When Dondon Hontiveros joined Phoenix’s coaching staff earlier this month, he encountered a sense of familiarity and comfort that few teams could have offered on his first foray into a career in the PBA.
“The good thing is that I was with former teammates in Vic Manuel, Chris Banchero, RJ Jazul and coach Topex (Robinson),” Hontiveros said on The Game on ONE News on Thursday. “I liked it. I think they knew I would be more comfortable with the guys I’ve known for a while.”
Hontiveros has had a remarkable 17 year PBA career and has left a legacy as one of the best Filipino shooters of all time. He spent five of these seasons in Alaska, where he won a title with Jazul and Robinson – then assistant coaches of Aces – in 2013, before playing alongside Manuel and Banchero from 2014 to 2017.
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At the Fuel Masters, Hontiveros said he would officially serve as an advisor.
“It’s really more of a consultancy base, as I won’t be there all week. We agreed that I would be there for a maximum of three days,” he clarified.
43-year-old Hontiveros, who is currently a councilor for the second district of Cebu City, has already participated in the Phoenix exercises and is still getting a feel for the team’s system.
“On my first day, I felt like a kid learning new things. Okay, these are the terms, these are the pieces they play and it’s really different to see them on videos than they are firsthand to see. ” he shared.
“It’s different firsthand. It feels like I’m trying and learning the system too,” continued Hontiveros. “Coach Jon (Jacinto) is very practical. Coach Topex’s style is also very good as he let coach Jon do the offensive and coach Jamike (Jarin) defend (during training).”
Hontiveros said he was even part of the team’s decision-making process during the 46th PBA draft season, noting how the team hit gold with their picks.
Dondon Hontiveros played five seasons for Alaska. Winston Baltasar
Phoenix went with the tall man Larry Muyang for the sixth time in the overall standings before drafting Nic Demusis and Aljun Melecio in the second round in 18th and 19th places in a row. Reymar Caduyac (No. 34), Max Hentschel (No. 44) and Jerie Pingoy (No. 52) were also selected.
“We help him make the right decisions, but he still has the last word,” commented Hontiveros. “Just like in the draft. We shared our thoughts on the players we could get. I would say we were happy with what we got because these guys were the players we were thinking of.”
In the future, the main focus of Hontiveros will be player development. The task is to work with Manuel to extend his reach to the three-point line.
“Vic’s mindset is to get a higher percentage of shots, which it does in the post and when attacking his defender. Maybe he’s a bigger or smaller man. But he and coach Topex had a good conversation about it, another Vic Manuel for us to reveal. “He said.
Manuel, who was traded against Phoenix in the Alaska off-season, averaged 15.6 points at 44.4 percent shooting, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 27.2 minutes per game. He’s only tried a three-pointer since the 2019 season, but that could change if he plays with the Fuel Masters.
And there may be fewer mentors better placed to help than Hontiveros, who ranks fifth all-time among all players with three pointers and 1,137 triples.
“Once Vic was in our training session and was licensed to shoot. Right after training we stayed 15 to 20 minutes and I saw that Vic had a good stroke. I’m really excited for him,” he said. “If we spend more time after training, maybe he can develop an attitude of shooting from the outside.”
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