I HAD written by Wednesday of last week the first draft of my column for today — the big joke that was the privilege speech of the big joke of a senator, Bong Revilla. But the bashing that the speech and the speaker got in both the print and broadcast media in the days that followed, made the subject stale by the weekend.
Some political pundits say the speech was meant for Bong?s constituents, the masa (masses). If so, it still is a reflection of Bong?s mentality. The Senate was the wrong venue for it. The masa do not listen to privilege speeches in Congress; they do not understand or care about what goes on in Congress. Otherwise Bong, his father, and his brother-in-law the Big J would not have been elected to the Senate.
I have decided instead to write about another big joke in Congress — Congressman Manny Pacquiao. In a press conference also last week, Columbian Autocar Corp. (Kia) named Pacquiao head coach of their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) expansion team. With no less than PBA Commissioner Chito Salud gracing the occasion, Pacquiao?s designation as head coach of the Kia team in the PBA is now official.
In May, Kia even tried to name Pacquiao its player-coach, but the PBA was quick to clarify that an expansion team is not allowed direct hires of players. Pacquiao as a new player would have to join the rookie draft, thus giving rise to the possibility that another team could draft him.
?I will follow the rules and regulations of the PBA. My focus right now is being head coach,? he said. Unfortunately, the PBA has no rules regarding head coaches.
One of the biggest concerns about Pacquiao?s new job is how he will allocate his time to his many duties. He represents Sarangani province in the House of Representatives. The 2014-15 PBA season starts in October. He is set to prepare for his next bout in November. Pacquiao stressed that everything will be a matter of time management.
His colleagues in the lower house are not happy about the development. Lito Atienza believes that Pacquiao is making a big mistake in joining the PBA. ?Too bad he does not know when he is being used by other people,? Mr. Atienza said. He should know. He used Pacquiao for his political ends. What Party-list Representative Atienza may not know is that Pacquiao is using both Columbian Auto Car and the PBA in his quest for the title ?Jack of All Trades, Master of Them All.?
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte was wrong when he said, ?I don?t think this will be good for his work as a boxer and as a congressman because these two alone require his full attention.? His boxing career alone requires his full attention. That is why Pacquiao was present in 108 out of the 168 session days (64%) in the 15th Congress. And he merely sat out the sessions he attended. Oh, he spoke against the RH bill in the plenary session. But when interpellated by the articulate Edcel Lagman (no relation), Pacquiao just ignored Rep. Lagman?s comments and continued to read his prepared script.
?I have to prove not only in boxing but also in basketball my gilas (gallantry),? Pacquiao said, explaining that before boxing, basketball was his passion. A PBA head coach has to have much more than an understanding of the game. He analyzes the skills and weaknesses of each player and determines what role each is suited for. From his assessment of the players? capabilities, he chooses the types of offense and defense that would use to the hilt his players? talents.
During games, he designs plays called for by the situation, rotates players on the basis of how they execute the game plans, how they match up against the opposing players, how tired they are, and how many fouls they have. He must also be good at spotting young players with great potential and has the persuasive skill and stature to make them want to play for him. He should be able to inspire them towards success.
For these reasons, a PBA head coach should have many years of experience as a professional basketball player or as assistant coach in the pro leagues before being appointed head coach of a PBA team. Norman Black of Talk ?N Text Tropang Texters, Jeffrey Cariaso of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, and Pido Jarencio of GlobalPort Batang Pier were former PBA stars themselves. While Franz Pumaren of Air 21 Express and Ciot Tanquincen of Barako Bull Energy Cola were not stars, they played in PBA tournaments for many years. Pumaren and Jarencio also coached UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) champion teams, Franz winning for De La Salle five crowns, Pido bagging one for UST (University of Santo Tomas).
Alex Compton of Alaska was a star player in the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association, the other pro basketball league. He was an assistant coach of Luigi Trillo, head coach of Alaska, for three years before being elevated to head coach when Trillo resigned three weeks ago. Trillo himself was an assistant coach of Tim Cone for 15 years in Alaska.
Yeng Guiao of Rain or Shine never played in the PBA but was a varsity player of the University of the Philippines (UP). He coached the Philippine Amateur Basketball League team Swift where one of his players was Alvin Patrimonio. He eventually became head coach of PBA champion teams — Sunkist, Barako Bull, and Rain or Shine. Ryan Gregorio did not play in the PBA either but was also a varsity player of UP and coached the same team years after his graduation. He was an assistant of Purefoods coach Eric Altamirano before taking over Altamirano?s position when Eric joined the national team as assistant coach in 2002.
Tim Cone, coach of the San Mig Coffee Mixers, played for Menlo College (in Northern California). His debut in the PBA in the early 1980s was as game analyst for Vintage Sports, which had the broadcast rights for PBA games then. His buddy Wilfred Uytengsu must have been impressed with his analyses that he offered Tim the head coaching job of Alaska.
Pacquiao said he will be bringing the lessons and skills he learned from boxing to the PBA. What are these skills? The Muhammad Ali shuffle and the Roberto Duran head bobbing?
On forming a competitive team that can put up a decent fight against powerhouses like Talk ?N Text and San Mig Coffee Mixers, Pacquiao said that his modest goal for the team in the first conference is ?not to be an embarrassment.?
?We may not be that good, but we will make the team better. I will have the players go through my training,? Pacquiao said.
As said earlier, Kia cannot hire players directly. As an expansion team, Kia will have to recruit players from the pool of young players joining the 2014 draft. In the first round of the rookie draft, the three expansion teams (NLEX and Blackwater are the other two) can select from the pool of rookies only after the 10 current PBA teams shall have picked their new players. In the second round, the expansion teams will choose first. In effect, their picks will be the Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. Kia will divide the six rookies with NLEX and Blackwater. That means Kia will get only two of the six players.
To give an idea of the quality of players that are Nos. 11 to 16 picks in the draft, here are the 2013 Nos. 11 to 16 picks: Nico Salva, Jeric Teng, Justin Melton, Jeric Fortuna, Eric Camson. JP Erram. In 2012, they were Yousef Taha, Dave Marcelo, Jewel Ponferada, AJ Mandani, Emman Monfort, and Lester Alvarez.
Kia?s first PBA team will be made up of players of the caliber of those listed above.
The photo release on the announcement of Pacquiao as head coach showed Mr. Salud with the obligatory smile. That facial expression seems to betray his feelings about the event. Kia?s entry into the PBA could be as big a joke as Manny Pacquiao being a member of Congress.
