BY JONAS TERRADO
Some of Philippine basketball’s premier coaches have been sharing their expertise through a series of online seminars being held during the COVID-19 pandemic.
PBA mentors Tim Cone, Norman Black and Yeng Guiao, champion coaches Chot Reyes and Jong Uichico, La Salle tactician Derrick Pumaren and San Miguel Alab Pilipinas head man Jimmy Alapag have either shared their principles since the project started in mid-April.
Dubbed as Hoops Coaches International which was organized by Blackwater sports director Ariel Vanguardia, the series of webinars have also seen the participation of foreign coaches, namely Indiana Pacers assistant Bill Bayno.
Bayno handled Talk ’N Text during the 2002 PBA Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup.
Among the highlights of the series was Cone spending two hours teaching the fundamentals of the Triangle Offense which he began implementing while with Alaska in 1992.
Cone also described in detail putting new enhancements to the Triangle since becoming coach of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, adding pick and roll and dribble drive principles and emphasis on the outside shot instead of relying mostly on the post.
“(Ginebra assistant coach) Kirk Collier is a master of motion, continuity type of offenses so he was teaching a lot to the guys and they’re really comfortable with it,” said Cone, perhaps his first public admission that he has veered away from using a full Triangle system.
“So I started looking at that and starting looking at how we can merge these two together and how we can take advantage of the continuity and the Triangle,” he added.
Pumaren, on the other hand, spent 20 minutes of his time teaching the basics of the Full Court Press which has been regarded as a family expertise.
His brothers Franz and Dindo have also used the press which the elder Pumaren adopted from former US NCAA and NBA coach Rick Pitino.
Black and Guiao, meanwhile, provided inputs on how coaches can motivate the team, Reyes gave tips on leadership and Alapag on relationships with players.
The coaches also provided some war stories, namely Black on his time with San Miguel and Ateneo, Bayno’s short-lived PBA stint and Pumaren and Uichico recalling their time with the late great Ron Jacobs.
“What I learned from him is though he demanding, his relationship with the players was really genuine ,” said Uichico, who was part of Jacobs’ Philippine team that won the 1982 ABC Youth Championship.