Cautious Harbour 5 to prepare in Korea

Business Mirror
October 10, 2007

The Harbour Centre-backed Philippine basketball team enters the second phase of its preparations for the 24th SEA Games as it departs for Seoul, South Korea today to play a series of exhibition games.

“We can’t belittle our opponents in the SEA Games so the team needs this kind of exposure. The Koreans are known for their shooting prowess so I believe this trip will help the members of the training team a lot,” said Harbour Centre owner and basketball godfather Mikee Romero during the team’s sendoff party in a Quezon City restaurant Monday.

Besides getting a chance to see the training of the fancied Korean national team, the team, according to Romero, will be pitted against four top collegiate teams during the weeklong trip to enable the coaching staff, headed by Junel Baculi, to evaluate the progress of the players.

Spitfire Jason Castro, back-to-back PBL MVP, and three-point artists Patrick Cabahug of Toyota Balintawak and Jonathan Fernandez of National U will spearhead the 12-man RP training team which is out to defend its crown in the coming biennial meet in Thailand this December.

Also joining the trip are UAAP MVP Jervy Cruz of University of Santo Tomas, Chad Alonzo, Beau Belga, Erick de la Cuesta, Eugene Tan, Boyet Bautista, Alex Crisano, Jeff Chan and Allan Salangsang.

San Beda’s Pong Escobal and Ogie Menor were initially included in the team, but the two backed out in the last minute because of academic reasons.

Erick Arejola, special assistant to Romero, said the lineup might still be altered prior to the opening game of SEA Games since they are hoping to include several top UAAP players in the team.

“We’re hoping to beef up the team with several UAAP stars, we need to balance the team,” said Romero. If given the green light, La Salle’s Rico Maierhofer and TY Tang might also be invited into the team. The two, who came with JV Casio and Cholo Villanueva, played key roles in the team’s stunning victory over the fancied University of the East.

Also present during the send-off party were PBL chairman Gil Angeles of Toyota Balintawak, Hapee Toothpaste owner Cecilio Pedro, BAP-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Pato Gregorio, PBL deputy commissioner Tommy Ong, executive director Butch Maniego and several school officials.

The Harbour-RP team will also play in the coming PBL tournament. Two months ago, the team played in Brunei Cup but after its arrival, four of its players were taken by several pro clubs.

The Nationals are scheduled to meet Myungji University on Thursday, then they will face Yonsei University on Friday, Hangyang University on Saturday and Kyunghee University on Monday.

They will also clash with a group of Filipino migrant workers on Sunday.