Disparity closes in HS basketball

MANILA, Philippines - If the proof of the pudding is in the eating, National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) program director Eric Altamirano said yesterday the narrowing gap in the skills level of high school players from Metro Manila and the provinces is a clear indication of progress since establishing the annual country-wide league in 2007.

“We left out Metro Manila teams in the last three NBTC Leagues because the provinces just couldn’t compete,” said Altamirano. “To close the gap, we thought of holding a coaches convention every year at the start of the season and made it mandatory for all participating high school coaches to attend. Our concept was to train the coaches who in turn will pass on knowledge to their players. Last year, Sacred Heart of Cebu played La Union in the finals. Nobody expected La Union to go that far because only four years before, they weren’t competitive. But our La Union commissioner Paolo Ortega spread out coaches to different high schools and the result was positive.”

Yesterday, the NBTC scheduled 12 games to open this season’s 16-team national high school championships at the PhilSports Complex and Ynares Sports Arena. Another 12 games are set today with the Meralco Gym added as a third facility. Tomorrow, two semifinal games will be played separately at the PhilSports Complex and Ynares Sports Arena starting 8 a.m. Then, 30 of the country’s high school standouts will see action in the 11 a.m. All-Star Showcase at the Ynares Sports Arena. The NBTC finals will be held at 1 p.m. in the same venue.

The 16 teams are bracketed into four groups. Making up Group A are Hope Christian High School of NCR (coach Steven Tiu), Calayan Educational Foundation, Inc. of Lucena (coach Mel Villanueva), St. Albert D’Great School of Dagupan (coach Albert Galvan) and West Negros University of Bacolod (coach Dennis Tumayan). Group B is composed of San Beda College of NCR (coach Britt Reroma), Faith Academy of NCR (coach Miko Roldan), Don Bosco Technical Institute of Tarlac (coach Julius de la Vega) and Southern City College of Zamboanga (coach Ednie Morones). Group C has National University of NCR (coach Jeff Napa), Sto. Domingo National High School of Legazpi (coach Gnesius Molto Jr.), Iloilo Central Commercial High School (coach Marcelino Sodusta) and Sacred Heart of Jesus Memorial School of Cagayan de Oro (coach Edgardo Dacoco). Comprising Group D are Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu (coach Ias Bacalso), Christian Values School of Cavite (coach Conrado Laus Jr.), La Finn Scholastica of La Union (coach Louie Aquino) and Holy Child College of Davao (coach Ildefonso Cunanan).

Altamirano said the four Metro Manila Basketball League (MMBL) semifinalists automatically qualified for the NBTC national championships to represent NCR. The provinces went through city and regional eliminations before the 14 surviving teams booked a ticket to Manila. In all, this year’s NBTC League reached out to 3,710 players, 496 coaches, 248 schools and 32 cities.

“When I coached the national under-16 team in 2009, most of the players came from Metro Manila but when Olsen (Racela) took over two years later, half the team came from the provinces,” said Altamirano. “The gap between Metro Manila and provincial players and coaches is clearly closing. But it’s more than just skills development for the players and Xs and Os for the coaches. The NBTC is also about building character and raising leaders. And the NBTC wouldn’t be able to touch the lives of thousands if not for the collaboration of our sponsors – Seaoil, MVP Sports Foundation and Molten – to make our coverage nation-wide.”

NBTC training director Alex Compton said what is gratifying is the evident higher appreciation of the game. “A coach who was with us two years ago came back to observe how the level of play has improved since he left,” said Compton. “That was unsolicited feedback and it was very encouraging. My parents were Peace Corps volunteers who believed in education and teacher training. That’s the whole idea behind our coaches convention. At the start of the NBTC, Eric and I traveled all over the country to set up coaching clinics and camps. But now, we hold conventions so coaches learn from multiple sources. I’ve seen in the provinces, how kids are able to read the defense and adjust with little difficulty. It’s an acceleration of the learning process because of the growing knowledge of the coaches.”

To launch the NBTC season last October, 280 coaches – including 200 outside Luzon – attended a three-day convention at the PhilSports Complex. The speakers were Altamirano, Tim Cone on defending the pick-and-roll, Josh Reyes on Vance Walberg’s dribble-drive offense, Koy Banal on full-court defense, Bo Perasol on motivating players, Sandy Arrespacochaga on building a basketball program, Herc Callanta on strength and conditioning, Luchie Callanta on nutrition and Ardy Abello on leadership training. The previous year, Chot Reyes headlined the list of speakers at the first NBTC coaches convention.    

“Our partnership with the MMBL gave us additional coverage in NCR,” said Altamirano. “The MMBL involved 72 schools and with commissioner Ato Badolato’s support, we brought in the four finalists – Hope Christian, San Beda, NU and Faith Academy – as automatic qualifiers to represent NCR in the NBTC national championships.”