Telfair aware of Pinoys’ passion for hoops

Portland Trail Blazers guard Sebastian Telfair yesterday said before coming to Manila, he was made aware of the Filipinos’ passion for hoops by friends who played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Telfair, who is here on a five-day visit for Adidas, said Portland teammate Richie Frahm and New York City playground legend Lenny Cooke told him about basketball’s popularity here and how Filipinos love the game.

Frahm played for Talk ‘N’ Text and Cooke for Purefoods. Cooke is returning to play for Sta. Lucia Realty in the next PBA conference starting Oct. 2.

"They have fond memories of the Philippines," said Telfair. "I was really looking forward to coming over. I’m very excited to experience the Asian basketball culture. I just want to share my passion for the game with the young basketball talents in Asia."

Telfair will be at the Araneta Coliseum for the 6th Adidas Asian Streetball Finals today and tomorrow. Top high school boys and girls from China, Chinese-Taipei, Hong Kong, Korea and the Philippines are playing in the extreme half-court game of 3-on-3 where the winner is the first team to score 15 points in 20 minutes.

Telfair told The STAR "undersized" players from Asia shouldn’t lose hope of playing big-time basketball. He’s the perfect example of a player, barely six feet tall, who defied the odds and now stars in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

"I go up against a lot of big guards like Stephon Marbury and Baron Davis who are bigger than me," said Telfair. "They try to use their size to push me around but I’m quicker so I just go around them. It’s all about playing with a lot of heart if you love the game. Don’t back down to anyone, have fun playing and it’ll all come easy, no matter whom you’re playing against."

Entering his second pro season, Telfair has inherited the mantle of leadership at Portland from Damon Stoudamire and Nick Van Exel. The Blazers missed the playoffs the last two years and hope to rebound with new coach Nate McMillan. A massive revamp saw the exit of not only Stoudamire and Van Exel but also Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Derek Anderson.

"We’re a young team but we still have veterans like Zach Randolph, Darius Miles, Ruben Patterson and Travis Outlaw," continued Telfair. "Our rookie draft pick Martell Webster is going to be a great player. We’ll just have to step up and take over the roles of those who are no longer with us."

Telfair said he’ll be up to the task of leading the Blazers.

"I put a large amount of pressure on myself," he went on. "No one puts pressure on me. I’ve always been a winner. I’ll be the person to bring us to the playoffs and make us a strong team that can compete for the championship. In my rookie year, I played for coaches who were guards, Maurice Cheeks and Kevin Pritchard. With coach Nate who was also a guard, it won’t be a big adjustment for me. He’s a great coach and he’ll make it easy for us to win."

Telfair predicted that Portland will top the West and Detroit, the East in the NBA next season.

As for his rookie year, he said he was excited to just be in the NBA. "I didn’t get a chance to play a lot in the first half of the season but got the opportunity to play more later," said Telfair who started in 26 games. "I gained a lot of experience which will help me going to my second year."

Although Telfair went straight to the pros from high school, he said education is important and he will pursue a degree. Shaquille O’Neal and Vince Carter are among several NBA stars who earned their degrees during their playing careers.

Telfair would’ve gone to college and skipped the NBA draft if not for an incident that happened during his senior year at Lincoln High. Two young men were gunned down outside the Telfair family’s apartment, prompting his decision to turn pro so he could earn a living and take his mother out of the New York public housing project.

Telfair’s inspiring story was made into a documentary that was shown at Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York last April. The film, "Through the Fire," was bought by ESPN and will be shown in November. A DVD will be issued in March.

"It’s about my life," said Telfair. "I met John Hock of New York City when I was a high school senior. He produced the And 1 tapes. He followed me around my senior year, filming me going to school, playing and finally turning pro."