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What does it take to develop Philippine basketball’s elite? Skills trainers answer

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Migs Bustos

<p>Jolo Tamayo, more known as True Focus, didn’t really make it to the top team. He spent most of his basketball life in Letran’s second team, wanting to get a crack in the main lineup. Sadly, he never made it. On the side, he would teach kids at the grassroots level from time to time to earn a little income. To add to his woes, he suffered an ACL injury and unable to play, to train and to compete. While one may call it unfortunate, it was at around the same time that his family took a car loan and on the verge of getting repossessed.</p><p>“Hindi pwede ito”, Tamayo said.</p><p>“Actually ako, naggra-Grab and Uber din ako nu’n before. ’Yun nagdri-drive talaga ako nu’n. Kasi after nu’n ng injury ko, na-ACL nu’ng 2017. Nag-recover ako for one year so sideline ako ng Grab and Uber. Actually, nabayaran ko siya hanggang sa before pandemic tapos nu’ng nag-lock down, hindi ako ulit nakabayad.”</p><p>It was until late in 2019 that Jolo would catch the biggest break of his career. He got a call from his manager, Raffie Silerio and said, “Naghahanap si Thirdy Ravena ng workout, baka gusto mo i-train.” Jolo, without hesitation, immediately said yes.</p><p>The origins of Simple Grind by Nicolo Chua started way before the pandemic. He was a skills coach at Headstart Sports Academy and helping out his fellow coaches, Edster Sy, Carmelo Navarro and Willy Chan that focused on grassroots development, more like a kids camp. Besides being a skills coach, he also served as an assistant coach for Huasiong College of Iloilo, his former high school. Little did he know that an alumnus from the same school — Letran and Terrafirma Dyip standout JP Calvo —would change the direction of his career forever.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-1.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUmnfizFI9w/"><strong>Thirdy Ravena</strong></a></div><p>“(Si Thirdy), first big-time client, na nagtiwala talaga sa’kin na, kasi, who was I back then? Di naman ako sikat na basketball player, or siyempre sa skills, wala naman din akong pangalan talaga. (My program was), I think siguro, no b***s*** ’yung ginagawa ko. No gimmicks, no nothing. Purely du’n sa skills enhancing. So di na ko, wala akong gimmicks na drills na, ’yung parang magandang tingnan,” Jolo casually adds. For Jolo, what keeps him in focus is how he studies the games of his clients and how they can apply them in actual games and game-like situations.</p><p>A big achievement as a skills coach is how he sees the improvement of his clients that translates to the stats sheet.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-2.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaEWE3vFVfG/"><strong>Jolo Tamayo working out on Jeron Teng&#x27;s free throws. </strong></a></div><p>“Let’s say si Jeron Teng, kilala siya for being a slasher. Ang defense sa kanya is sag down talaga, so nu’ng nag start kami sinabi ko sa kanya kailangan niyang ayusin ’yung shooting form niya. Now in the process he’s shooting 32% from 3, which is a big jump from 11% last conference sa All-Filipino Cup,” he says.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-3.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVMao2YhLy0/"><strong>JP Calvo, one of Nicolo Chua&#x27;s first clients.</strong></a></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-4.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CXK2Goahl6P/"><strong>Brian Heruela, one of Nicolo Chua&#x27;s first clients</strong></a></div><p>For coach Nicolo, it was JP Calvo who pushed him to train full time and JP believed in him that he can take his training to the next level. Chua took advantage of the lockdowns in 2020 and a lack of competition to train PBA players. Besides Calvo, former TNT Tropang Giga point guard Brian Heruela and Magnolia guards Paul Lee and Mark Barroca were his original clients.</p><p>“Training with the pros, especially kay Brian Heruela, siya ’yung nagbigay sa’kin ng pointers na kailangan ng mga pros. Kung ano lang ang ginagawa ng isang player, dun ko magfocus.” Chua reiterates.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-5.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CXYhFwyBDLF/"><strong>Paul Lee</strong></a></div><p>“For Paul Lee, he’s not really a fan of fancy drills. Nu’ng first time kami nag-training, I asked him about his place (with his team) Magnolia, so kung saan niya nakukuha ’yung bola specifically, and then kung anong pwede niya maging options, doon kami magko-concentrate. Like ’yung shooting, tinulungan ko pa siya maging mas consistent.”</p><p>It’s not only about the numbers on the stats sheet the trainers focus on, but also on game-like situations where players can be most effective. Coach Nicolo noticed a little detail about Mark Barroca’s game.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-6.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CXsWVBThjq-/"><strong>Mark Barroca</strong></a></div><p>“Sabi ko kay Mark nu’ng mga first few trainings namin, napapansin ko sa kanya na ’pag tapos ng mga screens or attacking, madalas floaters (siya mag-finish). So tingin ko malaki ’yung naging effect ko sakanya. Tapos sabi nya na sana maaga pa lang sa career nya, nagkakilala na kami.”</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-7.