Basden welcomes physicality

Declaring that basketball is “a man’s game,” Petron import Eddie Basden said he’s not backing off from playing physical in the PBA Governors Cup which opened at the Ynares Center in Antipolo last Sunday.

Basden, 29, is known as a defense-oriented player and confirmed it in his PBA debut as Petron downed Powerade, 97-83, in the nightcap of the third conference’s inaugural twinbill. “It begins with defense and ends with defense,” he said. “We don’t want to look bad out there when guys are scoring on you. Before my first game, I had only three practices with our team. I was here last year but couldn’t play for Alaska as I measured about a quarter of an inch over the height limit of 6-4 for imports. I’m glad to be back.”

In the game against Powerade, Basden took on the Tigers’ highly-touted import Rashad McCants head-to-head from the opening tip. When the smoke of battle cleared, Basden had outplayed McCants with more points, 28-27, more rebounds, 10-6, more assists, 3-2, and more steals, 3-2. Basden held McCants to a single point in the second period and in the fourth quarter, fired 11 to seal the deal. As a team, Powerade was limited to a field goal clip of only .407 with McCants hitting only 7-of-23 for a .300 norm.

Basden admitted that going up against McCants reminded him of their days in the NBA. Basden played 19 games with the Chicago Bulls under coach Scott Skiles in 2005-06. He was later signed by the Cleveland Cavaliers but released without playing a game. McCants enjoyed a longer stay in the NBA, suiting up for Minnesota and Sacramento in 2005-09.

Before moving to the PBA, Basden played for Vivo/Franca Basquete Sao Paolo in the Brazilian league. He teamed with 6-10 Serbian center Vuk Ivanovic of Brigham Young University to lead Vivo Franca to the quarterfinals. Basden said since barnstorming the world as a basketball globetrotter, he has figured in three finals in Germany, Turkey (where he won a championship) and the Dominican Republic. Last year, he led Alaska to the title of a pocket tournament in Cebu before finding out he was over the height limit for the Governors Cup.

Basden, who is half-Puerto Rican, grew up with his mother Deborah Dawson and was influenced by her Catholic beliefs. He has tattoos all over his body expressing his Christianity. On his left bicep are the words “God understands me” under which are inscribed “Father, Son, Holy Ghost.” There is a portrait of Jesus on his right arm with a tattoo of a rosary. A Puerto Rican flag is shown above the back of his right wrist. He has a sister named Tia and six stepbrothers and stepsisters.

Basden said he’d rather play defense and get his teammates involved in the offense than take a high volume of shots. That’s his style and from his stints all over the world, it looks like a winning formula.

In the win over Powerade, Alex Cabagnot and Arwind Santos joined Basden in double figure points.  Seven Petron players scored five or more compared to only four for Powerade. The Blaze Boosters had a higher assist-to-turnover ratio of 21-to-15 compared to the Tigers’ 17-to-20. Petron also collected more fastbreak points, 22-12, turnover points, 18-8 and steals, 7-5.

Regarding the NBA playoffs, Basden said, “I’m an East Coast guy so I like Boston.” He predicted a finals showdown between the Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs. “Although I like Boston, I think San Antonio will win it in the end,” said Basden.

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Meralco settled for returning import Chamberlain (Champ) Oguchi and rehired the Nigerian sharpshooter to play in the PBA Governors Cup after early picks Devin Green and Juan Pattillo were measured over the 6-5 height limit.

Oguchi, 26, just ended a stint with Panteras de Miranda in the Venezuelan league where he averaged 23.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists. He shot .434 from three-point range and .825 from the free throw line. Pattillo was the latest casualty of the PBA’s measuring tape.

“Pattillo came in a half-an-inch over the limit,” said Meralco coach Ryan Gregorio. “Good thing Oguchi just wrapped up his stint in Venezuela a week ago. He was in Houston when I talked to him. He was game enough to take the flight from Houston to San Francisco then to Manila.”

Oguchi is expected to suit up for the Bolts when they take on short-handed Talk ‘N’ Text at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tomorrow. Jimmy Alapag, Harvey Carey and Kelly Williams are still in the US attending to personal and health issues. Ryan Reyes is due to arrive from the US today. Texters coach Chot Reyes confirmed that Alapag, Carey, Williams, Reyes and Jayson Castro are not playing against Meralco. Ali Peek and Ranidel de Ocampo are doubtful, he added.

Import Paul Harris of Syracuse will carry the Texters’ load. This could be the opportunity for Japeth Aguilar to show what he can do with the Tropa hoping for the reserves to step up.