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| With Derrick and Dindo Pumaren |
HK hopes to learn
from its favorite team, the Philippines
by rick
When Hong Kong plays the Philippines today in the
final match of the second round of the 2013 FIBA Asia, they’ll be up against
their ‘idols’.
“Yeah, we like the way the Filipinos play,” said
center Duncan Reid while watching the Philippines’ 90-71 demolition of Japan. “They’re
fun to watch and we hope to learn from them.”
In order to fully learn basketball that is a lower
tier sport in Hong Kong, national team manager Lam Chik Cheong secured the
services of former Philippine national head coach Derek Pumaren, first, as team
consultant first for his Winling ballclub in the Hong Kong Basketball League (HKBL)
and second, for the national team competing in this FIBA tournament.
“The assistant coach of the team is a friend of my
younger brother Dindo and he asked if we would like to help their team out,”
recounted Pumaren who first steered the De La Salle Green Archers to a pair of
UAAP championships before moving to the PBA where he mentored Pepsi, Sunkist,
Sta. Lucia, Purefoods, Fedex, and Talk ‘N Text (before current Gilas coach Chot
Reyes took over). “It’s a new experience for me. Sometimes, I catch myself as
if I am coaching a professional team.”
“The HKBL is like our Philippine Basketball League
which is semi-pro in nature,” further explained Pumaren who is now on his third
year working as a consultant in Hong Kong. “That means almost all the players
have days jobs. Some are not able to practice because of work.”
Of this HK team competing in the FIBA Asia
Championships, swingman Lam Man Chun is a fireman, guard Lee Ki and forward
Wong Chun Wai are both university professors while others like Reid and
shooting guard Chan Siu Wing just graduated from school. “We even have a
policeman and a lawyer on the team,” added Reid who is looking to play in
either in Canada or Hong Kong.
“Sometimes, I find myself pushing them like I would
do to pro players,” confessed Pumaren. “Napapatigil din ako in the middle of a
drill. But I enjoy what I am doing. They have potential and I have seen a great
improvement in their games.”
The Hong Kong team only has six “official” national
players in its lineup. “The others were unavailable because almost everyone has
a day job,” revealed Pumaren who spends anywhere from two weeks to three months
in the former British colony while running drills and teaching the players the
finer points of basketball. “Some only arrived the other day because of work.
But we also lost (shooting guard) Poon Chi Ho who had to fly back because his
wife was due to give birth.”
The other players in the lineup were picked up from
Winling.
“We’re not too disappointed when we lose. We know
this is a learning experience,” pronounced Reid. “This tournament and even when
we play the Philippines, it is an opportunity to learn from the best. And that
is how we get better as country.”
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| With Hong Kong center Duncan Reid |
Is it appropriate to say that the level of basketball in Hong Kong is similar to the level of football in the Philippines?
ReplyDeleteRegardless, my respect for Hong Kong basketball has just gone up.