Saturday, April 25, 2009

N.Y.C.E. Junior Allstars: Making Noise.

April 2008, the birth of my N.Y.C.E. 16&U Allstar team. The team won the championship of the 1st Boston MASAE Invitational Tournament for Youth (MITY). They caught the eyes of many people showing them the talent that the NABA tournament possessed.
When I returned home, I automatically started thinking, “Next year, nothing less. Next year, its imperative I assemble another strong Allstar team. Next year, we must win another Championship.” I’d constantly debate who to put on the roster as I had many All-star players to choose from. Players from all over the NY & NJ Metro area, and even getting several Canadian players’ interests in playing for N.Y.C.E. committing to traveling across the border to put on an N.Y.C.E. uniform.
After many months of re-grouping and lineup changes, I bottled the roster down to a strong and cohesive 11 players. The roster consisted of SIPAG products, franchise players Mike Palacios & Carlo DeChavez, as well as Eliezer Galang, John Labrador, Juan Juarez and rising star, Marlon Dabu. The rest of the roster consisted of North Jersey players, Ranier “Rain Man” Garcia, John Paul San Pedro, Chris Barsatan, Jonathan “Penny” Penalosa and franchise player, AJ Pizon. A team with household names and some of the poster boy faces of the NABA tournament, we were automatically an under the radar favorite.
This year, N.Y.C.E. would make a 2nd run at a championship at the 12th Annual Asian Basketball Classic hosted by the NY Rockits Chinese Organization. As the tournament got closer, the more hype built up between the players, myself, my coaching staff and even the parents. On the morning of the tournament, I woke up with the same feeling I had on the mornings of the NABA tournaments. Chills would constantly run down my spine to compete. The ache in my heart would pump the blood in my veins throughout my body to get to the venue to see my guys suit up in the blue, black and white. The humble side of my mind made me nervous because I had only a paragraph scouting reported idea of our competition, thanks to my coaching colleague from Boston. But the confidence and competitive adrenaline in my soul made me wonder who our “First Victim” would look like. On our way to the venue I’d run through lineups, and picture worst case scenarios on both ends of the court. I’d overcome my nerves reminding myself, “Nobody can outbox Mike Palacios on any rebounds, no bigman can handle Carlo DeChavez in the lowpost and not one player in the tournament could contain AJ Pizon on his offensive assaults.”
Our first game was at 12noon against the NYC Falcons from Chinatown. From what I had heard, they were not going to be a threat to us. But like any competitor the Falcons were a group of strong willed and basketball loving kids despite being undermanned and undersized. We defeated the Falcons 54-17 to gives us a strong jumpstart to the tournament as well as a comfortable lead in team seeding for the tournament playoffs.
Our 2nd game came at 2pm, against the host team, NY Rockits. The team we defeated in last year’s Boston tournament in the championship. A team that consisted of high-IQ basketball players and that was very well coached. They were beatable but I knew it wouldn’t be as easy as our first game. It proved to be a competitive game as we found ourselves tied with them at halftime with the score at 18-18, tying the game the last possession after Eliezer Galang created off a penetration and caught JP SanPedro open downlow for a layup at the buzzer. In the 2nd half, we picked up the tempo with Mike Palacios controlling the boards and took advantage of every fastbreak opportunity. The Rockits had no answer for the offensive barrage from Carlo DeChavez and AJ Pizon. Another huge advantage we had was the depth of our bench as we could go 9 deep. I called our roster “Murderer’s Row” with John Labrador, Juan Juarez, Chris Barsatan and Eliezer Galang the first guys off the bench. All were athletic and seasoned veterans. Outscoring the Rockits by 15 in the 2nd half, we won our 2nd game 36-21.
