QUEZON City is out to make a mark in the coming third season of the National Basketball League (NBL) under new owners and management.
Now known as the Quezon City Defenders, the team is now headed by new owners led by showbiz personality Lotlot de Leon and his husband Fadi El Soury, and is being coached by Mickey Estrada.
De Leon said in a press conference held Saturday at Café Oley in Quezon City they decided to take the team in order to help the players achieve their dreams in basketball. Incidentally, one of the members of the team is De Leon’s son Diego Gutierrez.
“This was actually offered to us by NBL. We were interested right away. Mahilig po ako sa sports kasi of course, as you know, isang member nila is my son and I’m always very supportive of my son and that is why alam ko ‘yung nararamdaman ng lahat ng mga bata dito na nagsusumikap talaga, nagpapakahirap, nagpa-practice because of the passion they have with the sport which is basketball,” said De Leon.
“Kaya siguro kami napunta dito ni Fady so that we can help them achieve their dreams. Kung ano man maitutulong ng grupo namin para sa batang ito para ma-achieve nila ‘yung mga pangarap nila hand-in-hand, of course, with our head coaches, assistant coaches, and NBL, sana marating nila ‘yung gusto nilang mapuntahan,” said De Leon, who is actually a sportsperson, having brought beach tennis in the country several years ago.
Aside from Gutierrez, the team is also composed of Bryan Cabrera, Enzo Battad, Normel Delos Reyes, Nikko Lazo, Joshua Roque, Joshua Bringas, MJ Enriquez, Christian Diaz, Nikko Lao, Mark Puspus, Bryan Nabayra, Dave Torregoza, JR Barde, Peter Cecilio, Jeff Comia, Adzhar Udjan, Jake Bagon, Patrick Boffa, and Edric Estacio.
“I was immediately interested only because of my background with helping kids especially through Rotary and the community that we try to push forward for the Filipinos. We don’t need to forget that our league is also an amateur homegrown league, the focus is on the Quezon City players and the generation of Quezon City,” said El Soury.
“We want to help us push for their career whether in basketball or something else, that’s the time we will be there to help. For now, basketball is their career. We are going to help them as much as we can so that we can improve their skills and then let them shine,” he added.
Estrada supervised the tryouts where they were able to get players who he feels will make the team even better after the QC team missed the playoffs in its first two seasons.
“Ako ang bago sa kanila. Parang 80 percent of the team galing sa dating season. Pero proud ako. Naging madali ang trabaho ko kasi solid na sila, nagjejell na sila tapos ‘yung mga additions ko, mga pinasok ko, hindi naiiwan at nakakasabay sa system. I think ready na sila,” said Estrada.
Estrada also believes the Defenders have a strong chance of making the playoffs based on the preparations.
“Ngayon, pinipilit namin and trying our best na makapag-practice sila, mabigyan sila ng magadang gym na pag-ensayuhan at first time nila magkaroon ng system. Malaking bagay. Sobrang supportive ng management ngayon. Bukod sa basketball, ‘yung future ng mga bata, sinesecure din nila,” said Estrada.
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