THE Philippine men’s under-18 team is staring at a blank wall when it plunges into action tonight in the Southeast Asia Basketball Association (Seaba) Championship for Junior Men at the Malaysia Amateur Basketball Association Gym in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The RP Youth team of head coach Franz Pumaren faces host Malaysia in the main game of the five-nation tournament, with the multititled mentor admitting that he has no idea how their rivals play.

“We did not have time to scout them so we’ll just take care of ourselves and maximize what we have right now,” said Pumaren in a previous interview.

Assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga said that their only information of the Malaysian team is it has a couple of tall players, led by half-American and six-foot-six center Edward Alexander.

“That’s the only information we have on them, but we’re more concerned with our team although in the past few weeks, we have seen improvements on them and hopefully it would continue,” said Arespacochaga.

The coaching staff actually made a decision already for its final roster, deciding to place Mark Lopez of University of the Philippines, Jovet Mendoza of National U (NU) and Philip Paredes of Sacred Heart Cagayan de Oro on the reserved list.

Frank Golla, a six-foot-six center from Ateneo, has been named the team captain, while Ryan Roose Garcia of Far Eastern U is cocaptain.

Making the team were Gabriel Banal of Xavier School, Joseph Terso of NU, Joel Tolentino and six-foot-two Samuel Joseph Marata of University of the Philippine Integrated School, six-foot-one Mark de Guzman of College of St. Benilde, six-foot-one Jed Manguera of De La Salle-Zobel, six-foot-four Ian Sangalang of Pampanga, six-foot-one JP Mendoza of Tarlac, six-foot-six Canadian-raised Filipino Norbert Torres and six-foot-six California-bred Kyle Pascual.

The team attended a two-week training at the Joe Abunassar basketball camp in California in March, and played as a guest squad in the Philippine Basketball League.

The last time the young Filipino dribblers won the crown was in 2004.

Pumaren said the addition of Pascual and Torres boosts the team’s frontline.

“That’s one area we are lacking before they came in. Now, we have the size to match up our opponents,” said Pumaren. “But my major concern for this team is how to play with consistency. Hopefully, we can correct this problem before the tournament.”

The top two teams in this tournament advance to the Fiba-Asia 18-under cagefest in Iran this September.

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THE Philippine men’s under-18 team is staring at a blank wall when it plunges into action tonight in the Southeast Asia Basketball Association (Seaba) Championship for Junior Men at the Malaysia Amateur Basketball Association Gym in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

NATIONAL men’s football coach Norman Fegidero is upbeat about his team’s chances in the five-day Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Challenge Cup qualifiers that begin May 13 in Iloilo. This, despite the tough challenge a former Soviet republic is expected to pose on the hosts.

Sports officials are betting the country’s gold-medal hopes on boxing and taekwondo. They’re also betting big money on them.

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If you’re a regular listener of Monster Radio RX 93.1, you surely would be familiar with Rico Robles—that sporty DJ who hosts All Access every 6 to 10 p.m., Mondays to Saturdays, and who makes all those interesting sports commentaries—about the National Basketball Association (NBA), among others.