Pinoy claims success formula

A former St. Benilde assistant coach now working for American Airlines in Chicago is convinced he has concocted the formula that will bring the Philippines back on top of Asian basketball without naturalizing foreigners.

Ronel Leuterio, 46, may be a dreamer living in fantasyland but in a recent e-mail, he said he’s willing to fly to Manila at his own expense for the opportunity to present his system to the SBP.

“I wouldn’t bother you if I know my system wouldn’t work,” he wrote. “All I need is a chance to present my system. The SBP won’t spend a single cent on me. I’ll go to Manila on my own. I’m convinced more than ever that we can beat the other Asian countries. I will break down every possession into its minute detail just to show it can be done.”

Leuterio traces his roots to Bacoor and Las Pinas. He is married with one daughter in college and migrated to the US in 2005. His claim to fame is a stint as assistant coach with St. Benilde when the Blazers won the NCAA crown in 2000. He was also head coach of Las Pinas College when the varsity won the NCR intercollegiate championship in 2002, beating NCAA and UAAP teams in the process. Additionally, Leuterio was head coach of the Ateneo de Davao high school team that placed third in the National Intersecondary Championships in Legazpi City in 2003 and the Milo Passarelle squad that topped the 2003 National Championships in Cebu, beating the San Beda Red Cubs.

Leuterio described his system as “innovative and out of the box.” He said he developed a system that is suitable to the Filipino style and learned to integrate the lessons picked up from coaching clinics conducted by Larry Brown, Hubie Brown, Gregg Popovich, Jeff Van Gundy, Lawrence Frank, Avery Johnson, Flip Saunders, Mike Fratello, Chuck Daly, Roy Williams, Jim Calhoun, Tom Izzo, Jim Boeheim, John Calipari, Billy Donovan, Lou Carnesecca and others.

But Leuterio said Pete Carril, Bill Carmody, Vance Walberg, John Beilein and Mike D’Antoni provided his inspiration.

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“I scoured all the possible materials I could get about the Princeton offense, taped all the games of Georgetown, West Virginia, Air Force (during Jeff Bzdelik’s time), Richmond and Northwestern,” he added. “With my computer software, I was able to break down game tapes. I then got bits and pieces of what Walberg, Beilein, Rick Pitino and others were doing. My offensive system has now evolved into what I call the spread offense – it has what I call the five to 25 principle.”

Leuterio said to be competitive internationally, Filipinos must be taught how to play the game differently.

“The offensive system starting from transition to the halfcourt sets are all designed to offset the height and heft disadvantages of Filipino players,” he continued. “The offense goes out of the traditional way where the guard calls out plays. Here, the hub – normally the tallest player – just positions himself in a particular spot, based on the defense the other team is playing and the other four players know exactly what to do. There is no structured movement. All movements are based on read and react principles. It’s harder to scout because there are no signs indicating what play they are running. It’s poetry in motion and I guarantee it can easily flow 94 feet with a lot of player and ball movement.”

Leuterio said Carrill’s concept of the smart taking from the strong inspired him to conceive of a system, both offensively and defensively, where weaker and smaller players are able to compete with taller and stronger opponents as long as they are fundamentally sound and play hard and intelligently.

“My system deviates from the traditional one, two, three, four and five positions because all five players can dribble, pass and shoot, hence no more need for a point guard or a shooting guard,” he went on. “It is an equal opportunity offense predicated on proper spacing. Defensively, I’ve created something that I know will disrupt the flow of the offense, not the usual man-to-man full-court press which I believe runs counter to the notion of limiting the number of possessions but a defensive system that will consume a lot of time in executing the offense. My two primary defenses are what I call the Fence and the Mirage. They are designed to complement the offensive system. To me, the fundamentals are the great equalizers. Unbelievable amount of time should be given to master the basics of the game.”

Leuterio said he is a PhD in his own little way – passionate, hungry and driven.

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 “I have no hidden agenda,” he stressed. “Let’s have our own identity on how we play basketball. Believe in the idea that given the proper training, exposure and the right system, an all-Filipino team coached by a Filipino will eventually bring us back to the Olympics. My only dream is to come up with a style of play which we can proudly call our own.”

Leuterio said his painstaking research going over hundreds of game tapes and attending numerous NBA and NCAA coaching seminars is triggered by an unflinching love for the game.

“Basketball has been good to me and it has given me my identity and who I am right now,” he said. “I want to repay the game with something that even though I may no longer be in this world, people will remember me for my work. As the late Robert Kennedy said, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope lives on and the dream shall never die.”

Is Leuterio for real? Is his system workable? He has exchanged e-mails with SBP executive director Noli Eala, explaining his concept of Filipino basketball. Leuterio said Filipinos can’t play the same way that Europeans and Americans do because they’re just not tall enough but with his approach, there is a way to innovate – or stagnate forever.