PBA legends vow good show

MANILA, Philippines - Jerry Codiñera will be the playing coach of the hastily-assembled PBA legends squad set to face an 11-man US touring team of the New York City-based Professional Basketball Alumni Association (PBAA) at the MOA Arena tomorrow night.

Although the PBA legends got together for practice only once and they weren’t even complete, Codiñera promised they’ll put on a good show. 

“We’ll definitely enjoy this opportunity to play against some of our heroes,” said Codiñera, the University of the East coach who played 17 PBA seasons up to 2005. “We’ve played against or with each other in exhibitions here and abroad so familiarity isn’t an issue but we like to set our own pace. We’re not sure what pace the other team will play. Personally, I’m looking forward to posing with my heroes for pictures. It’s an honor to play with the NBA stars on the same court.”

The touring team is mainly composed of NBA legends. Hall of Famer Oscar (The Big O) Robertson, the only NBA player ever to average a triple double in a season (30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists in 1961-62), will call the shots for the PBAA selection. The visiting players are 6-7 Scottie Pippen, 46, 6-7 Dennis Rodman, 51, 6-5 Mitch Richmond, 46, 6-7 Bryon Russell, 41, 6-10 Cliff Robinson, 45, 6-1 Jason (White Chocolate) Williams, 36, 6-10 Horace Grant, 46, 6-6 Alexus Foyle, 33, 6-5 Chris Campbell, 31, 6-4 Jeff Trepagnier, 32, and 5-11 Charoy Bentley, 23.

Only Foyle, Campbell and Bentley aren’t NBA veterans. Foyle, whose cousin Adonal played in the NBA, averaged 26.7 points with the Brigham Young University at Hawaii varsity in 2002-03. The former Vincentian national cager has suited up as an import in France and Taiwan. Campbell played at Harding, an NCAA Division 2 school, and had a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters. He has seen action in Italy, Russia, Venezuela, Mexico, Qatar and Jordan. Bentley averaged 3.1 points as a point guard in his fourth year with the St. Joseph’s varsity in 2010-11 – he’s the youngest on either team.

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Codiñera said he’ll probably start Marlou Aquino, Noli Locsin, Vince Hizon, Kenneth Duremdes and Jojo Lastimosa. “We’re hoping we get five to seven solid minutes from our starters,” he said. “We’ll see how many minutes we can all play. We’ll rely on hand signals when we need to sub. Kenneth still has his shooting touch and we’ll rely on that. The same with Vince who hit seven triples in our practice. The way we see it, the NBA players will just protect the basket and let us shoot from outside. If we try to penetrate, they’ll be waiting to block our shots.”

Codiñera would like to play an up-and-down game to wear out the visitors who were scheduled to face the Westports Malaysia Dragons at the Melawati Indoor Stadium in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. But playing transition will mean keeping young and fresh legs on the floor. Unfortunately, Codiñera’s lineup isn’t equipped with young legs.

The PBA legends roster is made up of Lastimosa, 48, Locsin, 41, Aquino, 40, Bal David, 39, Nelson Asaytono, 45, Hizon, 41, E. J. Feihl, 42, Bong Hawkins, 44, Duremdes, 37, and Codiñera, 45.  In his heyday, David was one of the quickest guards in the PBA. Codiñera said today, David can still sprint but endurance is a question mark.

Last Sunday, the PBA legends reported for their first and only one-hour practice at the MOA Arena after the UAAP games. “We did two scrimmages of 25 points each,” said Codiñera. “We started at 8 p.m. Bong couldn’t be with us because he played in a benefit game for Congressman Manny (Pacquiao) in Sarangani. Kenneth brought in an African import from Adamson and Mayor (Neil) Tupas III of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, just so we could complete two teams. It was fun but tiring.” Aside from Hawkins, Lastimosa and Asaytono didn’t report for practice due to commitments.

Codiñera said his father Boy’s idol has always been Robertson and he himself is looking forward to shake hands with Pippen and Rodman. “We’ll enjoy this opportunity,” said Codiñera. “This is a dream come true for us.”

Alvin Patrimonio and Allan Caidic would’ve played for the Legends but their PBA teams are playing at the Smart Araneta Coliseum that same night. Patrimonio is B-Meg’s team manager while Caidic is with the Barangay Ginebra coaching staff.

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Duremdes said he brought over Adamson’s in-residence Cameroon import Tewa to oppose Aquino and Feihl during the scrimmages. “Our import will be eligible to in the UAAP next season,” said Duremdes. “Bal was complaining that he’s the only point guard on our team. But we told him not to worry because the NBA players won’t trap anyway. The problem is they’ll be backed up by young players and we’re only 10. It would be better if we were at least 12 with two young players. If the NBA players can’t last four quarters, what more us? But it’ll be a fun game. We’ll do our best to be competitive.  We won’t be embarrassed.”

A press conference will be held to announce the lineups of both teams at the MOA Arena lounge on the fourth floor at 4 p.m. today.

Pippen, Rodman, Grant, Richmond and Williams played on NBA title teams. Robinson is in the record books as one of only 17 players ever to see action in the NBA at over 40 years old. Robinson was 40 years and 147 days old when he played his last NBA game on May 12, 2007. In the elite “senior” group with Robinson are Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dikembe Mutombo, Karl Malone, John Stockton and Robert Parish.