RP's National Heroes

During my travel to Bohol and the islands beyond last December of 2006, I had the slightest idea that I would be having a photo-op with a promising national hero. His name is Chot Reyes and he has currently on his shoulders the biggest task put ever in Philippine Basketball history since the time when our country is in the limelight of the sport.

Coach Chot is to lead the newly revamped RP Team that were taken from a pool of professional PBA players. These players were announced late February as plans for hoisting the elusive chance of playing for the World Olympics is being revealed.

The 2007 national team will be composed of 5 guards, 5 forwards and 2 centers with 3 proxies that will join the team’s preparation. They are:

The Guards

• Jimmy Alapag, from Talk and Text
• Renren Ritualo, from Talk and Text also.
• Mark Caguioa, from Ginebra San Miguel
• Jayjay Helterbrand, also from Ginebra San Miguel
• Dondon Hontiveros from San Miguel Beer

The Forwards

• Kerby Raymundo of Purefoods
• Rudy Hatfield of Ginebra San Miguel
• Danny Seigle of San Miguel Beer
• Air 21s Ranidel Ocampo
• Tony Dela Cruz of Alaska Aces
  

The Center

• Mick Pennisi of Red Bull
• Asi Taulava of Talk and Text
  

The Alternatives

• Enrico Villanueva of Red Bull
• Rommel Adducul of San Miguel Beer
• Rafi Reavis of Ginebra San Miguel
  

Except for the alternates which will stay at home and be called upon whenever alternate or replacement is necessary, the 12-man roster will sweat it hard enough and play to their very best so we could win a spot to play for the Olympics. They have to struggle through these tournaments for them to reach that goal.

• SEABA Qualifying Tournament for FIBA-Asian Champion’s Cup, Indonesia on April 9 – 14
• SEABA, Bangkok Thailand, May 24 – 28

If they win in SEABA and place at least a runner up, they will automatically gain a slot to the FIBA-Asia Olympic Qualifier which we hope they would win to play for the real deal, the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Olympic Qualifying tournament will be held in Tokushima Japan in July.

The list is easy to memorize but still very hard to picture the moment we are being awarded the Olympic berth, since in the past years, neighboring countries such as South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have shown similar determination and will, albeit, China is still a powerhouse to reckon with.

When that day comes, Coach Chot Reyes will be a national hero and so the rest of the "Team Pilipinas".