Cebu takes Tatluhan title, earns Manila Masters slot

MEMBERS of Pura- Cebu pose, along with SBP executive director Sonny Barrios, 3rd left, SBP administrative and legal consultants Moying Martelino, 2nd left, and Atty. Edgar Francisco, left, and SBP deputy executive director Bernie Atienza, right, after ruling the SBP-Talk 'N Text U18 Tatluhan National Finals at Robinson’s Place Manila in Ermita.

A group of Cebuanos claimed the recently-concluded SBP-Talk 'N Text U18 Tatluhan National Finals at the Robinson's Place Ermita.

Composed of Carlo Cesar Ortega, Jaur Edrel Ignam, Lucky Ecarma and Errol Pastor; Pura of Cebu defeated Olongapo (composed of Allen Fomera, Edler Tirona, Renz San Luis, and Mark Macatlang, who are all from Lyceum-Subic), 21-12 to rule the nationwide tournament.

To gain entry in the finals, Cebu defeated Bacolod, 13-12, while Olongapo defeated Ateneo de Naga, 16-15. Naga then defeated Bacolod, 17-14, to claim third in this tournanent.

In taking home the championship, Cebu gets a slot in the FIBA 3x3 Manila Masters on August 1-2, as one of the three Pinoy teams, with the other two being PBA selections.

In the previous edition of the Manila Masters, Manila West (composed of Terrence Romeo, Aldrech Ramos, Rey Guevarra, and KG Canaleta, with Eric Altamirano and John Flores as head coaches) secured the title over Qatar to gain entry into the finals in Sendai, Japan.

For the 2015 edition, which will be held at Robinson's Place Manila, the top two teams will make it to the finals in Abu Dhabi on October 15 and 16. Joining them will be the outstanding teams from the other stops in the FIBA 3x3 scene for this year: Prague, Beijing, Lausanne, Mexico City, and Rio de Janeiro.

FIBA executives to come in the Philippines for FIBA World Cup inspection

A three-man FIBA Evaluation Commission will be coming to the Philippines to check on the country's capability to host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Sports Director Lubo Kotleba, Director-General for media and marketing Frank Leenders, and Events Director Predrag Bogosavljev will be arriving to the country to represent FIBA in determining the readiness to host the World Cup, according to SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios. FIBA Secretary-General Patrick Baumann will arrive on Thursday to join the commission.

They will have a busy schedule to attend to in their brief stay, which will include inspections at venues across the country. They are going to check out the Philippine Arena, SMART-Araneta Coliseum, and the Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday, an itinerary that will include watching the PBA Commissioner's Cup match between Ginebra and Meralco. Wednesday will be devoted to a trip to Cebu, where the SM Group is planning on putting up a sports facility within the next two years.

In between those visits will be meetings with prospective hotel locations (EDSA Shangri-La, Sofitel, Solaire), as well as with local executives and SBP officials. Tourism Secretary Alberto del Rosario himself will be meeting with Baumann upon his arrival.

The Philippines is competing with China, Turkey, Qatar, and Franco-German collaboration for the right to host the World Cup, last held in Spain last year. It had hosted the competition in its previous iteration (as the FIBA World Championships) back in 1978, with the Araneta Coliseum and Rizal Memorial Coliseum as the venues. Yugoslavia won the tourney against the Soviet Union, 82-81, in a final that needed overtime.

The final bids for the 2019 FIBA World Cup hosting rights will be submitted by April 30, with the FIBA Central Board tasked to deliberate on each bid until a winner emerges after their June meeting.

Six-man Philippine delegation sent to Geneva for FIBA workshop

In its quest to secure hosting rights for the upcoming FIBA World Cup in 2019, the Philippines will send a six-man delegation to Geneva to attend a workshop on December 15 and 16.

Comprising the delegation are Department of Tourism Undersecretary and Chief Operation Officer Domingo Ramon Enerio III (as the proxy for DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez), current Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Executive Director Sonny Barrios, SBP Deputy Executive Director for International Affairs Buth Antonio, SBP logistics consultant Andrew Teh, PBA chairman Pato Gregorio, and Octagon Asia-Pacific (a Sydney, Australia-based sports marketing and advertising firm) President Sean Nicholls.

DOT Secretary Ramon Jimenez, who saw the potential benefits of the hosting the World Cup for Philippine tourism, sent Enerio to be part of the delegation after meeting with the SBP officials.

According to Barrios, the delegation aims to put its "best foot forward" in the workshop, noting that the presence of Enerio and Nicholls is a context towards the "seriousness of our bid."

SBP Vice Chairman Ricky Vargas echoed said sentiments, adding that "we will be there to win it."

The FIBA Basketball World Cup Bid Workshop is the second step for those intending to bid for hosting rights, after initially expressing interest. Aside from the Philippines, recent FIFA World Cup and incoming Summer Olympic hosts Brazil has made its interest to host the 2019 edition public.

