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Carlo Tan has Pharex as unlikely PBL quarterfinalists
by Jonas Terrado
(May 2, 2008)

In an April 19 contest, Pharex secured a victory over Bacchus Energy Drink to end a long losing streak and afterwards, Medics head coach Carlo Tan was a given a question about his customary practice of wearing long polo sleeves during a game, which the youthful mentor replied with a unique thought.

'Just like a party, for me, you have to think that a game is an important day and you're excited to be here,' the 31-year old Tan said.

Despite being a bit of a newbie in the tough environment of PBL basketball, Tan's mentality of excitement and importance has led a group of castoffs in a run that made them one of the surprise quarterfinal entrants in the current Lipovitan Amino Sports Cup.

With only a game left to play, Pharex has an even 7-7 record and their recent win was big one, handing Harbour Centre its first defeat of the tournament with a 99-97 victory last April 26 that earned them the quarterfinal slot.

Despite losing five of six games prior to that, his squad won five of its first six games for an early second place standing. It certainly has been a long road for Tan, who has been coaching his second conference of duty.

A Simon Fraser University graduate in Canada, Tan went back home and coached the Aspirants team for his alumni Xavier School that played in the Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Tournament.

But when Pascual Laboratories, a pharmaceutical-based business, gained a PBL franchise last year, Tan was given a call from someone whom he has ties with.

'Jean Alabanza was named as the team manager and he was looking for a coach' Tan remembered. 'We both worked together at Xavier, so he called me.'

With a new team and a new coach in their first-ever conference, Pharex slumbered to a forgetful 2-8 win-loss slate in the V-Go Extreme Energy Drink Cup.

'The PBL is different than high school,' he said. 'Here you have to manage the players and also the games are much faster and physical, unlike in high school where you have to teach them on their skills.'

Despite the roughhousing in his PBL baptism, Tan kept his optimism through three ways.

'Sa akin naman kasi I tried to build the team on three things. One, you have to develop your players' skill, two, develop the team to get better, and three, you have to build the team's character,' Tan explained.

Using a system that emphasizes on fastbreak plays and ball movement, Tan's coaching has helped several young players blossom this conference such as leading scorer Emerson Oreta, Sean Co, Ronnie Matias, and Ian Saladaga.

But one of the players Tan believes that stand out for him thus far has been point guard Ronnie Bughao.

'Kung titignan natin history ni Ronnie, he's more of a one-on-one player,' Tan said of his chief playmaker. 'But if you look at him now; he's leading our team in assist (5.0 per game as of 12 games).'

Back to his coaching attire, which he along with Toyota Otis head coach Ariel Vanguardia are known to sport such fashion, Tan got this practice during his days in Canada.

'In Canada, we usually go to a party in a suit,' Tan said, who sported a long sleeved faded purple polo when asked. 'Diba pag pumunta ka sa party, you're excited to go, well it's just like in a game.'

Now, Tan and the Medics are nowadays pumped up for a chance to play for a PBL title once the quarterfinals begin next week.

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