NBTC joust fires off today

The biggest-ever NBTC (National Basketball Training Center) Championships involving 12 teams in Division I and 12 teams in Division II with two foreign teams in the mix will unfold today at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena, starting a five-day event to culminate in the Finals on Thursday.

An added attraction is the SBP qualifying tournament to determine the team representing the country at the FIBA World U18 3x3 Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, on June 1-5. NBTC event coordinator Michelle Beltran said 16 3x3 teams will be formed from the schools that fail to make it to the Division I or Division II semifinals and they’ll slug it out until only one is left standing. The sole survivor advances to the qualifier where seven school teams are seeded by the SBP. The seven seeded teams are Ateneo, NU, UST, FEU, San Beda, Arellano and Letran. The 3x3 games are scheduled at the SM MOA Music Hall on Wednesday.

The FIBA World U18 3x3 Championships were inaugurated in Rimini, Italy, with New Zealand capturing the first title in 2011. The second crown was taken by Serbia in Madrid in 2012 and the third by Argentina in Jakarta in 2013. There was no tournament in 2014 and last year, New Zealand reclaimed the title in the fourth edition in Debrecen, Hungary. This year’s competition will bring in 20 countries in the men’s division – Andorra, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, China, Egypt, Georgia, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey and Uruguay. Absent are teams from the US, France, Greece and Serbia.

Another bonus feature in the NBTC event is the staging of the Division I and II All-Star Games on Wednesday. NBTC program director Eric Altamirano said the Division I All-Star Game will include four guest foreign players, namely, 6-5 Matthew Daves, 6-2 James Canlas and 5-10 Phaul Peralta of the Durham Crossover Club of Canada and 5-10 Johann Rubite of Traill International School of Thailand. The Division I All-Star Game will feature 14 players for the North and 14 players for the South. Coaches are Jeff Napa (recently named Letran seniors head coach) and J. B. Sison. Napa took NU to the UAAP juniors title and Sison led San Beda to the NCAA juniors crown this season.

Tournament commissioner Ato Badolato pre-selected the players for the All-Star Games with national youth coach Mike Oliver. Two Cebu players were chosen to see action in the Division I All-Star Game – 5-11 Jed Colonia of Sacred Heart School Ateneo de Cebu and 6-0 Jancork Cabahug of the University of the Visayas. Cabahug is the nephew of former PBA hotshot Elmer (Boy) Cabahug. The Division II All-Star Game will feature 12 players for the North and 12 for the South. Guest coaches for the Division II All-Star Game are Ateneo stars Kiefer Ravena and Von Pessumal for the North and FEU standouts Mike Tolomia and Russell Escoto for the South.

The Division I All-Star Game will unravel the country’s top prepsters. The North lineup consists of 6-1 Jonas Tibayan of Chiang Kai Shek, 6-1 Sherwin Concepcion of Mapua, 5-11 Kris Pagsanjan of Hope Christian, 5-10 Evan Nelle of San Beda, 6-0 Juan Gomez de Llano of UP, 6-5 Justine Baltazar of NU, 6-3 Javier Gomez de Llano of UP, 6-1 Ricci Rivero of La Salle Greenhills, 5-11 Tyler Tio of Xavier, 6-3 Will Gozum of UP, 6-1 John Lloyd Clemente of NU, 6-1 Alain Madrigal of La Salle Greenhills, Canlas and Peralta.

The South roster is composed of 5-10 John Galinato of Chiang Kai Shek, 6-0 Evan Agbong of Adamson, 6-0 Gian Mamuyac of Ateneo, 5-9 Jolo Mendoza of Ateneo, 5-8 Aljun Melecio of DLS Zobel, 5-10 Marvel Jimenez of Hope Christian, 6-1 Samuel Abulihijle of San Beda, 6-4 Germy Mahinay of San Beda, 6-1 Rhayyan Amsali of NU, 5-9 Rendell Lee of Xavier, Cabahug, Colonia, Daves and Rubite.

This year’s NBTC marks the first time that foreign teams are participating. Durham Crossover is representing the North American Basketball Association with coach Mike Cruz at the helm. The other foreign team is Traill International School. The Canadian team arrived here last Feb. 27 and has been busy scrimmaging with local teams to get ready for the NBTC. It is composed of Filipino and Fil-foreigners living in Canada. The Thai squad flew in from Bangkok last Friday and is made up of high schoolers of different nationalities, including Filipino. Another highlight of the NBTC is SM Lifestyle Entertainment’s sponsorship. SM is throwing its full support for the grassroots program to build basketball stars who may potentially excel as Philippine representatives in the global arena.

Assisting Altamirano in organizing the NBTC is Alaska head coach Alex Compton who serves as training director.  Altamirano and Compton teamed up to form the NBTC in 2007. Their partnership is now on its 10th year. “We worked together to build this program from scratch,” said Altamirano. “Alex plays an important role and his success with Alaska only adds to the credibility of our program.” To inaugurate this season’s NBTC, Altamirano held a coaches convention at the Meralco Gym last Oct. 27-30 with an audience of over 1,000. The gathering featured 10 speakers, namely, Tim Cone, Norman Black, Tab Baldwin, Boris Aldeguer, Kirk Collier, Dr. Rey Canlas, Harvie Baron, Ado Bernardo, Chappy Callanta and Anthony Pangilinan.

After the coaches convention, the NBTC staged eliminations in various levels from the local city to the regional. The regional winners moved up to the National Championships for Divisions I and II. Metro Manila teams were allotted slots from the Metro Manila Basketball League (MMBL) qualifiers. The NBTC is strictly for high school players with an age limit of 18.

The 12 teams in Division I are San Beda, Chiang Kai Shek and NU from Metro Manila, Lyceum of Cavite from South Luzon I, Sacred Heart School Ateneo de Cebu, Tay Tung High School of Bacolod and St. Robert’s International School of Iloilo from the Visayas, Assumption Montessori School of Cagayan de Oro, Southern City Colleges of Zamboanga and Assumption College of Davao from Mindanao and the two foreign teams.

The 12 teams in Division II are Bato Rural Development High School of Catanduanes, Palawan National High School, La Salle Lipa and Rex Dei Academy of Sta. Rosa, Laguna from South Luzon, Our Lady of the Pillar College of Cauayan, Castillejos National High School of Zambales, Angeles University Foundation of Pampanga and La Finns St. Scholastica of La Union from North Luzon, Linao National High School of Ormoc and Paref Springdale School of Mandaue from the Visayas and Dr. Aurelio Mendoza Memorial College of Zamboanga Sibugay and Agusan National High School of Butuan from Mindanao.