IT was the striking physical looks that grabbed the attention first—his spiky hair dyed blonde and almond eyes that made him a heartthrob and instant gallery favorite in Taipei. Then it was the athleticism that took over—sensational and superb—and everything else faded into the background.
Terrence Romeo, 5-foot-10 rookie guard on the Gilas Pilipinas lineup, is sensational and superb. He is in the current four-team pocket tournament, the team’s last tune-up series, and he will be in the coming International Basketball Federation Asia set in China, a tournament Gilas hopes to win later this month.
Filipino cage fans are sophisticated and discriminating, and are the most intense and loyal in the world. In the dark days of Gilas when it seemed like an unwanted orphan, they were on the edge of being again heartbroken.
It took one tough, pulse-pounding tournament in Taipei, the prestigious Jones Cup, to unveil a player of sparkling abilities and majestic potential. Romeo almost unnoticeably started in the Gilas’ first game, and immediately he sent the decibels in the gallery hitting the highest note to cheer him on.
On a team that lacked its best player—the giant June Mar Fajardo—Romeo fearlessly showed he, perhaps the smallest man on the court, could be a game changer, too. In the hearts and minds of fans he has now won over, Romeo is a package of versatility. His inimitable style doesn’t recall any one else’s. It is entirely his own creation, shaped and molded by the fire inside him.
With the ball in his hands, Gilas Pilipinas has a player who can ignite the offense, spark a breakaway, or spell the difference in a down-the-wire finish—really a player who gives Coach Tab Baldwin a slew of excellent options.
He can spot up from beyond the arc or take the ball to the basket, weaving and darting his way past the defense, faking off the big men, and launching a twisting shot or flicking a pass to the open man in the corner.
Since Gilas-mania has gripped Filipino fans, Romeo has done many things, magical and excellent, that helped to ignite the fire of their hopes. In the face of a tough, physical brand of international basketball play, he has brought to the team a determined stand—a certain streak of fearlessness (recklessness, some fans argue) and a hard-driving spirit to try to win every game.
My best moment with him, watching him on satellite TV, was the drive he took against Quincy Davis of Taipei A. A quick sidestep and two long strides sent him off past a Taiwanese defender, and as he drove through the shaded lane, Davis rose in his face like a forbidding Matterhorn. In one motion, as Romeo got off his pivot, he sidestepped to his left, flipped in a high-looping shot against the glass, and the ball just dribbled in. Sensational.
He did it again against South Korea’s Ha Seung-jin, and Iran’s former NBA journeyman Hamed Hadaddi, the giant 7-foot-2 who was the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Early on, when the Gilas veterans were content keeping their power at half-throttle, Romeo went all out to set the tone for the tournament, and define how the precious minutes of action on the court should be spent.
Romeo swore it did not matter if a 7-footer or a guard his size stood in his way. “Actually ‘di ko sila nakikita eh, pag umaatake ako. Ang nakikita ko ‘yung ring eh, kasi pag nakita mo sila baka ‘di mo na maitira,” he said. “Pag tingin mo na malayo naman sila or ‘di sila makaka-help, syempre wag mo nang sayangin ang split second na malilibre ka.”
Romeo played in only five games in the tournament, having sustained an ankle sprain against Iran. Still, his scoring average—15.2 points in 18 minutes of action per game—ranked 10th ahead of Hadaddi, Davis, Mahdi Kamrani and Taiwanese star Lin Chih-Chieh.
His explosive conference the past season made him the PBA’s annual scoring champion. He averaged 20.8 points in the Commissioner’s Cup and 22.2 points in the Governors’ Cup, giving him an overall average of 19.7 points per game.
Romeo is set to succeed Jayson Castro, his Gilas teammate as the Gilas’ high point-man. But his value is much, much more than his scoring. His darting, springy moves, foot and hand speed, and a court vision that allows him to create opportunities for himself and his teammates on the floor are the assets that could make Gilas a better team in China.
With a reputation he did not command in his leading role as GlobalPort guard in the pro league, he has cemented his role in Baldwin’s top rotation. He is to Baldwin instant offense and constant energy, and to the opposition, a head-splitting fireball that sears, scorches and burns everything on the way.
Given all that has been said about him, some fans have started calling him “The Bullet” or “The Spark.” From where I sit, I realize it is time Romeo might have to file a petition in court to include “Magic” as his second official name.