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Harbour won't play in Jones Cup
(June 14, 2008)

Feeling slighted with the conditions imposed by the organizers, Harbour Centre owner Mikee Romero yesterday announced that he will no longer allow his five-time PBL champion team to play in the Jones Cup in Taiwan next month.

“Before, we’re really interested in playing in the Jones Cup because we want to know and test the level of competitiveness of the tournament but I was shocked to learn the other day that they (Jones Cup organizers) set two conditions for us to play in their tournament,” said Romero. “It’s an insult to our organization, much more to our national team, so I’m backing out.”

“It’s their prerogative as hosts to impose conditions but just because we’re an amateur club they will treat us that way, I think it’s not fair,” said Romero. “It’s very disadvantageous to any RP team.”

What piqued Romero the most was the condition which states that members of the Harbour Centre-RP team should not engage other team in a fight.

“Keep discipline as it happened before that your team (RP) had fight against other teams,” the Jones Cup organizer said in their letter emailed to Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas .

However, the organizers failed to specify the team and the year when an RP team created a controversy in the annual tournament.

“What if they will try to maim my players, what we will do? We’ll just stand and say that’s OK. They should remember that we, Filipinos, helped popularize basketball in the Asian region. We know our basketball,” said Romero.

The other condition is that Harbour Centre will be the ones to pay for the airfare of the entourage which is not the normal practice of the organizers. But they said they will take care of the board and lodging and local transportation of the 17 members of the team.

“I’m willing to pay for the airfare of the team but do I have to do it just to play with them? If we’re not welcome to their tournament, then sabihin lang nila,” said Romero.

In the past, including last year when the PBA-backed Philippine team competed in the tournament, the organizers paid for everything -- airfare, board and lodging and local transportation.

“They (Jones Cup organizers) paid for our airfare, board and lodging and even our transportation there,” said PBA Media Bureau chief Willy Marcial. “I don’t know why they changed their practice this time.”

If not for those conditions, Romero was willing to reinforce the team with at least four PBA players and US NCAA veteran Japeth Aguilar.

“With a combine mix of top amateur and PBA players, I think we can perform decently in the tournament. Even Jason (Castro) has signified his intention to play for the RP team before playing for the Singapore Slingers,” said Romero.

In the hope of drawing a large number of Filipino workers during duration of the tournament, the organizers have wanted to invite a PBA team but their request was turned down because of the pro league’s ongoing tournament.

“If that’s what they want, we can give them entertainment because our players are capable of providing it. We did it during our stint in Singapore where thousands showed up to support us,” said Romero, referring to their SEA Games build-up in Thailand last year.

Aside from beating the taller Slingers, Harbour-RP team went on to win the SEA Games gold medal to highlight a glorious year for the team. It also won the SEBA crown early last year before capping its dominance with a stunning come-from-behind win over Hapee Toothpaste in the PBL Invitational tournament.

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