Our 3rd game was then scheduled to be at 6pm. After every team in our division played 2 pool games, teams were seeded from 1-7 with the first place team getting an automatic bye into the semi finals. With our 54-17 win over the Falcons, and our 36-21 win over the Rockits, our point spread accumulated to 52 points, enough to put us in 1st place going into the playoffs. In the playoff pairings, Boston MASAE was matched up vs. NABA counterpart, JSAG-Jersey Shore (South Jersey). The winner of that match would play the winner between the high favorite Maryland Pistons as the 2nd seed and the hosts, NY Rockits. N.Y.C.E. would play the winner between the USAB Warriors and the NYC Falcons.
When I arrived at the main venue, I was eager to see the rest of our competition. But I was also very anxious to see my coaching counterparts from Boston, Coach Vinny and Coach Phibe, the Commander and Chiefs of Boston-MASAE. I was able to chat with them briefly since they were busy coaching their juvenile team, and also my buddies from JSAG between the players and coaches. I watched the playoff match between the USAB Warriors and the NYC Falcons. During the game, I noticed a very familiar player wearing a USAB Warriors uniform. I wasn’t sure if it were the player I was thinking of, but I was proven right when my younger brother pointed out his dad in the stands. Former SIPAG sharpshooter and highly recruited N.Y.C.E. player, Jay Ciria-Cruz from Queens was playing for the USAB Warriors. He was hands down the best player on their team and was going to be our only threat. USAB Warriors defeated the NYC Falcons and set up our semi final match at 6pm. In the other playoff games, Boston MASAE over matched the young JSAG squad and the NY Rockits upset the Maryland Pistons, setting up the other semi final game of the playoffs.
Our semi final game was at 6pm vs. the USAB Warriors. Another undersized team with pesky ball players and awkwardly formed shooters, they were a team that could fool anyone into believing they were a pushover. They started out slow as we started the game with a 13-0 run in the first 8 minutes. At halftime, we held a comfortable lead with the score 30-18. In the 2nd half, my worst fears came true as my squad began to relax and ease up. Our tempo and style of play lowered down to their level as we slumped on defense and allowed their shooters to get comfortable. Despite containing their best player, Jay Ciria-Cruz with the defense of his ’06 SIPAG Peewee teammate, Penny Penalosa, the Warriors went on scoring runs to match ours and even outscored us as a whole in the 2nd half 35-33. But once again, controlling the boards were the bodies of our frontcourt between Mike Palacios, Carlo DeChavez, Juan Juarez, John Labrador, and Chris Barsatan. To keep us ahead, AJ Pizon scored 22pnts while Ranier ‘Rain Man’ Garcia contributed 12 points of his own, as he scored weakside layups off passes from Mike Palacios and Carlo. We defeated the Warriors 63-53. The victory put us into the championship game vs. the winner between Boston MASAE and the NY-Rockits.
As the players rested up and stayed hydrated, Coach Russ and I watched the other semi final. It turned out to be a very lopsided game as Boston MASAE overwhelmed the Rockits with their size and intensity. The NY Rockits simply ran out of gas, as players would begin cramping in the 2nd half. After I saw a 3rd Rockit fall to a cramp I saw their coach, another good friend of mine, Coach Mike Mei go up to the referee to declare a forfeit. This gave Boston MASAE another chance at another championship. I tried to help my buddies at Boston out by getting their players some rest. I was only able to stall the game long enough to give them a 20-25minute rest. The final game was to start at 7:35pm on the spot.

