Transitions
Looking back and forward
with the Adamson Falcons’ Kenneth Duremdes and Jansen Rios.
by rick olivares
The Adamson Falcons were in the midst
of an intense practice. First year head coach Kenneth Duremdes wanted it that
way. After all, their next foe was La Salle. Already a tough match up, what
made it seem more daunting is that the Green Archers were coming off a huge
loss to FEU that knocked them off the UAAP’s top spot. “Baka kami
mapagbuntungan ng galit,” thought Duremdes.
Point guard Ryan Monteclaro received
the ball atop the three-point arc where he was wide open. As the defense
scrambled to cover him, he whipped a pass to his right to a suddenly open
teammate. Except his teammate had gone inside in anticipation of an offensive
rebound. Turnover.
Duremdes who was two feet away from the
midcourt line bowed his head for a moment in frustration then quickly changed
gears. “C’mon, boys. Let’s run it without any turnovers! Kaya natin ‘to!”
As practice wrapped up, Duremdes, the
former Falcons star and one of the PBA’s Greatest 25 players, pulled a few of
his players to offer more advice. Later, he reflected, “You cannot get down on
these kids. It’s a tough situation. We lost 11 players from our team from the
previous season. Our remaining players didn’t get much playing time. You have
to remain positive and give them positive things to think about.”
Transitioning is something that
Duremdes is used to. Growing up in Koronodal, South Cotobato, he had dreams of
glory on the baseball diamond. “I love the game,” gushed Duremdes about the
sport. “I don’t have too much time to watch the regular season, but when the World
Series is on, I always watch.”
Even during his time in the PBA,
Duremdes would make it a point to catch up on Major League Baseball especially
his favorite team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, were playing. In fact, when he was
in the Philippine Centennial Team that competed in the 1998 William Jones Cup,
Duremdes and then national head coach Tim Cone, would spend time in the lobby
watching MLB games and the historic single-season home run chase that saw the
St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark McGwire and the Chicago Cubs’ Sammy Sosa battle it
out neck and neck for the record.
As a youngster, Kenneth was his elementary
and high school team’s pitcher and second baseman. The perspective from the
second base helped him read the game properly. And sizing up the game is something
that served him well especially when he transitioned to basketball.
Basketball. At first, he played center
for his high school team (hence, his ability to post up him man). However, when
he got to college to join Adamson, he had to adjust to the two and three-spots
because the Falcons featured their Twin Towers combination of seven-foot EJ
Feihl and 6’9” Marlou Aquino. “I was known to be a slasher back then but when I
got to the PBA I had to work on my jumpshot. Kasi mas matatangkad na yung mga kalaban
mo so hindi na pwede drive ng drive.”
And what a drive it was. Duremdes’ PBA
resume is a chock full of achievements. Having won what he could in the pros
and in the national team, he has taken the next step… coaching.
“Definitely not easy,” succinctly put
the man on the hot spot.
Duremdes is no stranger to difficulty
and challenges. This year, he has taken the Falcons’ fifth year forward Jansen
Rios under his wing. Rios was promoted to the starting five last season but his
inability to get going saw him demoted to the bench where he fared much better
by mid-second round. The coach can understand the disadvantage his team is in.
The best they can do now is salvage what has been a difficult season.
It is easy for Duremdes to identify
with Rios. Both play the same position (small forward), are close to height
“6’3” to 6’2”), and are both from the province.
“That is another aspect na kailangan
i-address ng bawat player na nanggagaling sa probinsya,” noted Duremdes. “Kung
lalambot lambot ka sa Manila walang mangyayari sa ‘yo. You have to show everyone
you belong.”
When Duremdes became a UAAP and PBA
star, he helped put his hometown of Koronodal on the map. Rios now has that
same opportunity.
Jansen hails from Romblon and he is the
first of its native sons to play UAAP basketball so much that when he left for
Manila, his townsfolk sent him off with banners and song.
“Romblon is football country,” he recalled
of life back home. “Hindi ko alam kung ano yung UAAP. Saka na lang nung fourth
year na ako. Sa Romblon kasi, football yung buhay namin.”
Like his coach, basketball wasn’t his
first sport. Jansen played center forward for his elementary and high school
teams. And growing up, he rooted for Liverpool FC where aside from Reds’
talisman Steven Gerrard, he keenly observed the techniques of former
stratospheric striker, the 6’8” Peter Crouch.
Watching Crouch closely, Rios, standing
at 6’2” used his height advantage in winner headers and corners to score goals.
However, by mid-high school, Rios
underwent a growth spurt and basketball eventually beckoned.
“Yung football…” noted Rios. “Ay nakatulong
sa paglaro ko sa basketball sa lateral movement and sa quickness. Pero yung
height ko, kailangan pang maraming gawin sa basketball court.”
In his most productive season, Rios is
averaging through 10 matches, 12.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. With
four matches remaining, Duremdes has asked his senior forward to raise the
level of his game and lead the downtrodden Falcons to victory.
The Falcons have their own legacy. From
Hector Calma to Louie Alas to Nandy Garcia and Romulo Orillosa and to Aquino,
Feihl, and Duremdes himself (and later to players like Ken Bono and Alex
Nuyles).
The Falcons don’t win too often (the 1978
UAAP title and the 1994 National Intercollegiate Championships are perhaps
their two biggest cage prizes) but they’ve always had a proud and winning
tradition.
This year however, the soaring Falcons
have been grounded at 0-10. From all prognostications, they could end up
winless, their first since the inglorious 2000-01 seasons where they went a
combined 0-28.
While conventional wisdom will say that
the Falcons can realistically win only one game, Duremdes steadfastly refuses
to let his players think that way. “So we think we can only win one and we
think we will lose the other three?”
“No,” emphasized Duremdes. “You have to
go on the court believing you can win all four. Losing attitude yung thinking
one game lang.”
“How Jansen and the other veterans play
(in particular, fellow fifth-year swingman Don Trollano) will determine how far
they want to go in this world,” noted the coach.
“When I was playing, the games were
hardly televised and there were no distractions,” said Duremdes. “So focused
kami. Now for Jansen, in this day and age, it is harder given the high level of
competition and the increase of Fil-Ams and foreigners in the local game. He
has the tools. But the question is – how bad does he want to succeed?”
“Changes,” summed up the coach, “are
always part of the game. How you adapt will determine how far you will go.”
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