Former PBA chairman Buddy Encarnado was in Barcelona vacationing with his wife when I tried to call him by cell phone last Saturday morning. I got a tip from former Swift basketball team manager Elmer Yanga that he would know more about the 1988 FIBA-Asia Champions Cup title team anyone else.
I was deep into researching the details of the four Philippine teams that won the Champions Cup crown since the tournament was inaugurated as the Asian Interclub Championships in 1981.
The first Philippine team that took the title was Northern Cement, coached by Ron Jacobs, in Ipoh, Malaysia, in 1984. That was a powerhouse squad and Jacobs proved it as the team mercilessly hammered the opposition with an average winning margin of 43.5 points. The most lopsided victory was at Macau’s expense – Northern cruised to a 126-15 romp or a whopping margin of 111 points. Other scores were 91-69 over Al Arabi of Qatar, 95-56 over PKNS of Malaysia, 94-51 over Bahrain and two wins over the August 1st Liberation Army (also known as the Bayi Rockets) of China, 82-62 and 82-56.
Jacobs’s cast included Hector Calma, Samboy Lim, Franz Pumaren, Yves Dignadice, Elmer Reyes, Tonichi Yturri, Jun Tan, Joseph Uichico, Jeff Moore, Dennis Still and Chip Engelland. Under the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup rules, each team could bring in two imports. Moore and Still were naturalized players while Engelland, whose naturalization was in process, was listed as Northern’s import.
Allan Caidic was not in Northern’s Team A at the time. He would eventually join the main corps and a year later, was on the Jacobs squad that captured the Jones Cup diadem in Taipei.
The second Philippine team that won the Champions Cup was called PBL Swift coached by Nat Canson with Nemie Villegas as assistant. Encarnado was the team manager. Yanga recalled that he flew to Jakarta, where the tournament was staged, late to join the team.
I rang Encarnado’s number and got a hollow-sounding tone, meaning he was on roaming mode abroad. I clicked stop after the first ring. About a minute later, Encarnado texted asking if I had called. He obviously saw my number as a missed call. Then, we exchanged texts.
“My daughter who works with Zara of Spain is giving my wife and I a tour of Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca,” said Encarnado.
When I asked him about the 1988 team, he replied within a minute or two, listing the entire lineup – Alvin Patrimonio, Nelson Asaytono, Boy Cabahug, Ato Agustin, Ric Ric Marata, Paul Alvarez, Tony de la Cerna, Jun Reyes, Peter Aguilar, Noli Banate and Nani Demegillo.
“We met Liaoning of China in the finals,” he noted. “You bring back happy memories for me. No one forgets his personal trophies. I love these players and coaches who did it for flag and country.”
What was amazing was how Encarnado remembered each and every one of his players. He said he’ll be back in town tomorrow.
I tried to reach Agustin, now the Petron Blaze coach in the PBA, for his memories of the 1988 campaign but he never returned the call. I contacted Patrimonio and he phoned to comment how memorable the tournament was because it was his last amateur competition before turning pro with Purefoods in the PBA. Besides, Patrimonio said the championship was unexpected as nobody gave the Philippines a chance to beat China in the finals. That made the victory even sweeter because it was unexpected.
Curiously, the PBL Swift roster listed Aguilar whose son Japeth now plays for Smart Gilas. Another player in the cast was De la Cerna, now attached to the Tarlac State University and currently the commissioner of Rep. Henry Cojuangco’s innovative district-wide “Barkada Ball” 3-on-3 challenge involving 16,000 players in 250 barangays in Tarlac.
The third Champions Cup title team from the Philippines was Andok’s coached by Junel Baculi in 1995 with imports Bobby Parks and Alex Coles. Among the locals in the squad were Leo Austria, Joel Dualan, Jack Santiago, Patrick Fran and Biboy Simon. The fourth and last championship squad from the Philippines was Hapee Toothpaste also coached by Baculi in 1996 with imports Parks and Tony Harris. The locals included Danny Ildefonso, Tata Fernandez, Austria and Dualan.
The Philippines hasn’t won the title since 1996.
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In the Champions Cup last year, host Al Rayyan of Qatar came back from a five-point halftime deficit to crush Smart Gilas, 86-58, with Targuy Ngombo, Yaseem Musa, Erfan Ali Saeed and Omar Salem in the wrecking crew. Qatar outscored Gilas, 50-17, in a blistering second half run.
This year, Al Rayyan brought back those four stalwarts reinforced by American imports Chauncey Leslie and Michael Cuffee. By the way, the Qatar lineup featured a slew of foreign recruits like Ngombo of Congo and Mame Souleye Ndour of Senegal. NBA veteran Brian Rowsom was Qatar’s coach.
In the battle for third, Gilas just couldn’t find the energy to beat Al Rayyan which has a long history in the Champions Cup with two titles, four runner-up finishes and three third-places.
Gilas’ lack of energy showed in its failure to crash the boards. Japeth Aguilar had seven rebounds against Iran but only two against Qatar. Marcio Lassiter pulled down eight boards against Iran but only three against Qatar. In all, Al Rayyan grabbed 58 rebounds to Gilas’ 38.
Worse, Gilas’ shooters took the night off. Dondon Hontiveros went 0-of-5, Lassiter 2-of-8, Mac Baracael 2-of-9 and Chris Tiu, 1-of-7. Even Jvee Casio struggled with 4-of-12.
There were lessons to be learned from the experience. Coach Rajko Toroman said it’s now clear where the gaps are and the challenge is to fill them in. What’s also clear is Gilas’ improvement as a fighting unit. Gilas didn’t win the Champions Cup crown but it earned the respect of the Asian basketball community as a serious contender once more for regional supremacy.