On-site inspection will then follow suit this January, with the final submission of candidacy to be done in April. By May, candidates will make their final bid presentations, to which the FIBA Central Board would then announce the winner.

Three possible venues are already available for FIBA inspection, the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the MOA Arena in Pasay City, and the Philippine Arena in Bocaue. A couple more possible sites currently being looked into are the facilities in Cebu by the SM Group and Paranaque City by the Solaire Group.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas charts new direction for Philippine basketball

Philippine basketball takes a new direction after Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Manny V. Pangilinan held a board meeting on Tuesday at the PLDT office in Makati.

After seeing the Philippines participate in its first-ever FIBA U-17 World Cup and return to the world basketball stage for the first time in forty years in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, MVP has opted to conduct a "participative and consultative approach" in the selection process for its future national teams.

The SBP has established selection committees that will look into the process of naming coaches and players for the upcoming basketball competitions next year. These committees will then submit its "short list" of candidates to the SBP Executive Committee, composed of the NSA's chairman, president (MVP), vice chairman, vice president, and executive director (Sonny Barrios), which will then submit for ultimate final approval with the SBP Board of Trustees.

The Philippines is set to enter at least nine international tournaments next year, including the 28th SEA Games in Singapore and the 28th FIBA-Asia men's championships in China, which happens to be regional qualifier for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

For the top regional and global competitions like FIBA-Asia, Asian Games and the World Cup, the selection committee will be composed of SBP Board Members from the PBA, the PBA D-League, and the SBP. While for the sub-regional competitions like the SEA Games and SEABA, the selection committee will be composed of SBP Board Members from the different collegiate leagues (UAAP, NCAA, CESAFI, NAASCU) and the SBP.

MVP then briefed the federation on details regarding the Philippines' initial hosting bid for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. FIBA is expected to release an initial list of candidates by the end of November.

Also thoroughly discussed in the meeting is the expanded grassroots development program, in which Pangilinan outlined his plan of an "all-encompassing overall nationwide program" for the next two years. He already has urged the regional SBP leaders to undertake a more active role in adapting the program in their respective regions.

Some established age-group tournaments have already been tapped for SBP grassroots program, with the ongoing Philippine Collegiate Champions League of Rey Gamboa and Joe Lipa, as well as the Seaoil-National Basketball Training Center of Eric Altamirano and the Milo-BEST Center of Nic Jorge.

SBP also intends to adapt the FIBA 3x3 format as a means to promote the sport nationwide. They are also looking at establishing a SBP Referees National Accreditation Commission and a SBP coaching program.

SBP bares its grassroots program

The MVP-led Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) recently outlined their grassroots program involving the different high schools all across the archipelago, with the simple goal of improving the quality of the Filipino basketball player.

According to the SBP's Executive Director Sonny Barrios, the grassroots program includes the Eric Altamirano and Alex Compton-led Seaoil National Ball Training Center (NBTC), the 30-year old Metro Manila Basketball League (MMBL) under the auspices of Ato Badolato, the recently concluded Coaches Convention and the High School All-Star Game held earlier this year.

The six-year old NBTC aims to provide coaching and skills training to the different high school players all across the country. Concurrent to the skills and values development, according to Altamirano, is the identification of possible prospects for future call-ups to the national youth teams. The NBTC is also tasked with the responsibility of determining the best high schools in the country through its Elite League.

In connection with that, they recently tied up with the MMBL, which now virtually serves the NCR qualification portion for the NBTC Elite League. The 30-year old organization has pegged the top three teams in Division I and the champion of Division II to be NCR's representatives in the Elite League, as announced earlier this week.

Concurrent with the quest to discover the best high school players in the country, the SBP via the NBTC earlier this year launched its newest grassroots project, the first Seaoil High School All-Star Game. Inspired by the McDonald's All-American Basketball Game in the United States, it serves as a showcase all-star experience, gathering thirty of the best high school seniors together and showcasing their talents. Names like La Salle's Jeron Teng and Thomas Torres, as well as San Beda's Francis Abarcar, and Antonio Bonsubre participated, with the first All-Star Game MVP being given to current Ateneo "Glory Be" member Ace Basas.

The latest project of the SBP in relation to its grassroots campaign is the Coaches Convention, whose second staging was just conducted last month as the PhilSports Arena in Pasig in conjunction with the Manuel V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation (MVPSF). The gathering brought together 300 coaches from all over the country for a three-day camp, highlighted by sessions involving well-known bench tacticians like Tim Cone of the SanMig Coffee Mixers, his assistant (and Arellano University head coach) Koy Banal, and current TNT assistant Sandy Arespacochaga sharing their insights on running their different programs as well as teaching character, leadership and values formation that then can be passed on towards their respective players.