A blast with the ‘Answer’

It doesn’t look like NBA legend Allen Iverson is cut out to coach a serious basketball team. There was talk that he’s being groomed to join the Philadelphia 76ers coaching staff but the rumor is farthest from the truth. “I don’t want to coach (because) we’d never practice,” the man called The Answer once said in a candid interview.

Iverson, 39, was recently in town supposedly to coach a band of streetballers and three former PBA players in an exhibition game at the Mall of Asia Arena. One of the three PBA players on his team confirmed that Iverson never coached but was “on display.” And yes, the visiting squad never practiced even if the seven streetballers had never played with the three PBA cagers before.

It’s no knock on Iverson. The Answer will always be The Answer although fans are wondering what the question was in the first place. Iverson’s first visit to Manila was in 1998 with his mother Ann. That was when he was only 23 and entering his third NBA season. He wound up retiring from the NBA with the Sixers after 25 games in the 2009-10 season. And last March, the Sixers retired his jersey No. 3 in an emotional ceremony.

You take Iverson for what he is, tattoos and all. He was an amazing player, probably the best baller his size ever to take to the floor. Iverson is listed six-feet tall but everyone swears he’s less than that. He could dunk, hit three-pointers on the dead run, slash in heavy traffic and embarrass big guys in scoring layups. On offense, there’s anything he couldn’t do. On defense, he was pesky, probably not as committed as on offense, but a tough stopper just the same.

Getting Iverson to come to Manila was a feat and project organizer Sheryl Reyes deserves credit for a job well done. Sure, there were hitches like Iverson had some no-shows for interviews but in an event of this magnitude involving stars, you take the good with the bad. At least, Iverson and his ballers did charity work at the Gawad Kalinga Bulaklakan Chapter in Barangay Holy Spirit in Quezon City and they raised money for a good cause through the benefit game.

It wasn’t easy bringing over Iverson and his gang, the Magnificent Seven from the Ball-Up Brigade and two ex-NBA reinforcements 7-foot Eddy Curry and 6-9 DerMarr Johnson.  To get them to commit to do a show 10,000 miles away from home was a task. The Magnificent Seven were 6-5 Ryan (Special FX) Williams, 6-2 Taurian (Air Up There) Fontenette, 6-0 Larry (Bone Collector) Williams, 6-5 Anthony (Mr. Afrika) Pimble, 6-3 Aaron (AO) Owens, 6-6 Gary (G) Smith and 5-10 Grayson (The Professor) Boucher. On the whole, the streetballers were more showmen than anything else except for Williams and Boucher who’ve got the talent to play a serious game.

For the benefit exhibition, the Magnificent Seven were on the same squad as RenRen Ritualo, Willie Miller and Jerry Codinera. On the other side was a team coached by Tim Cone, composed of Johnson, Keifer Ravena, Jeron Teng, Troy Rosario, Mac Belo, C. J. Perez, Thirdy Ravena, Ola Adeogun, Javee Mocon and Almond Vosotros. Curry was supposed to reinforce Cone’s squad but backed out due to a calf strain. Curry came along just for the ride.

Ritualo and Miller played together briefly in the second period while Codinera saw action, also sparingly, in the second half. One of the PBA veterans said Iverson didn’t motion to send them in. Somebody else did. “I think it was the manager,” he said. Ritualo scored two points. Miller took two attempts and missed. Codinera also had two points.

Williams and Boucher displayed high-level skills, combining for 33 points. Williams, however, showed more than just his playing ability. In a sequence where he was defended by Teng, Williams faked throwing the ball on the La Salle star’s head then actually threw it. That, of course, is something you do in streetball games not before a big crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Did the streetballers execute plays? “They knew what they were doing,” said one of the PBA stars. “Among themselves, they do a routine. They did some plays. It was actually a lot of fun. Those guys are great showmen and players, too.”

While the streetballers were more concerned about putting on a show, Cone was determined to play it straight. Cone wanted to win and didn’t relish the thought of being embarrassed. It helped that Johnson was on Cone’s PCWorx team. The NBA’s sixth overall choice in the 2000 draft drained a trey to knot the count at 96-all and paved the way for Ravena’s game winner as PCWorx won, 98-96. Johnson, who played as a PBA import with Barako Bull in 2012, finished with 24. Ravena and Teng scored 16 apiece. Rosario chipped in 12 and Belo, 11.

PBA legend Robert Jaworski, who was initially supposed to coach PCWorx, showed up to watch the game. He backed out because his mother-in-law fell ill. The Big J made time to express his support for Gawad Kalinga by making a personal appearance.

Reyes said there will be another charity event next year and she mentioned Shaquille O’Neal, Tony Parker and Gerald Green may be involved in coming over. Reyes is making a name for herself as a mover in the sports business and that’s a tribute to her dedication, passion and organizational know-how. Stephon Marbury, Iverson and those streetballers would never have come around if not for Reyes so that’s something to be proud of.

How could the Iverson event have been more successful? Perhaps, if it were tied in with the PBA and a TV network, the affair could’ve made more waves and raised more money for Gawad Kalinga. Just the same, it went down as a memorable blast.