Thursday, August 21, 2008 PBA to hold 2- day Rookie Camp
MANILA - All 10 teams in the Philippine Basketball Association will get the chance to see the prospective talents in the traditional two-day Rookie Camp on Aug. 22-23 at the Emilio Aguinaldo College gym.
Some 47 applicants, including seven Fil-Foriegners, will display their wares prior to the 2008 PBA Annual Draft on Aug. 31 at the Market Market in Taguig.
The Camp is designed to test both the physical and mental preparedness of the players by going through a series of
physical test first thing in the morning of Friday.
Among the regimen, which is required to all who are applying to play in the professional league, are push ups, sprints, sit ups, bench press, pull ups and parallel bars.
They will also have their height, weight, wing span and vertical leap measured.
The applicants will be grouped into two for several drills to test their agility, shooting and dribbling skills.
Capping the opening day is a two-part scrimmage where rookie prospects will be divided into four groups. Group 1 takes on
Group 4 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. while Group 2 plays Group 3 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
“We hope all rookie applicants will take part in this camp since this is their chance to give all 10 teams a glimpse of the kind of players that they are,” said PBA commissioner Renauld “Sonny” Barrios.
Activity in Day 2 also at the EAC gym is more confined on scrimmage plays beginning with the game between Group 1 and Group 2 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Group 3 vs. Group 4 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Notable names among the 2008 batch of rookies include former national team standout Gabe Norwood and Harbour Centre’s deadly guard Solomon Mercado.
They will be joined by a bunch of amateur stalwarts led by two-time Philippine Basketball League Most Valuable Player Jeffrey Chan, TY Tang, Mark Borboran, Cholo Villanueva, NCAA MVP Kelvin dela Pena and shooters Jonathan Fernandez and Patrick Cabahug.
The final list will be known on Aug. 25, shortly after the PBA Commissioner’s Office completed screening the needed requirements of all aspirants. (FCC)
