Beauty product maker braves D-League

Another daring new team owner is braving the waters of the PBA D-League, using a breakthrough beauty product as its banner. On Thursday, Erase Plantcenta makes its debut in the PBA’s preparatory league. And the match between a leading skin whitening product and a masculine basketball team may not be far-fetched as some people think.

The Erase brand has been on the market for two decades already, and has grown in stature with its products’ performance and endorsers like TV personality Toni Gonzaga. But its owners, the father and son tandem of Louie an Marc Gamboa, have always loved basketball, and never strayed from the idea of having their own basketball team. They have also been around the game.

“The truth is, we’ve had this idea of putting up a basketball team for seven, eight years already,” says company founder Louie Gamboa, who has been a passionate hoops fan since the 1980’s. “Finally, the opportunity has come, and we have the right people we feel can make an impact for us in the league.”

Other seemingly unlikely products and companies have made names in Philippine basketball in the past. Galerie Dominique, owned by Sen. Nikki Coseteng’s family, played nine seasons in the PBA, ending in the 1983 campaign, and featured veterans like Danny Florencio, Joy Dionisio and Rudy Soriano. In 1980, young fashion brand Nicholas Stoodley assembled a band of NBA hopefuls and All-Americans in the hope of winning a PBA title. The Gamboas see the synergy between being health-conscious and looking good.

On top of that, having a basketball team gives them another centerpiece to build their marketing efforts around, after their wildly successful “Free Facial sa Barangay” promos in the provinces as well as their concert series, they now have another weapon in their arsenal. Their products appeal mainly to women; and so will their players. Erase is planning on drawing a bigger female section to their D-League games, and this will eventually help them bring their products to the attention of the male market.

Though Erase is using Erase Plantcenta as its team’s name, Louie and Marc feel it is a great fit for the game. With the overall view of being fit and competitive, the product is something that everyone would be interested in using, more so since it is all natural from herbs and plants, hence the name Plantcenta. The team is hoping that their name will also be a positive, figuratively erasing self-doubt off the court and literally erasing opposing teams on it.

The Erasers will be mentored by Colegio de Sta. Monica’s successful head coach Efren “Yong” Garcia. In 2011, Garcia took the Cougars to the first Sandugo-Collegiate Developmental League championship in 2011, and was named the tournament’s Best Coach. He has also coached in the D-League, serving as an assistant for Cafe France in the league’s last conference. He has assembled a team of underdog collegiate veterans who want to prove themselves ready for the pros.

Erase Plantcenta will be led by NCAA graduates, like versatile Mapua frontliner Macky Acosta. Acosta, a consistent outside shooter with a good first step to the basket, suffered from inconsistent playing time with the Cardinals, but is a proven factor. He is joined by teammates Jason Pascual and Mark Sarangay, who formed Mapua’s twin tower combination of perimeter-shooting big men in recent years. Graduate point guard Anthony del Rio provides sturdy defense in the backcourt. Kojak Melegrito of Letran also joins Erase, bringing his toughness and leadership. The Erasers were also able to recruit high-scoring shooting guard Jett Vidal from the University of Perpetual Help.

“We’re lacking a bit in terms of size, but we are still looking for a big man to anchor the team,” Marc Gamboa admits. “We’re happy to be associated with the PBA D-League, and we’re looking forward to surprising some of the other teams.”

The team partnered with Olivares College and picked up six players, who will help fill out the rotation and provide unknown variables which the other D-League teams have not been able to scout. And the Gamboas are also negotiating with the family of a young center who left the country to play in a US NCAA Division III school. The new addition will definitely change the complexion of the team.

And that may be the first surprise this new team’s owners spring on the rest of the league.