The Championship game was between my powerhouse N.Y.C.E. squad and a tournament favorite, Boston MASAE. Both teams wanted it. Since N.Y.C.E. demolished half of their team in their tournament last year, MASAE as a whole were seeking revenge for N.Y.C.E. taking their tournament trophy. As for N.Y.C.E., it was an opportunity to extend their winning streak and add another championship to their trophy collection. For some odd reason, I was very calm and content. Usually, before all the Championship games I’ve made it to I felt my nerves itch. But for that game I felt a strong sense of pride and confidence. In a few blinks of my eyes I looked back at the reason I assembled this team and who I was able to acquire. I wanted to form a team that WOULD NOT lose. A team that was indestructible. A team of true all stars. In reality, the franchise players of the roster were Mike Palacios, Carlo DeChavez and AJ Pizon. The other 8 players behind them were chosen not only for their talent and athleticism, but for the pride they took in their roles. These were the faces that would be the supporting cast of our Franchise Player trio of AJ, Mike and Carlo. Remembering all that before the Championship game is what made me extremely confident that we were bringing home the hardware.

I was proven right as the very first possession of the game, when AJ got the ball off the tip, he attacked the rim viciously and drew a foul. Just the first few seconds of the game and we were already getting an opportunity to score easy points. AJ missed those free throws. The next possession, Carlo was fouled. He also missed both. And our third possession, Penny was fouled. And he also missed both free throws. Was I worried? Not at all. Boston MASAE’s next possession they scored. And after another missed offensive opportunity, Boston MASAE scored another basket in the low post. The score was 4-0 in favor of our opponent. But once again, there was no worries nor any sense of fear that the game was slipping away. I called a timeout to change our defense. I made our guys go man-to-man and somehow it sealed the fate of Boston MASAE. The first possession off that timeout, Carlo hit a 3. AJ broke away on 2 fast breaks and not only made the layups but got fouled on both attempts. Making all his free throws, the score quickly became 9-4. I look back to that 4-0 run by Boston and see it as a quick slap in the face to wake up. It was a reminder that, “Hey, these guys aren’t just gunna hand us the trophies. We have to earn it. The same way we earned every win in this tournament.” My guys let their game speak, taking care of business never letting up. Keeping the lead at a comfortable 14-15 points the whole game.
Once again, aside from our Franchise player trio taking care of business with AJ and Carlo scoring easily in the paint and behind the perimeter, Mike controlling the rebounds and scoring in the low post, their supporting cast got the job done on both ends of the floor. Our rotation was all JV and Varsity players of their respective High Schools. They were also amateur and open division players in different Filipino leagues around the city. Keeping the game at a high pace, pressuring the ball and showing how their talent was at a much higher level. Jonathan “Penny” Penalosa, the apprentice of legendary Point guards Marlon Sim, Jeremy Apostol, and former Hunter College point guard, Justin “The General” Antes. Penny played the ‘Rajon Rando” role, distributing the ball to this star studded squad, and undeniably sped up the tempo of the game constantly pushing the ball and playing suffocating pressure defense. Other starting guard, Ranier “The Rain Man” Garcia, labeled as the silent assassin. Ranier could have easily been the most athletic player on our team with his bursts of speed and his leaping ability. To match his athleticism was his remarkable talent. I was blessed to coach him in the summer of 2008 and I was very fortunate to coach him again. Then off the bench was John Labrador. He could’ve easily been one of the starters, but I needed that veteran spark off the bench. John was a relentless scorer, behind the arc and in the low post, as well a strong defender. John was hands down the most experienced player on the roster as well. Then there was Chris Barsatan, another player who could have easily