PACIFIC RIMS: ONE GREAT HOOPS BOOK

I woke up this morning feeling a bit under the weather, so I decided to skip work and rest my aching body. But instead of having a restful day, I got glued in finishing the book entitled “Pacific Rims” by certified American hoop junkie Rafe Batholomew. I swear that once you get a hand on it, it will be very difficult to put it down. Through the years, I have read countless basketball books but this one is something special maybe it’s because this 384-page hardcover wonder touches everything about the rich history of Philippine hoops. What made it really interesting is that the author chronicled his inputs on the behind-the-scenes in following a championship season with PBA’s Alaska Milk Aces, which happens to be my fave local pro club (after the disbandment of the fabled Toyota Super Corollas squad). The locker-room heated confrontation between the Aces head coach Tim Cone and his prized-import Rosell Ellis during halftime of game five of Alaska’ run towards the PBA Fiesta Conference title in 2007 was really one the highlights of Bartholomew’s masterpiece.

Ellis: “Fuck that! You ain’t got shit! You guys (coaching staff) just stand there collecting a check. What are you guys here for? You don’t say nothing! When a guy comes out the game, tell him what he did wrong or tell him what he needs to do. Don’t just be sitting there. That’s what the goddamn fans are for!”

Cone: “Fuck you Roe!” (Cone shouted, defending his staff, and from there the two faced off in an obscenity-riddled, two-minute tete-a-tete as the Filipino players and assistant coaches, most of whom adhered to cultural values of saving face and eschewing confrontation, watched in horror.)

Ellis: “Yeah, get the fuck out of here! Run, you pussies!”

Cone: (Even though Cone agreed with Roe’s analysis of the game, the coach couldn’t allow a player to challenge him.) “He (Ellis) painted me into a corner where I have to come out swinging. If I don’t, I could lose whatever respect I have with the rest of the players.”