Jamike to wage two wars

MANILA, Philippines - Coach Jamike Jarin left the other day with the Batang Gilas team to compete at the FIBA World U17 Championships in Dubai on Aug. 8-16 and won’t be back home until after piloting another Philippine squad at the FIBA Asia U18 Championships in Doha on Aug. 19-28. It won’t be easy protecting the lines in two battlefronts but Jarin said he’s ready to lead the charge for flag and country.

Only three players will suit up in both tournaments because of age limits and school obligations. They are 6-4 Richard Escoto of FEU, 6-0 Jolo Go of Hope Christian and 6-0 Paul Desiderio of UP. Jarin will be backed up by assistants Jig Mendoza and Dennis Llapes in Dubai and Doha. Letran high school assistant coach Ricky Reyes will join the staff in Doha.

“We’ll be away from home for almost a month,” said the 44-year-old Jarin who led Ateneo to eight UAAP junior titles in 13 seasons. “It’s not as if we’ll be doing drills or attending a seminar. This will be strictly for competition. So my bags are packed with strepsils, ginger ale and all sorts of medicine.”

Jarin said qualifying for the world tournament is a huge achievement. It’s the first time the Philippines earned a ticket to the U17 event which was inaugurated in Hamburg in 2010 and held in Lithuania two years later. The Philippines is bracketed in the so-called Group of Death with Angola, Greece and the US. Batang Gilas makes its debut against Angola today then takes on Greece tomorrow and the US on Monday.

“It’s a rare opportunity to play against future NBA players,” said Jarin. “We’re going out there to play the US without pressure. We’ll just enjoy the moment. On the national level, our goal is to qualify for the Worlds in the youth, men and women divisions. It’s a big step for us to qualify with our youth and men. It’s a baby step for us to be competitive against the world’s powerhouses. We want to consistently qualify for the Worlds. We’re hoping this won’t be the last time and that we won’t wait another 20 or 30 years before qualifying again. This is our chance to show the world how Filipinos play the game we love.”

The Philippines qualified for Dubai by placing second to China at the FIBA Asia U16 Championships in Tehran last October. The top three finishers were awarded tickets to the Worlds.

In Qatar, Jarin said only the finalists will advance to the FIBA World U19 Championships in Greece on June 27-July 5 next year. The Philippines is bracketed in Group B with South Korea and Jordan.

“We haven’t won the FIBA Asia U18 title since we hosted in 1982 (with coach Ron Jacobs),” said Jarin. “I think we’re more competitive in the U16 division because the big guys from other countries aren’t too heavy for us yet. When they get to the U18 division, it’s a different story----it’s like boys to men. With our success at the FIBA Asia U16, it’s possible we’re being targeted. I don’t know how we landed in our bracket but it’s possible Qatar wants us out early because we’re not playing the lightweights in the eliminations and round of 12. I honestly believe as a tournament goes on, we get better so if we survive and make it to the quarters, we’ll be dangerous.”

Jarin said he’s not aware why the U18 tournament was nearly cancelled by Qatar. “I don’t know if there are internal problems with their federation,” he said. “They didn’t send a U16 team to Tehran. But you can be sure Qatar will be strong as the host country. We can’t promise a top two or even top three finish. I don’t know what’s a realistic goal. All I know is we’ll be relying on our guys with their winning attitude, guys who are tested winners like Radge (Tongco), Andre (Caracut) and Marc (Dyke). And we’ve also got Aaron (Black) and Kobe (Paras). Our U16 players are coming with international experience. They know how to win playing selfless basketball. We’ll bank on that positivity.”

Jarin said both the U17 and U18 squads practiced together. “We’ve been doing joint practices since January and it’s worked out,” he said. “The competition has been very healthy. We’re hoping their time together will be enough preparation to get us ready. We’re lucky that Kobe and Leonard (Santillan) are available. Kobe flew in from the US where he’s now playing with Cathedral College in Los Angeles. Leonard is from the University of the Visayas. We’ve got a nice balance in our lineup. Andre and Radge are our scorers, Aaron and Jolo our shooters. We’ve got rebounders, defenders and guys who’ll do the dirty work.”

The Philippines plays Jordan on Aug. 20 and South Korea on Aug. 21 before crossing over to play the top three placers from Group A, likely to be China, India and Qatar. “The draw is both good and bad,” said Jarin. “It’s good because we don’t get to play China and South Korea in the knockout quarters but it’s bad because we’ll be challenged in the first two rounds of eliminations. We’ll just have to be ready for any eventuality.”

The U17 players are Matt and Mike Nieto of Ateneo, Carlo Abadeza of Arellano, Escoto, Mike de la Cruz of La Salle Greenhills, Mikel Panlilio of International School, Desiderio, Arnie Padilla of FEU, Jolo Mendoza of Ateneo, Go, Enzo Navarro of San Sebastian and Diego Dario of UP. The U18 players are Tongco, Caracut, Paras, Dyke, Black, Santillan, Escoto, Desiderio, Go, Dave Yu of NU, Chino Mosqueda of NU and Rey Bienes of FEU-FERN.