 |
| With Anthony Semerad, Sudan Daniel, and David Semerad at the Gatorade PBA Draft Combine. |
REDemption
The recent batch of San Beda Red Lions haven't done too well in the PBA. This new crop of hopefuls plan to reverse that trend.
by rick olivares
There was a time when San Beda Red Lions were among the top stars
in the PBA.
There was Abe King who was a rock underneath the boards for Toyota
and Great Taste, JB Yango who starred for Tanduay and Purefoods, Chito Loyzaga
(and his younger brother Joey) who made a name for himself with Toyota and
Ginebra, Elmer Reyes who ran the break for San Miguel and Swift, and Frankie
Lim with Alaska. There were others who went on to have okay careers but not on
the level of the aforementioned. There were also Macky De Joya, Boybits
Victoria, and Merwin Castelo to name a few more Bedans to ply their trade in
the pro loop.
However, since San Beda’s return to college basketball prominence
in 2006, there have been seven Red Lions drafted into the PBA:
2007
Yousif Aljamal 8th overall Air21 to TNT
2008
Pong Escobal 11th overall TNT
2009
Ogie Menor 7th overall Burger King Whoppers
2010
Bam Gamalinda 11th overall Meralco
Borgie Hermida 17th overall Barako Energy Coffee Masters
2012
Dave Marcelo 12th overall B-Meg Llamados
2013
Anjo Caram 36th overall Meralco Bolts
As of the Governors’ Cup of the 2013-14 season, the only SBC alums
on active rosters were Menor who was with Air21, Marcelo with Barako Bull
Energy, and Caram with Meralco. And of the three it was Caram, perhaps the most
unlikely of all the Mendiola grads, who logged the most minutes and best stats:
Caram – 22 games
13.6 mins
2.8 points
0.9 rebounds
1.5 assists
Marcelo – 27 games
10.7 mins
1.9 points
1.2 rebounds
Menor – 13 games
4.7 minutes
1.1 points
The situation is similar to former Duke University Blue Devils in
the National Basketball Association. For a time, their alumni – with stellar US
NCAA stars like Christian Laettner, Trajan Langdon, Bobby Hurley, Jay Williams,
Danny Ferry, Cherokee Parks, and Alaa Abdelnaby to name a few -- didn’t do too
well in the Association.
That changed with Grant Hill, Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, Elton
Brand, and JJ Redick to also name a few who are carrying the Duke standard in
the pros.
In this year’s Gatorade PBA Draft, there are six Bedan hopefuls: Rome
dela Rosa, Jake Pascual, Kyle Pascual, Anthony and David Semerad, and Mar
Villahermosa. There could have been a record seventh SBC players joining the
draft in gunner Garvo Lanete but he opted to pass and try his luck for the 2015
draft.
“I’m aware of my former teammates’ situations,” lamented dela Rosa.
“I hope to make my mark and would love to be able to represent my school
proudly in the PBA. Hopefully, I will get that chance to do it.”
Current Red Lions team manager and former team assistant coach Jude
Roque offered an explanation, “The PBA is so competitive nowadays with so many
great talents occupying the one, two, and three positions. It’s also a question
of height. A lot of our recent Red Lion forwards and centers a great for the
college game but shorter for the pros. And that’s tough. As for our point guards,
sometimes, hindi kasi nabibigyan ng break.”
A former Red Lions coach who requested anonymity concurred with
Roque’s last statement. “You need to go to the right team, the right coach, and
the right system. That goes for all players. Sometimes it’s a bad fit and the
player is not given a break. And when any player sits, his confidence goes.”
Sports journalist and Mendiola product Mike Abasolo believes that
if some had stayed in the amateurs a little longer they could have developed
better. “A few of them could have sustained
their careers in the pros if they didn’t jump too early,” opined the big boss
of inboundpass.com. “It's not about their lack of size or skill. The PBA
has a ton of individual talent. It's a hyper competitive basketball arena and
coaches have a lot of choices. Competition maybe have diluted their stock as a
good addition to a PBA team in need of character injection. Timing and luck will also play a major role.”
“Hopefully, we can reverse that trend if you can call it such,”
said Anthony Semerad during the Gatorade PBA Draft Combine. “That is why we try
to improve on a lot of aspects on our game. There’s our shooting, rebounding,
passing, and defense.”
“And it’s trying to get faster and physically bigger,” added
Anthony’s twin brother David.
Nardy Madrasto, a SBC alum who among his many ventures occasionally
helps the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas with various matters pointed out that
it isn’t only the Mendiola-based school’s players that are experiencing a hard
time cracking PBA starting lineups.” A lot of NCAA or UAAP stars have also
struggled in the PBA as well. Pero yung height malaking factor yan. So ngayon,
ang tanong, ‘paano mag-a-adjust yung player?’”
Veteran pro basketball player Dondon Hontiveros (who isn’t a San
Beda alumnus but a University of Cebu Webmaster) advised the assembled draft
hopefuls during the draft combine that in the PBA, more often than not, a
player has to play a different position and learn new skills that go with the
spot switch.
“Like they say,” summed up Anthony Semerad, “Any time you move up
there are always new challenges. So you really have to adapt or nothing will
happen. We just have to show the way now for our school, won’t we?”
 |
| With Nardy Madrasto and Rome dela Rosa at Teriyaki Boy. |
No comments:
Post a Comment