started. A player I noticed since his Bantam year in 2007. He was coming along as one of the tri state’s most valuable role players, showing strong similarity to James Posey with his shooting touch, his accolades in NABA along with his size and athleticism. The first guard off the bench was Eliezer Galang, the Staten Island representative. For years I dreamed Eliezer would develop into one of the elite guards in the Filipino basketball community. And I believe this tournament was his coming out party. I had never seen Eliezer perform at such a high level on both ends of the floor. His experience at the High School Varsity level expanded his game both mentally and physically. His size was an automatic match up problem for opposing teams and to be surrounded by other talented players really brought out more of his skills. Juan Juarez was a returning player from last year’s roster. Aside from his talent and high basketball IQ, I praise Juan for his unselfishness and work ethics. A hard working undersized big man that has earned his spot over the years, Juan can easily be a player on any championship team. Then there was newcomer John Paul San Pedro. A player I scouted his freshman year of High School when he played against my brother and Mike Palacios. John Paul was selected for his enforcer skills. A player I want to develop into as a dominant big man. Despite looking like your local nightclub’s bouncer, John Paul is as humble as they get, and has a heart of gold as he is very enthusiastic about playing more and more in Asian and Filipino leagues. Rounding off the squad was prodigal son, Marlon Dabu. You look at all these players and see how they were able to develop their skill and talent aside from playing High School basketball. More than 90% of them growing up played for older teams. John Labrador played up a division his whole NABA career, Penny Penalosa played for numerous Amateur teams acting as the “team Baby”, being mentored by his peers, and then there was AJ, Mike and Carlo. All three began playing at a high level when they were young. As players in the junior division, they have been playing at the Open division. For Marlon, aside from my eagerness to coach him, he was always the standout player in his respective division. This was an opportunity for him to continue expanding his game and credentials. Not many young rising stars his age can say that they had the opportunity to play with Carlo DeChavez, AJ Pizon and Mike Palacios. In my views, this was an act of “Paying it Forward”, getting a young star more exposure. And I could only thank his family for being so supportive of him. These were the names of the players that sealed the fate of the youngest division in the 12th Asian Basketball Classic. We defeated Boston MASAE 41-23 in the championship game.
We went 4-0, defeating the NYC Falcons, NY Rockits and USAB Warriors, all Chinese Organizations. We then finished off the tournament defeating Boston-MASAE, a Filipino based organization in the Championship. This was all possible not only from the players hard work, but from the love and dedication from the parents. Their full support made the team very easy to assemble. For the out of state families, from the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and Brooklyn, plus the NJ downstate members, as well as the hometown families around the area of City Sports on 4, THANK YOU for supporting the kids and allowing them to play for me and my Allstar team. I’d also like to give a quick thank you to John’s dad, Tito Mike Labrador, for doing the book and keeping a log of all of our statistics the whole tournament, as well as Kirsten DeChavez, Adrienne Galang and KC Pizon for taking countless photographs of the team. And then to the Pizon family, thank you for taking in some of the players and parents in their home during our intermission before the playoffs, providing food and refreshments in honor of AJ’s mom’s birthday. Now I’d like to take the opportunity to thank my dad, Pete Penalosa who was the backbone of assembling the team since last year. He supports everything I do, between helping pay for registration to handling the uniforms. For those who didn’t know, my dad was the one of designed the uniforms and made all the efforts to getting them made in the Philippines. His presence made