KUALA LUMPUR—The RP-Nokia Youth team expectedly overpowered Singapore, 96-55, Monday night to complete a four-game sweep of the seventh Southeast Asia Basketball Association Junior Men Championship.

Filipino-Canadian Norberto Brian Torres was named Most Valuable Player; Mark Joel de Guzman was picked Best Defender; and Franz Pumaren was voted Best Coach by members of the covering media—interestingly only by the Malaysian press, because the four Filipino journalists who accompanied the team here were not asked to cast their votes. Those, by the way, were half of the individual awards given away by the organizers.

The Filipino youngsters, formed only in January but ably backed by Nokia and Julio Sy Jr.’s TAO Corp., were never actually threatened in all their matches (except last Thursday against the hosts, who managed to lead at the most by 11 in the first half, only to yield by a mile in the end).

The Filipinos routed the Malaysians by 31 points (98-67), the Thais by 16 (92-76, although they managed some baskets at garbage time) and the Indonesians by 80 (123-43), the biggest in the tournament, and wrapped it all up with a 41-point win against the Singaporeans.

That’s an average winning margin of 42 points. And that’s not counting how dominant the Filipinos were in rebounds, assists, steals and in all other departments, not to mention their savvy and artistry and fluidity on both ends of the court.

But here’s the picture.

“I think we just achieved a small step to bring back the glory days of the Philippines [in basketball in the Southeast Asian region] and earn the respect of our neighbors,” said Pumaren.

Well said, for the bigger task lies ahead, from August 28 to September 5, to be precise, in the Fiba-Asia Junior Men’s qualifiers for the world junior championship in Tehran, Iran. The RP-Nokia Youth team and runner-up Malaysia advanced to the Tehran qualifiers, where also the top two would advance to the worlds.

“We cemented that we are No.1 in Southeast Asia,” said Pumaren, although stressing, “the bigger test is ahead of us.”

The RP-Nokia Youth team would be facing powerhouse Iran, Jordan, Kazakhstan, China, Korea and Japan in Tehran, teams that dashed the country’s men’s team’s hopes of making the Beijing Olympics in Tokushima, Japan in August last year.

And Pumaren knows drastic changes would have to be implemented in the team.

“It’s no longer about the condition of the boys, it’s more about putting up a new system. We will be facing different teams in a higher level of competition in Tehran,” he said.

But Pumaren is unfazed about how gargantuan the task in Iran would be: “It’s hard but it’s not impossible.”

For the meantime, though, the team would be savoring the sweet victory. A two- to three-week break awaits the boys when the delegation returns to Manila Tuesday.

Final standings: RP-Nokia 4-0, Malaysia 3-1, Thailand 2-2, Singapore 1-3, Indonesia 0-4

Another easy prey

SINGAPORE was there for another easy picking by the Filipino youngsters.

Ryan Roose Garcia had 16 points with three steals; Mark Joel de Guzman made 14 with four rebounds and three assists; Kyle Nicholas Pascual 12 points with seven rebounds; and Samuel Joseph Marata 10 points with three steals for the RP-Nokia Youth team, which was unrelenting as expected with Franz Pumaren’s press, a trademark of his at the De La Salle bench.

The Singaporeans, however, showed some semblance of resistance in the second quarter.

Down, 35-10, at the end of the first quarter, the Singaporeans scored 10 unanswered points to pour in a total 21 markers in the second, one of the rare instances that the RP-Nokia Youth team’s defense got toppled.

They, however, could not keep up and still fell way behind at the half at 31-52, and found the Filipinos’ defense up and strong in the third and settled for five markers against the RP-Nokia Youth’s 25.

The Filipinos merely coasted in the final period, at most times responding to the wild cheers of the close to a hundred Filipinos who trooped to the Maba Gym.

Jun Sy: Boys deserve an ‘A’

JULIO “JUN” SY JR. was as extremely satisfied as everyone on the team. He turned 45 Sunday, and had said this was one of his happiest birthdays.

“I’m very proud of the boys. They sacrificed a lot. And they believed that we’re going to do this program right,” said the soft-spoken president of TAO Corp.

He stressed the boys deserve to get an “A.”

“We got the boys with the right attitude. And that vindicated us,” he said, adding, “these kids came from different places and different backgrounds. And although there were some criticisms that we didn’t pick the right boys for this team, this title obviously showed we are on the right track.”

But Sy knows how onerous the task in Iran could be. “Now we focus on the Asian [qualifier]. We will go there not to win a game or two or more, but to exceed expectations,” he said.

For red, white, blue and yellow

THE RP-Nokia Youth team’s coaching staff consists of Franz Pumaren, Jack Santiago and Dan Rose, all from the De La Salle’s Green Archers. Dindo Pumaren, although he coaches the Red Warriors of the University of the East, is from De La Salle, too. Fernando Felisilda, the support staff, is Dindo’s support at the UE bench.

Only Sandy Arespacochaga was the Atenean on the bench. But that does not bother the Blue Eagles’ assistant coach.

“It’s not about where we belong in the UAAP [University Athletic Association of the Philippines]. It’s not about Blue or Green or Red, but it’s all for red, white, blue and yellow [RP colors],” said Arespacochaga.

Arespacochaga said they often swapped jokes, but never delved on their rivalry in the UAAP.

“We have set aside the rivalry for the team, and the team is Team Nokia Philippines,” he said.

But Arespacochaga does not seem to mind that he’s outnumbered in the coaching staff.

Manny Pangilinan, the president of the Basketball Association of the Philippines-Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, and Julio Sy Jr., the team manager and benefactor, are Ateneans, he proudly quipped.

Long-awaited McDo meal

BECAUSE the RP-Nokia Youth team faced Singapore in the first game Monday night (Malaysia played and beat Indonesia, 120-48, in the second game that started at 8), the team members only had a minicelebration on the court. Franz Pumaren and Sy got the traditional victory rides during the gap between games. The team members also sprayed themselves with water, rendering the playing court wet and slippery.

And who did the wiping? The players themselves.

But never mind. Right after cleaning up the mess, the boys chanted “McDo! McDo! McDo!” Dan Rose, the assistant coach for conditioning and nutrition, meticulously watched the boys’ diet during the entire tournament, drill sergeant-style.

Junk was a no no, especially soft drink. But this time around, he agreed to the boys’ request.

So the entire entourage walked its way to Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown for that long-awaited McDonald’s meal. And what did the boys have? At least two Mega Macs apiece.

Strong Signal

KUALA LUMPUR—The RP-Nokia Youth team expectedly overpowered Singapore, 96-55, Monday night to complete a four-game sweep of the seventh Southeast Asia Basketball Association Junior Men Championship.

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