The Philippines Burlington-PG-Flex- Bestank basketball team, led by chef de mission Ret. PNP Gen. Noel Estanislao and head coach Johny Tam, turns over the Philippine team jacket to Special Envoy to China Benito Techico and Hong Kong-based businessman Jackie Hao during the sendoff dinner hosted By businessman Wong Chimen at East Ocean Palace.
Burlington-PGFlex team set to compete in Zheng Chenggong Cup
THE Philippines Burlington-PG Flex basketball team is bringing in 7-2 American import Michael Williams to beef up its chances in the 10th Zheng Chenggong Cup international invitational basketball championships scheduled Oct. 19-26 in Nanan City, Fujian, China.
Williams played alongside Filipino standouts James Martinez and Hernal “Wowie “ Escosio and American Raymond Miller for the Phuket Waves, which captured the championship in the recent Thailand Basketball League.
The “Fearsome Foursome” of Martinez, Escosio, Miller and Williams were responsible for Phuket’s title sweep over Ban Bueng Devil Rays in the finals.
“We’re playing against seven other strong club teams from other countries, so we have to work doubly hard,” said coach Johny Tam, who is hoping to win his third Zheng Chenggong Cup championships since 1999.
Tam, who led the Philippines to back-to-back championships with the Laguna Lakers in 1999 and the FedEx-Burlington in 2003, is again hoping to do well in his third tour of duty in Nanan.
“Hindi natin kabisado makakalaban natin sa Nanan, pero siyempre kailangan gawin natin lahat ng makakaya para makapag-bigay tayo uli ng karangalan sa bansa,” added Tam, who lauded the assistance of Special Envoy to China Benito Techico and Hong Kong-based businessman Jackie Hao for the team’s campaign.
Tam, chef de mission Ret. PNP Gen. Noel Estanislao qnd team captain Brian Ilad also thanked sports patrons Ruddy Tan of Burlington Socks, Nelson Guevarra of PG Flex Linoleum, Alvin Tai Lian of Bestank, Christian Tan of Healthy Options, Jeff Lao of Victory Candles and Raffy Alejandro of Lucky Chinatown for their continued support.
Under Tam, the FedEx-supported Philippine team brought home the championship of the fifth edition of the Gen. Zheng Chenggong Cup in 1999 with a team bannered by PBA Best Import winner Bobby Parks, Alvin Teng and Biboy Simon.
In 2003, the Filipinos rallied from a huge 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter to stun top favorite Hong Kong, 90-86, in the final held on December 21 and capture the title for the second straight time.
Britt Carlo Reroma, at 5-7 the smallest player on the court, teamed up with PBA stars John Ferriols, Ricky Ricafuente, Wynne Arboleda, Ryan Bernardo and Danny Capobres as the Filipinos scored 23 unanswered points in the fourth period to turn a 56-76 deficit and silence the pro-Chinese home crowd at the Nanan Sports Center.
Also set to see action in the week-long competition are Malaysia Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Maldives and host Fujian, China.
The Fubon Braves of Taiwan, bannered by American import Paul McMorrow, and Joseph Lin, younger brother of NBA star Jeremy Lin, emerged as the champion during the 9th Gen. Zheng Chenggong Cup in 2019.
The Fubon Braves defeated another Taiwanese team, Kin Men Kaoliang, 64-55, in the winner-take-all championship.
McMorrow topscored for the Braves with 26 points, followed by Wen Cheng Tsai with 19 points and Lin with eight points.
Eugene Phelps, who played as import for PBA team Phoenix Petroleum in the PBA Governor’s Cup, netted 30 points in a losing cause.
Nanan City, which topped the 8th Zheng Cheng-Gong Cup, whipped Enerskin of Korea, 107-81, in the battle for third place.
The Philippine National Police basketball team, headed by Police Senior Superintendent Gilberto Cruz and head coach Eric Samson, represented the country.
Other past Philippine teams which represented the country in the Gen. Zheng Chenggong Cup basketball tournament, are the PICAA-YKL Selection, Warner Motors-Sonlie of coach Dong Vergeire, MBL champions Hobe Bihon-5th Avenue Telecoms of playing coach Junnel Mendiola and team captain Braulio Lim and Wang’s Ballclub of MBL president Alex Wang.