my job easier, acting as the manager, team medic and moral coach to my players. And then there are the 2 men who were by my side the whole tournament. Coach “Kuya” Russell Garcia was my partner-in-crime, as he was my assistant coach all spring and summer last year. Coach Russ helped me make a strong push for the Bantam Championship in NABA-Detroit 2008 with SIPAG. His basketball IQ fills in for what I miss during games and was a huge asset to the team’s Championship. It was a pleasure being able to link up with him and have him by my side the whole tournament. And then there was the man who took me under his wing for many years, Marco Palacios Sr. A familiar face amongst the Filipino basketball community, his knowledge of the game matches up perfectly with my passion. A man I will forever look at as a fatherly/big brother figure. He is a veteran who not only plays but coaches and teaches the game very well. Aside from his own kids, I can’t imagine how many players have taken in his lessons and had become stars of their own using his advice. If it weren’t for him, I don’t know where my family and I would be since he introduced us to everything in the Filipino basketball community, recruiting us into SIPAG back in the winter of 2004. I am very fortunate to have all these people around me, between my family and friends. None of this could have been possible if not for your support. To the players, the parents, my mom and dad, the coaches, the Championship was for all of you.
Many of you who follow my write ups know that I have a knack for typing up these articles. Besides the “Player standout” articles I have typed up in the past, I never dedicated an article to anyone. In this particular case, I wanted to dedicate this article to my coaching Counterparts from Boston, Coaches Vincent Cheah and Phibe Castillo-Pham. Both have become the Mother and Father of the MASAE organization from Massachusetts. Taking the huge responsibility of not only coaching the kids but taking care of their business, between hotels and food. Aside from their young teams, they also handle the business of Boston-MASAE’s Open team. I share the common interest with them when it comes to coaching basketball and taking care of the youth, but they bring it to another level. Taking care of a whole organization, putting 4 teams on their shoulders and giving theirs kids the experience on and off the court that millions of kids around the world could only dream of having. Its warms my heart seeing people like them, giving up their time and much dedication into seeing the development in their players. Coach Vin and Coach Phibe are young and determined, and I am very fortunate to be friends with future legends, because the MASAE organization will only continue to grow and strive from their hard work.
Sunday, April 19th 2009 was probably one of the most fun Sundays I’ve experienced this year. Nothing means more to me than seeing the best be the best they could be. It was fun watching kids at the mercy of Mike Palacios in the low post, and seeing opposing players tried to stop AJ Pizon. I’d feel spurts of happiness in my soul when I saw Carlo smile and point at his father and uncle after scoring or making a strong play. Carlo and his family have come a long way and they are only going to continue in their promising basketball journey. Once again, I’d like to thank everyone for their support. This team would not be possible if not for the players and parents. This was the 2nd year of N.Y.C.E.’s (NYC’s Elite) existence. The Junior team has combined for a perfect 8-0 in 2008 and 2009. N.Y.C.E. has also expanded and upgraded into the Amateur division of Hoopsville, a Filipino league in Nutley, NJ (www.hoopsvillebasketball.com), bringing together some of the best players in the Hoopsville league, forming the team “NYCE Dream”, led by Justin “The General” Antes and Dustin “The Sharpshooter” Ramos. The next N.Y.C.E. team being formed is my N.Y.C.E. Juveniles. I also have plans to start up an “N.Y.C.E. Heroes” Peewee/Bantam team and also an “N.Y.C.E. Arch Angels” Girls/Ladies team for future Asian Classic tournaments. It’s a shame my Junior all-stars will break up into their respective NABA Labor Day intercity teams for the Spring-Summer season. This would’ve been one hell of a Junior Division NABA team.