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CcSYsQVJpLL/"><strong>Kiefer Ravena</strong></a></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-8.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CPS_aQHFlJP/"><strong>Kobe Paras</strong></a></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-9.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRA8Y5llgdt/"><strong>Evan Nelle</strong></a></div><p>Soon enough, both trainers would grow their clientele, also their credibility as trainers. True Focus regulars now have become players like Kiefer Ravena, Kobe Paras and Evan Nelle and continued their skills development with him.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-10.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CawjxsKB2US/"><strong>Justin Chua</strong></a></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-11.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CaHRZXHhY5F/"><strong>RK Ilagan</strong></a></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="What does it take to develop PH basketball’s elite?" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/06/16/20220616-skills-trainers-answer-12.jpg"/></figure></div><div><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CatXAghBLhw/"><strong>Aljun, with brother Junjun Melecio</strong></a></div><p>Simple Grind’s current batch include PBA players such as Justin Chua, RK Ilagan and Aljun Melecio. Coach Nicolo shares what his PBA players have in common.</p><p>“Attitude talaga, napansin ko ’yun. Lalo na nu’ng nagsta-start ’yung training nila outside Manila. Parang may lockdown sa Manila, parang bawal pa sila mag-training. And they will still come to me. For example, si Paul. Bago siya mag-practice sa Batangas, magtra-training pa siya sakin. And yet, this training is like 6 a.m. We’ll run around one and a half hour bago siya mag Batangas. So bya-byahe pa siya. For Mark naman, may time na 4 hours, 5 hours na nasa gym.”</p><p> Coach Jolo shares similar sentiments on what his elite clients have in common.</p><p>“They crave improvement. As in, they wanna be the best version of themselves and then, they put in the work. Kasi ’yung story ko kela Thirdy, nu’ng inaayos namin tira niya, 3 times a day kami nagwo-workout, for a month. Every day. We would start 4 or 5 a.m. and then go back ng 2-4, 3-5, and then go back 9-11 p.m., tapos gano’n ulit the next day. So ’yung work namin, nag-translate talaga kasi, we had little time. Na-deliver naman ’yung gusto namin.”</p><p>If the athletes dedicate most of their days to improvement, that goes the same for coaches Jolo and Nicolo. During the leagues’ off season are his clients’ time to prepare harder.</p><p>During those times, a typical day for coach Jolo is working out with Blackwater Bossing guard Baser Amer at 4 a.m. at Antipolo, drive to the south to meet his next client, DLSU Green Archer Evan Nelle for 6:30 a.m. training. Then go to another location to train Letran forward Brent Paraiso. After Brent, it’s Magnolia forward Russell Escoto’s turn. By 1 p.m., coach Jolo would then train Teng. His former teammate, now plays for the Blackwater Bossing, Jvee Casio would be next. By late afternoon, Kobe Paras would step into the gym. By night time, he would focus on his set of younger players.</p><p>It&#x27;s similar for coach Nicolo. He would at times start at 5 a.m. to work out with Paul Lee. An hour or two later, former San Sebastian Stags and PBA players RK Ilagan and Alyn Bulanadi are next. The next batch comes in with Justin Chua and Nick Demusis. By 9 a.m., Mark Barroca will get his skills work done. By the afternoon, coach Nicolo would focus on his elementary and high school clients then will sometimes wrap it up with PBA player Louie Vigil.</p><p>Coaches Jolo and Nicolo are just two of many skills coaches that tirelessly grind and focus on athletes’ bigger goals. Perhaps the pandemic has been a boost for the industry to be recognized because of the circumstance it brought. Admittedly, both agree that social and digital media were also key in getting their brands recognized because of Instagram and Tiktok uploads. And the industry will still evolve.</p><p>“In the next 3-5 years, sobrang lalaki pa ito. Kung bibilangin natin dito sa Manila, sobrang konti pa ’yung kilala. Yet, sa Cebu and Davao, marami sila at eventually lalaki yan lalo na kung masanay ang mga players na magkaroon ng ganitong klaseng training,” Chua emphasizes.</p><p>Going back, it took a while but coach Jolo was finally able to complete the payments on his car loan. Just like any other startup business and in this case, they were their own, they grew financially and their brands have been getting recognized. But more than the reputation and street cred as a skills coach, is the ultimate fulfillment being able to help the players get out of their slumps and achieving their goals. The burning desire to make the players better. Coach Jolo shared this story of his player having a slim chance of getting back on his feet and yet he did.</p><p>“To be honest, washed up na player na siya and out of shape. Team B na lang sa school nya before, but now nagkaroon na siya ng contract sa MPBL. It’s not always about yung pagka-change ng player, ’yung results in game ng player, pero umaabot siya to the point na nababago ko buhay ng player.”</p>

Jolo Tamayo and Nicolo Chua have been helping the country’s top hoopers be at the top of their game.