Tab meets Philippine hoop legends

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin was inspired to meet and exchange basketball stories with four Philippine hoop legends at a forum organized by Nike in the Treston International College gym, Bonifacio Global City, the other day.

The legends were three-time Olympian Ramoncito Campos, 90, two-time Olympian Tony Genato, 86, who played on the third place Philippine team at the 1954 FIBA World Championships in Rio, former Congressman and Senator Freddie Webb, 73, who saw action on the last Philippine team to play in the Olympics in 1972 and Chito Loyzaga, 57, voted one of the PBA’s 40 greatest players.

Baldwin went to the forum with Gilas players L. A. Tenorio, Gabe Norwood and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser. The gathering was staged by Nike country marketing manager Patrick Reyes to provide insights on why basketball is the Philippines’ No. 1 sport before a group of visiting Nike executives led by global basketball head Michael Jackson. Reyes said the Philippines is Nike’s third largest basketball market in the world behind only the US and China.

With the Olympic qualifier set on July 5-10 in Manila, Baldwin said he was encouraged by Campos and Genato who played on Philippine teams that beat France and Canada. Gilas was recently drawn into the same Olympic qualifying bracket as France, Canada, New Zealand, Turkey and Senegal. Campos and Genato were teammates when the Philippines defeated Canada, 81-65, at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and outlasted France, 65-58, in overtime at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Genato played on the Philippine squad that trounced Canada, 83-76 and France, 66-60, at the 1954 FIBA World Championships.

“I’m about 5-7 and players I defended were 6-4 or 6-5 but they couldn’t score against me,” said Genato. “We were never intimidated by size. As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. At the 1952 Olympics, I played against Canada and crawled out of the game with a swollen thigh but we won by 16. We were probably the smallest team in the Olympics but that didn’t matter to us.”

Campos recalled playing against the US, bannered by future NBA stars Bill Russell and K. C. Jones, at the 1956 Olympics. “I was in the corner with the ball and faked Russell off his feet,” he said. “Then, I drove straight to the basket. As I took off for a layup, I didn’t realize Russell was behind me. He blocked my shot and the ball went the other way with the US scoring on a fastbreak.” Genato and teammate Caloy Loyzaga didn’t play that game as they were rested by coach Leo Prieto because it was a no-bearing contest. The US and the Philippines had qualified for the next round. The Philippines previously beat Thailand, 94-55 and Japan, 77-61, in the four-team preliminary group where the top two advanced to the quarterfinals.

“We beat France in the quarterfinals but lost to Uruguay and Chile so we didn’t make it to the semifinals,” said Genato. “We ended up seventh after beating Chile in a rematch. When we played, it was for love of country and love of the game. We weren’t paid to play.” Genato chuckled that he was born too soon.

Baldwin said he’s always known about the Filipinos’ love for the game but only realized at the forum how rich Philippine basketball history is. “I’ve been coaching over 30 years and when I left the US to go to New Zealand in 1988, I thought it would only be for six months,” he said. “I’ve been coaching overseas since then. I’ve gone to Serbia, Lithuania, Greece and countries where basketball is the national sport but there’s no place in the world like the Philippines where basketball is embraced by a people so passionately. Basketball is my life and now that I’m living in the Philippines, I’m finally home.”

Baldwin said it’s an honor to try to bring the Philippines back to the Olympics after a 44-year absence and shrugged off the pressure of doing it. “Throughout my coaching career, I’ve never counted the wins and losses,” he said. “To me, it’s about making a difference in your players’ lives and making them better. I’m with the Philippine team and that means respecting the culture of basketball in the country and preserving its integrity.”

Tenorio said he’s never played for Baldwin as a head coach but he’s hoping to make the team for the Olympic qualifier. “Coach Chot (Reyes) is the No. 1 coach in my mind but I also know that we qualified for the FIBA World Cup with coach Tab as our consultant and he made a big contribution to our push,” he said. “I think coach Tab is a great coach, very straight-forward. He reminds me that my shooting percentage is going down so I’ve got to do something about it.”