Laying down the Line:
I’d just like to clarify and answer some of the rumors I’ve heard regarding the NYCE team being formed, as well as excuses made about the championship game. One of the rumors I’m hearing about the NYCE team is that it was formed to pocket money. Whoever believes this is so, you could ask any player and parent how much they were asked to pay for uniforms and registration. To save you from wasting your time the answer is simple, they did not pay a CENT. The funding came from my family and I, paying for the uniforms to be made and the full team’s registration. The only thing the NYCE members paid for was gas for traveling to the venue and food. My family and I even provided the players drinks for the duration of the tournament. Also, I’ve been criticized for letting the kids play in “lesser competitive tournaments”, hearing that the kids don’t get better playing kids not as good as them and that I should “put them in more competitive leagues like AAU or Hoopsville”. First of all, the team was formed to bring kids together that don’t get to play on the same team during the course of the year. In fact, half the team consists of SIPAG players and half the team consists of North Jersey players. These kids will be going HEAD TO HEAD against each other as the Spring-Summer NABA preparation seasons come along. More than half the team plays AAU basketball anyway. Yes its true, they don’t get better playing teams that aren’t better than them. But I ask you this, whats the point of getting better if you don’t get to show that you actually are getting better? Aside from bringing together the top players that face off against each other, this team was formed to show that they are truly the best against what they come across. Its these tournaments that they are suppose to dominate, and showcase all the hardwork they have done to be better than everyone else. And so far, the championships we’ve won, its worth it. And if we DO lose, it only means we have to work harder.
Now for the Championship excuses I’ve heard. It doesn’t bother me much that there were reasons why the team we defeated didn’t perform so well. There will always be a flip side to the coin. One was the crowd factor, NYCE had the parents support while MASAE’s crowd was jumping back and forth between the Juveniles championship and the Bantam/Juniors championship. I heard that the crowd plays a major factor in games, and I totally agree. But I’ve went through that before, my SIPAG Bantam team went TWO DAYS and 7 games without the full support of our SIPAG organization, in NABA Detroit 2008. We… went… through HELLL and back, especially on day 2, facing almost every divisional rival and arch rival we’ve gained in the past years. Divisional and Arch rivals such as Winnipeg, Montreal-Marquis, the Dolce-Toronto Empire and North York, DEFEATING 3 of those teams to get to the championship. All of those games in which we were missing our crowd and full support, and I tell you is amongst THE BEST in all of Asian basketball, since the 90’s to today. Don’t throw the “no crowd support card” at me because aside from no support, we had to play through a torturous schedule which leads me to my next excuse.
I was hearing that if the opposing team had more rest, it would’ve been a better game. Aside from the fact that I know we had the most talented team in the tournament; I’ve gone through tournaments with a lesser talented team than NYCE, and much worse schedules. This tournament actually gave you some sort of rest weather it were an hour or just 20 minutes. My 14&U squad played 5 games on the Sunday of NABA Detroit 2008, with already 2 games under their legs from day 1. And 4 of those games on day 2 came from a set of games going BACK TO BACK, TWICE. TWICE. After we barely defeating a regional champion in Winnipeg with my core players playing the majority of the game using only 8 guys, we literally grabbed our stuff to head down court to face Montreal, whom lost to the eventual Champs, North York, in overtime their first game, and were one of the HEAVY FAVORITES to win the Bantam division. The team I coached in the summer literally had 30 seconds to rest, before playing in the tournament quarterfinal of the loser’s bracket, being down majority of the game, and taking our only lead to never look back in the last 30 seconds and winning off defense. And then in our preparation for NABA, we had a Nike League game and 30 minutes after our Nike game had a Kalahi tournament game vs. a Junior team from Edison NJ. We won our Nike league game rushed to Kalahi which delayed the game for us. My 13-14 year olds defeated that Junior team of 14-15-16 year olds in OVERTIME.
And then there was also, “we didn’t have some of our players”. Just in case you didn’t know, 2 of the best Canadian guards of NABA were suppose to suit up for NYCE. If teams had a problem containing AJ, who knows what kind of havoc they could’ve caused. And then the best 16 yr old player in NY-NJ who was filling in his duties for the nationally ranked “TLC” Open team, was unable to suit up for NYCE.
I won’t lie, I also used the fatigue and lack of crowd excuses at NABA to myself, but it didn’t convince me enough to give into the fact that my team still could have won the bantam division at NABA, hence why I only tell it to the people who understand.

