team’s exposure program in line with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. San Miguel Corp. chairman Eduardo (Danding) Cojuangco and vice chairman and president Ramon Ang are extending full support to the national effort.

The focus of yesterday’s practice was execution.

"We went over our basic plays," said Reyes. "The guys played with a lot of enthusiasm. They’re all excited to represent the country. We’re up against tall and tough opposition. We’ll be tested for sure."

Aside from Aoshen, the Philippines will play Passing Lane Sports on Monday at 6 a.m., BDA Sports on Tuesday at 6 a.m., Long Beach Jam on Wednesday at 8 a.m. and the Nigerian national team on Thursday at 10 a.m. All days and times are converted to Philippine conditions.

Reyes’ eyes widened when he was given the list of players participating in the 10-team Summit.

Aoshen, for instance, has an average height of 6-7. Two 6-10 centers Li Wei and Zheng Jia anchor the middle for the club also known as the Beijing Olympians. The other players are 6-8 Huang Hai Bei, 6-4 Duan Chao, 6-6 Yan Song Tao, 6-8 Jin Xin, 6-6 Zhao Hua Nan, 6-9 Zhen Sheng Jia, 6-6 Hou Nan and 6-9 Liu Guang.

Aoshen was established in 1997 by the Dongjing real estate company. A year later, the Olympians won the Division II title and was elevated to play in the China Basketball Association (CBA), the premier Division I league. Ma Jian powered the team to fourth place in its first year in the CBA. Aoshen’s first coach was Li Xin, a female, but she was fired after five games and replaced by former Los Angeles Lakers guard Mike McGee.

Aoshen was suspended from the CBA last season for refusing to allow 6-9 point guard Sun Yue to play for the national team. Because of its private ownership, Aoshen is regarded as a "rebel" in CBA circles. The Aoshen owner is often compared to the Dallas Mavericks’ "renegade" billionaire owner Mark Cuban. To show its independence, Aoshen once issued a public statement daring the CBA to publicize its profit and loss statement, a shocker since the governing body is controlled by the state.

As it turned out, Aoshen backed down and released Yue to the national team last month. The CBA invited Aoshen to return to its fold this season but the proud club refused.

Passing Lane Sports will be bannered by 7-8, 365-pound, 21-year-old Chinese center Sun Ming Ming and former National Basketball Association (NBA) guard God Shammgod of Providence.

"With his size, he intrigues everybody," said Keith Gatlin who trained Ming for five weeks in Greensboro, North Carolina, to prepare for a possible NBA stint. "He can really shoot the ball to be that size. The challenge for him now is to get mobile, to get up and down the court."

Last April, Ming had a private session in the gym with Lakers scouts. At least six other NBA teams sent scouts to check out Ming.

BDA Sports is coached by Bob Donewald and boasts two Croatians, 6-4 Damir Milkovich and 6-10 Obi Nnaji.

Long Beach’s lineup includes former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) imports Damien Cantrell and Jack Hartman and Japanese national cagers 6-1 Masashi Obuchi and 6-7 Hiromasa Omiya.

Nigeria is bannered by ex-PBA import Julius Nwosu.

NBA rules will apply except that the games will be played in 10-minute quarters.

No championship is at stake. Vegas Summer League Properties director of operations Albert Hall said the primary purpose of organizing the Summit was to expose international players to tough competition in the US.

Reyes said his three goals in participating here are: 1. To gain intimate knowledge of the players off the court. 2. To deepen the international experience of coaches and players. 3. To evaluate the players’ strengths and the team’s weaknesses.

"This is part of our long-term program to build up our national pool," said Reyes. "We began with the goodwill series against Iran and the Sydney Kings then played at the Champions Cup. We want to continue the process. This involves a lot of sacrifice but everyone is willing to do his share for the country."

Reyes admitted the competition in the Summit may be "over our heads" but "there’s no better way to test our players than to expose them to adversity, to challenge them to play their hardest and to get them to bond together as a team, either by winning or by losing."