Amer to reach out to Castro, Romeo

MANILA, Philippines - Meralco point guard Baser Amer said yesterday he’ll personally approach Jayson Castro and Terrence Romeo to ask pointers on how to improve his game when they report for Gilas practice, adding that the opportunity to learn from the PBA’s best is a blessing in his career.

Amer, 24, was recently added by Gilas head coach Chot Reyes to the national team training roster after Jonathan Grey was traded to GlobalPort, leaving Meralco with a slot available for a veteran to join the pool. 

“I’m very excited to join Gilas,” said Amer who was on the Philippine team that won the gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games under coach Tab Baldwin in 2015. “We just beat TNT in Game 2 of the quarterfinals and it came out in social media that I was added to the pool. When I went to practice the next day, my teammates and coaches congratulated me. I’ve been told that Gilas practice will start June 19 or 20. We’re on break until July 1. I thought of visiting my parents in Davao but I decided to stay in Manila to prepare for the camp.”

Amer said through the years, he learned a lot from coaches Eric Altamirano, Ato Badolato, Britt Reroma, Frankie Lim, Ronnie Magsanoc, Boyet Fernandez, Jamike Jarin, Baldwin and now, he’s maturing with Meralco coach Norman Black. “I’m looking forward to learn from coach Chot,” he said in Pilipino. “I know he’s a players’ coach, that he’s a cool guy on and off the court and a coach who brings out the best in his players.”

Amer’s breakout didn’t happen by accident in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup where he averaged 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists, shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 83.9 percent from the line. With former Gilas star and now Meralco assistant coach Jimmy Alapag as his mentor, Amer pushed himself to the next level.

“We didn’t make the playoffs in the All-Filipino but instead of taking a break for two or three weeks, I asked coach Jimmy if we could do one-on-one training,” said Amer. “So I woke up 4 to 4:30 every morning and went to Kerry Sports in Shangri-La BGC to work with coach Jimmy from 6:30 to 9 on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. On Monday and Wednesday, I joined San Beda in training to work on my conditioning. I wanted to make sure that when we returned to practice with Meralco, I would be in the best shape of my life.”

Amer said Alapag opened his eyes to develop a more impactful role with the Bolts. “Coach Jimmy taught me the importance of decision-making, how to control a game, how to involve your teammates, that the priority is the team, not yourself,” he said. “Last season, coach Jimmy was still a player and I watched how he made a difference. Now that he’s in the coaching staff, he told me to grab the opportunity to take over. I wanted to win coach Norman’s confidence. My goal was to bring back my game in high school and college. So at night, I played back my best games with San Beda in my laptop. My father gave me motivation to improve. He told me to make my name in the PBA by playing like ‘wow,’ to show the fans I’m an exciting player.”

Amer, the youngest of seven children, used to sleep on the floor with his parents Abraham and Vanessa and older brother John in a shack in the Muslim district of Davao City. The living room was where they slept and there were no beds. Amer’s other siblings lived elsewhere. An older sister Farida worked as a domestic helper in Riyadh and remitted money that was later used to renovate their home. His father worked as a tricycle and ambulance driver but like his mother, is now retired.

“My father wanted my two older brothers John and Zaiden to become basketball players but they weren’t interested so he focused on teaching me to play,” said Amer. “He guided me to become a college player so I could get a scholarship and free education. I was about five when he started to teach me how to play. I didn’t want to disappoint my father so I worked hard to make his dream come true. I was 14 when I was one of five players from Davao who went to Brent (in Mamplasan) for the Nike elite camp. I played in the NBTC and coach Eric later recommended me to coach Ato. I took a year of residence in San Beda before I played in the NCAA juniors. We had a winning attitude in San Beda. We won two championships in high school and four in college. That’s the winning tradition we want to bring to Meralco.”