Friday, April 10, 2009

NYCE's OFFICIAL 2nd Coming:

Shoot Me Down (Instrumental) - Lil Wayne ft D Smith


My NYCE Junior Allstars will be running in the 12th Asian Basketball Classic hosted by the NY Rockits Chinese Organization. Due to scheduling conflicts, NYCE's original plan to send a 2nd Junior Dream Team to Boston was canceled to send a Secondary team to the 12th ABC. With that said, the ABC's rules for our respective division forced me to make some drastic changes to our roster to stick to the 15&U rule. Heres a look at my remastered roster:

NYCE Sophomores (returning players)w/ crudentials (Spring-Summer Filipino Leagues):

Carlo DeChavez:
[2005]- NABA Peewee Division All Tournament 2nd team (Center).
[2006]- NABA Peewee Division Runner up team, Peewee Division Mythical 5 center, Kalahi All Tournament Team (Forward)
[2007]- NABA Bantam Division All tournament 2nd team (Center), Kalahi Tournament MVP, Kalahi Tournament Championship team
[2008]- NABA Bantam Division Mythical 5 Center, NABA Bantam Division Rummerup Team, Kalahi All Tournament Team, Hoopsville Amatuer Championship Team, Nike Swoosh League 2nd team (Center)

AJ Pizon:
[2006]- NABA Bantam Division 2nd Runner up team, NABA Bantam Division All Tournament 3rd team (Guard)
[2007]- NABA Bantam Team Captain, NABA Bantam Division 2nd Runner up team, NABA Bantam Division Mythical 5 Guard, Kalahi Mythical 5 Guard
[2008]- NABA Junior Team Captain, NABA Junior Division Championship Team, NABA Junior Division MVP, NABA Junior Division Mythical 5 Guard

Penny Penalosa:
[2005]- NABA Peewee Team Captain
[2006]- NABA Peewee Team Captain, NABA Peewee Division Runnerup Team, NABA Peewee Division Mythical 5 Guard, Caden Dudt Tournament Peeweee Division MVP
[2007]- NABA Bantam Team Captain, Kalahi Tournament Championship Team, Kalahi All Tournament Team (Guard)
[2008]- NABA Bantam Team Captain, NABA Bantam Division Runnerup team, NABA Bantam Division Mythical 5 guard, Kalahi All Tournamanet 2nd Team (Guard), Nike Swoosh League 2nd Team (Guard)

Mike Palacios:
[2003]- NABA Peewee Division Runnerup team
[2005]- NABA Peewee Division All Tournament 2nd team (Forward)
[2006]- NABA Bantam Division Runnerup team, Kalahi Bantam Division Championship team, Kalahi All Tournament team (forward)
[2007]- Kalahi Championship team, Kalahi All tournament team (forward)
[2008]- Kalahi Runnerup Team, Kalahi All tournament team (forward), Nike Swoosh League All tournament 2nd team (forward)


Juan Juarez:
[2006]- NABA Bantam Division Runnerup Team, Kalahi Division Championship Team, Kalahi Mythical 5 Forward,
[2007]- Kalahi Division Championship Team, Kalahi Mythical 5 forward
[2008]- Kalahi All Tournament Team (forward)

John Labrador:
[2003]- NABA Peewee Division Runnerup team, NABA Mythical 5 Forward
[2005]- NABA Bantam Division 2nd Runnerup team
[2006]- NABA Bantam Division Runnerup Team, Bantam Division All tournament 2nd team, Kalahi Bantam Division Championship team,
[2007]- NABA Junior Division Runnerup team
[2008]- Kalahi Runnerup Team, Kalahi All tournament team (forward)


NYCE Rookies (1st Year players):

Ranier Garcia:
[2007]- NABA Bantam team Captain, NABA Bantam Division 2nd runnerup team, NABA Bantam Division All Tournament 3rd team (guard) Kalahi All tournament team (guard)
[2008]- NABA Bantam Team Captain, NABA Bantam Division Runnerup team, NABA Bantam Division All tournament 2nd team (Guard), Kalahi Tournament Mythical 5 Guard.


Chris Barsatan:
[2007]- NABA Bantam Division 2nd runnerup team
[2008]- NABA Junior Division Championship team, Kalahi Division Championship Team, Championship Game MVP.

Eliezer Galang:
[2006]- NABA Bantam Division Runnerup team, Kalahi Championship Team
[2007]- NABA Bantam Team Captain, Kalahi Bantam Championship team, Kalahi All tournament 2nd team (Guard)
[2008]- Kalahi Runnerup Team


