Banes engages Baker for Pinoy cagers

MANILA, Philippines - Rain Or Shine skills and conditioning coach Eric Banes said yesterday he has come to terms with basketball expert Ganon Baker to form an academy that will offer a development program for Filipino players and introduce the latest methods in boot camp training.

Banes recently arrived from a two-week visit to Columbus, Ohio, where he conferred with Baker, a well-known professional skills development coach whose list of past and present clients includes NBA veterans Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Steve Francis, T. J. Ford, J. R. Smith, Kevin Durant, Andrew Bynum, Glenn Davis, Al Horford, Daequan Cook, Sean Singletary and Al Thornton.

“My talks with Ganon produced positive results,” said Banes who is also the Philippine Patriots strength and conditioning coach and College of St. Benilde deputy assistant coach. “His credentials are impeccable. Ganon and I are forming an academy with camps in North and South Carolina and Washington , D. C. Our program will focus on team development. We plan to bring college and professional teams from Asia to the US. Our starting point is the Philippines. The idea is to bring Filipino teams to the US for training or Ganon himself will come to Manila to conduct clinics.”

Banes, 43, described Baker as “the most sought-after skills development coach in the US and Europe today.”

“Ganon inspires players to learn, perform and execute at the highest level,” continued Banes. “He has the ability to demonstrate all drills and teaching methods. He provides take-home material to enhance the learning process. His past experience as Nike’s lead instructor for skills training and development and the Jordan brand camp gives him instant credibility.”

Banes initially met Baker at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio, two years ago. He was introduced to Baker by Boston Celtics assistant coach Kevin Eastman who organized the course for outstanding under-18 high school players with James holding court.

“Observing Ganon’s clinics, one thing stands out clearly in my mind,” said Banes. “It’s bringing focus to teaching values in playing the game while enhancing tomorrow’s elite players by maximizing their basketball performance and improving their physical skills and overall basketball IQ.”

Baker’s own objective in teaching players is “to build fundamentally strong athletes while mentoring good character and moral principles.” He said his goal is to build the most highly-skilled basketball players where they always have a solution on and off the court.

A former Duquesne and University of North Carolina at Wilmington varsity player, Baker has a Master’s degree in physical education and health. He played professional basketball in Iceland after a brief stint as a Division I and II assistant coach. Baker has produced 42 best-selling DVDs on skills development.

Among Baker’s references are former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, former NBA guards John Lucas and Craig Ehlo, Nike global director and coach George Raveling, Chinese national team assistant coach Brian Goorjian and Detroit Pistons coach John Kuester.

Banes has attended several camps in the US, including the Steve Nash Skills Academy in New Jersey, the Joe Abunassar Impact Basketball Camp in Carson City, the Boston Celtics camp in Walsham, Massachusetts, the University of Connecticut strength and conditioning seminar, the Bobby Knight camp at Indiana and Achieve Fitness courses in Denver. Last year, Banes was the only Asian coach and class topnotcher in the Athletes Performance course in Tempe, Arizona.

Banes earned a management degree at San Beda College where when he was in Grade 6, worked as a water boy for the Red Lions teams that won back-to-back NCAA seniors titles in 1978-79 under coach Bonnie Carbonnel. Among the San Beda players he served were Frankie Lim, Chito Loyzaga, Jayvee Yango, Chuck Barreiro and Cholo Martin.

“When I skipped classes at San Beda one day to be with the basketball team as a water boy in 1978, I didn’t realize it would open a new chapter in my life,” said Banes, married to wife Maricon with a 15-year-old daughter Megan. “That started my passion for the game. I tried out for the high school teams of San Beda, Jose Rizal and Perpetual Help. It was at Perpetual where I was taken in during a guest appearance in the ’80s. I’ve been coaching now for 12 years and some of my students were Luis Sinco, Gabby Albano, Jed Manguera, Mark de Guzman, Mike Fernandez, Dom Fergus, Rey Yap, James Panaligan and Andres Calma. I work with Mac-Mac Cardona on his strength and conditioning.”

Banes said it was Dindo Pumaren who took him to his brother Derrick who in turn endorsed him to his brother Franz. He was briefly in the La Salle coaching staff as an assistant to Franz.

“Derrick jump-started my coaching career and I find Franz a consistent disciplinarian and mentor,” said Banes. “Richard del Rosario has a good grasp of the sport with his ability to break down a game, particularly in defense. But it was Louie Alas who taught me a lot about the game. Louie’s analytical mind in preparing for games is one aspect I learned from him. I saw that a lot when I joined his crew in the Asean Basketball League. There are many coaches I admire but Doc Rivers epitomizes the best there is due to his calm demeanor during games.”

Banes heads Achieve Fitness Performance Asia which has links to the Denver head office specializing in one-on-one skills development in basketball, mobile training, team training, boot camp, equipment procurement, strength and conditioning and hotel gym management.

Banes may be contacted through his email address–[email protected] – or his cellphone No. 0917-406-1987 or his website achievefitnessasia.com.