‘Focusing on the big picture’

(Last of two-part series)

As the 6th Micronesian Games nears, the Basketball Association of the Northern Mariana Islands is determined to provide the CNMI Men’s National Basketball Team a venue to tune up for the quadrennial event.
As reported earlier, head coach Rufino Aguon has already named eight cagers to the team, including Jeremy Sablan, James Lee, Steve Rasa, Mark Wallace, Mel Manibusan, Gus Palacios, Dan Barcinas, and Kelvin Fitial.
Other candidates are center Oscar Ada and power forward Ambrose Ogumoro, who are currently off-island. Also on the list are guards Aleric Aguon and John Sablan and forwards Jeremy Winkfield and James Villacrusis.
Aguon stressed that his team will not get sidetracked with the competition in the 4th Annual Budweiser Cup BANMI Men’s Island-wide Basketball League, which will kick off this Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.
He explained that while the team will be determined to win, his main concern is making sure his players execute their defensive and offensive plays in preparation for the Games.
“It’s a venue for the team to execute, because our goal is to play against the guys that are coming in,” he said. “I know for a fact that those guys coming in have been training…but at the same time, most of them have been playing together for a long time. It’s their national team and they kept it, so they have gelled. We still have to gel. We’re putting a team together with 12 guys, but they’re not really a team until they start playing together and understanding each other.
“I am not going to sacrifice just winning a game over the education of the boys. I rather lose all the games in Bud Cup, and do better in the Micro Games. It’s the big picture. If we win the games, it’s fine as long as we follow the game plan. If we didn’t execute, and win, they’ll hear from me during practice. They need to gel as a team and the Bud Cup is a venue for these guys to understand each other and play as one unit and not as an individual,” he added.
Aside from the national team, the Bud Cup will feature 2006 Inter-Government Basketball League pennant champion Tinian, IGBL defending champion No Zone, UFO champion Samahang Ilokano at Pangasinense, three-time defending champion Ol’Aces, and an all-star selection.
“These are the whose who in basketball and hopefully they can all come in and really give this boys a test. Yes, it’s about bragging rights for most of these teams, but for the national team, it’s not about bragging rights. Don’t get me wrong, we’re going to go and try to win every game. We’re not going to be stepped on or whatever, but we’re not going to sacrifice winning a game and not executing the way we’re suppose to play,” Aguon said.
“I don’t want to give my team a false impression that ‘hey, you’re ready’, because you might play against a team and you beat them by so much and they cannot get the ball past half court, but that’s not the team we’re going to challenge in the Micro Games.”
The team practices five days a week—Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays—at the Northern Marianas College Gymnasium.