Marlon Dabu:
[2005]- NABA Tykes Team Captain, NABA Tykes Division Mythical 5 Forward
[2006]- NABA Tykes Team Captain, NABA Tykes Division Runnerup, NABA Tykes Division Mythical 5 Forward, Caden Dudt Tournament Tykes Division MVP, Caden Dudt Tournament Tykes Division Championship team.
[2007]- NABA Peewee Team Captain, Caden Dudt Tournament Co-MVP, Caden Dudt Tournament Mythical 5 Forward, Nike Swoosh League All Tournament Team (forward)
[2008]- NABA Peewee Team Captain, NABA Peewee Division Mythical 5 Forward, Caden Dudt All Tournament Team (forward), Nike Swoosh League All Tournament team (forward)


JP San Pedro

Let me just keep it plain and simple. We arent comin' to lose. God help the teams that will be standing in our way. God help you.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Major Update*

I purposely havn't updated because i posted the link of my blogger on a forum for my last post about my NYCE Junior Allstar squad's 2nd coming. Unfortunately, the tournament that team was suppose to go to will be postponed to the summertime. But by then, i'll be in the heat of things to get stuff rolling for North Jersey.

So whats happend since my Team profile ? I had to re-roster my squad to make it majority 15yr olds as i entered my NYCE Junior Allstars into an Asian tournament in New jersey. I will probably make a team profile for that team in my next post. My squad was mentioned in the tune-up article of the host's site, www.AsianHoops.com . Basically half SIPAG ballers and half North jersey Ballers. Remember, its an Allstar squad.

and on March 28th, NYCE made their AMATUER debut, thanks to the support of Justin Antes and Dustin Ramos. These 2 guys came up with the idea to run a dominant squad in the amateur division of hoopsville (www.hoopsvillebasketball.com) I just pitched in an sponsored the uniforms, and they gracefully allowed me to name the squad after my NYCE franchise, allowing NYCE to upgrade to the Amateur level. On this roster? Oh man, on paper its a ridiculous OPEN squad. Seriously. But being we're in the Amateur division, this Spring '09 season it would be 6ft.&U. Take a look at this roster:

Justin Antes
Francis Antes
Dustin Ramos
Mike Mayes
DJ Mayes
Kevin Skieveski
Christian Lagman
Christisn Sison
Penny Penalosa
Ryan Jose
Dani Kim
Mike Palacios
and possibly JC Albano.

and my mans Beeyoung Quijano helping me run the show coaching and subbing. LOL. open team right ? hahaha. I've got guys from different corners of NY-NJ tristate basketball. SIPAG, North Jersey, Kalahi, the former Dabu and.. even JSAG. WOW. LOL. I'm hoping NYCE could make noise in its first season in Hoopsville. Its certainly a privilede getting the opportunity to coach this group of incredibly talented ball players. We're 2-0 so far. And from the looks of our division, the worst we could finish is 2nd, but i expect to finish 1st. Barkada is our only real threat, we've beaten 2 fairly weak teams, 1 of which might be the most reasonable 3rd place team [the 1st team we played, Brotherhood] and then Classick. Only teams left, are Formosa, Monstars, Mama's Boys... all weak&whack teams. And then Barkada.

And then, in SIPAG amateur, our North Jersey Juveniles won the spring season opener vs. SIPAG-blue by 20ish pnts without veteran Sam bautista and franchise player AJ Pizon as well as enforcer Eugene Williams. I dont expect nothing less than a championship from that group. Ali, Paolo Trujillo, Mark Liaban, Danny Sulit, Brian Organ, chris Barsatan, Aj pizon, Sam bautista, Merlyn Miranda, Julius Rodriguez, Penny Penalosa, Eugene Williams and the old man of the squad, Bernard Bustos. Bunch of very animated kids, but tough hearted.

Im hoping to bring in 3 championships, Hoopsville Amateur, SIPAG Amateur, and the 12th Asian Basketball Classic (*knock on wood). If not, DEFINATELY a winning record. I need every win i could get to cover for my college team which like last year brought down my record as a coach. smh. So, next post i'll break down the projected squad i'll have for April 19th, the Asian Basketball Classic. HAAAIGHT !!!