SAVING CEBU BASKETBALL

TAN

Local coaches, players say Cebu needs commercial leagues

The call for Cebu to have its own commercial basketball league continues to grow louder especially after the cancellation of the much-anticipated regional-based basketball tournament—the Country-Wide Basketball League.

Spirits were high for the inaugural staging of the said competition until last Friday when the tournament was cancelled following the pullout of its chief supporter, media giant ABS-CBN. With no other tournament in sight, Cebu’s preeminent basketball coaches once again expressed their disappointment with the lack of basketball action here in the “Queen City of the South.”

“Basketball in Cebu is dying,” said Jun Tan, the head coach of the Cebu Landmasters-Bogo City, whose team was already primed and ready for battle behind stalwarts such as former pros Reed Juntilla, Larry Rodriguez and Eric Rodrigez. “We need to have tournaments since sayang ang talent ng mga young players. They really have the talent but they’re not being discovered because we don’t have competitions aside from the Cesafi.”

NOEL

Another veteran mentor, Jun Noel, who has seen his fair share of hardcourt wars coaching for the Bacolod Slashers in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association and Hapee Toothpaste in the Philippine Basketball League before becoming head coach of the University of San Jose-Recoletos, recalled the golden years of Cebu commercial basketball.

“In the 1960s until early 2000, Cebu was famous for its highly competitive commercial leagues which were better than Manila. Sad to say, those are no more,” Noel shared.

The multi-titled Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba, head coach of the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala-Cebu Niños, quipped that having tournaments eased the burden of local player having to go to Manila to try their luck.

Next call of duty

“It’s very important to have commercial tournaments here so that the players will have more exposure and experience. There’s no need for them to go to Manila,” said Alcoseba, who also coaches the Cesafi powerhouse, Southwestern University Cobras.

With their opportunity to showcase their skills dashed at the moment, several Cebuano players have been left looking for their next call of duty.
“Sobrang sayang talaga since excited na ako maglaro sa CWBL. Sa Cebu pa naman sana ako maglalaro na hometown ko,” said Joseph Nalos, the former Adamson guard was getting ready to suit up for the Niños but is now on his way back to Manila when Cebu Daily News got hold of him.

ALCOSEBA

“Maganda talaga sana ang liga nay yun kasi siyempre para ma-expose ang mga players sa Cebu. May chance sana na mapakita yung talents nila, malay natin, makita sila ng Manila teams,” Nalos added.

James Regalado, the ex-USJ-R Jaguar who saw action for Mighty Sports in the PCBL, said that the CWBL provided an opportunity for younger players like him to showcase their skills especially with the absence of commercial leagues in Cebu.

“Maraming magagaling na manlalaro na galing sa college sa Cebu. Pagkatapos ng playing years eh magiging stagnant na yung status nila kasi walang mga commercial teams sa Cebu. Walang mapupuntahan unlike sa Manila madaming liga,” said the Dauin, Negros Oriental-native.

Mikey Cabahug, the son of former PBA great Elmer “Boy” Cabahug, was to see action for the Flying V-Davao. But like the many who have been left hanging with the cancellation of the CWBL, he felt saddened by the lost opportunity to try his luck at playing high-stakes basketball after his career in Ateneo’s Team B.

“I’ve been training with the Flying V-Davao team for 3 weeks na. Like naporma na ang team then unfortunately, this happened. Less than a month na lang sana and everyone was really excited. Sayang lang.”