MANILA (Enzo Flojo's Asia on My Mind) - Can Kiefer Ravena and Jeron Teng set their heated collegiate basketball rivalry aside to help lead Chooks-To-Go to glory in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017?

Ask any basketball-loving Filipino (and that means nearly every Filipino) about what comes to their minds when they hear the names Ravena and Teng, and they will probably say the names of two of the brightest young stars in Philippines basketball - Kiefer Ravena and Jeron Teng.

Both Kiefer and Jeron are second-generation basketball players. They are sons of former PBA veterans who wowed the masses with their hardcourt performances in the 1990s.

Kiefer is the son of Bong Ravena, who - in his heyday - was a high flying wingman able to score in a variety of ways. Jeron, meanwhile, is the son of Alvin Teng, whose bruising and physical style earned him the nickname, Robocop - after the iconic movie character. 

Both Kiefer and Jeron, along with the rest of their families, practically grew up in the basketball court. They would spend many afternoons and nights either watching their dads play on the tube or live in the fabled Manila arenas that were filled to the bleachers with throngs of hoop nuts.

As can be expected, both started playing the game in their formative years, starring for their respective schools all the way till they reached university, where they would find themselves on opposite ends of the Philippine collegiate basketball spectrum. Kiefer Ravena played for the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles, which was the same school that produced a number of Gilas Pilipinas players like LA Tenorio and Larry Fonacier as well as current head coach Chot Reyes. Jeron, for his part, went to the De La Salle University Green Archers, a collegiate sports power that has produced its own fair share of national team players like Jun Limpot from the 1990s and most recently JV Casio, who played in the FIBA Asia Championship 2011. A former Green Archer, Jong Uichico, currently serves as one of Reyes's assistants in the Gilas Pilipinas program. Most notable perhaps is the fact that recent Afrobasket 2017 breakout star Ben Mbala of Cameroon also plays for the Green Archers.

The rivalry between Ateneo and De La Salle is legendary in Philippines sports lore. With many titans of Philippine society, politics and industry coming from both schools, they see each other as peers and direct competitors in many fields, and it all comes to a head each year when their basketball teams meet on the court in front of 15,000 screaming fans. In their university years, Kiefer and Jeron became the anointed faces of Ateneo and De La Salle respectively. They would choose to guard each other and work their darnedest to outdo each other in every encounter. Ravena and Teng would go on to finish their respective collegiate basketball careers with two championships each. 

As fate would have it, both Kiefer and Jeron will now shed their school colors in favor of the Philippines kit. It is not a first, since they have teamed up for the Philippines youth and 3x3 teams, but this is their first foray into the senior level of FIBA Asia, and since both have been hyped as the future pillars of Philippine basketball, they carry a lot of weight on their shoulders.

Kiefer is expected to be one of Reyes's main men in the backcourt, especially given the former's experience playing international basketball. Kiefer has won the Southeast Asian Games gold medal four times running, and the man nicknamed "The Phenom" is raring to finally bring his act to the FIBA Asia stage.

Jeron was one of the most unstoppable wing players in college, owing to his rock-solid build and his ability to knock shots down from practically any spot on the floor. He will probably play either the 2 or 3 spot for Chooks-To-Go, and he should be a great complement to Kiefer's slashing and playmaking skill-set.

Will these former rivals be able to successfully unite and lead Chooks-To-Go Philippines to a memorable campaign in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2017? We will have to wait and see, but their millions of fans back in the Philippines sure hope they will make waves.

Enzo Flojo

FIBA

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