Kiefer Ravena: The King Eagle soars
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| It’s tough to paint what can possibly be going on in Kiefer’s mind. ‘I just want to prove to everyone that we are still capable of winning,’ Kiefer Ravena says |
Oh, to be 19, in your junior year of college, trying your
best to pass all your subjects while making time for a social life, and
figuring out where your place is in the world, is tough. But to be all that
plus to be your university’s star basketball player, experiencing tens of
thousands of supporters chanting your name, with everyone watching every move
you make, is not for the weak.
Here are 10 things you should know about “The Phenom,” “Blue
Mamba,” “King Eagle,” Kiefer Ravena.
1. Kiefer was only 13
years old when he first heard the monicker “The Phenom.” The first thing his
coach told him was “humility.”
“I was 13 years old, playing with 15, 16-year-old American
players in Las Vegas,
and I would somewhat dominate the game, I would score a lot,” he said about his
stint with the Philippine Youth team when he was in first year high school.
“Gumawa ng video sa YouTube yung tito ko and he labeled it ‘Kiefer Ravena Pinoy
Phenom.’ Then I proudly told coach Jamike (Jarin) about the video. I remember
this exact moment, I was in the weights room and he asked me, ‘Alam mo ba ibig
sabihin ng humility?’ (Do you know what humility means?) And that was the start
of my era with coach Jamike.”
He adds, “I was very lucky that I was under him in high
school. He was that strict a coach that he would make sure to push me harder.
He would constantly remind me of things, pag sumosobra, pag kulang. He really
made sure I was grounded despite everything I achieved in high school pa lang.
He taught me lessons that I will bring with me throughout my life.”
The impact of his monicker actually hit Kiefer during his
rookie year in college. “Naramdaman ko talaga yung (I really felt like a) ‘phenom’ during the
game versus La Salle. That’s when I first saw
the shirt, ‘The Phenom Is Here’. Sa high school
there was nothing like that! It was a surreal moment for me when they
gave me a shirt. I asked what it was, they said, ‘Pang-warmer mo.’ When I read
what was written, wow, astig. It’s very overwhelming that a lot of people would
consider buying the shirt, which was around P300, P350. It wasn’t cheap!”
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2. He first learned
basketball at the Milo Best program. The
minimum age was 6, he was only 4.
“I was the youngest that was allowed to join Milo Best,”
Kiefer reveals. “My mom asked them, kung pwede bang i-salingkit lang ako. So I
just did drills. Then eventually, the coaches were like, ‘Uy, pwede ‘to ah!’
They decided to enroll me as a normal student, a camper. (He actually attended
Milo Best in Ateneo). It was there where I learned to play basketball. Basics,
shooting, defense, dribbling. So now I’m with Milo
as their endorser, it’s very nice. It’s very surreal that now I’m giving back, when
sila ang tumulong sa akin dati.” (when they used to be the one helping me).
On whether he ever recalls sucking at basketball: “Ha ha! I
just knew that I had a feel for the game.”
3. He first played
for La Salle Greenhills, until his fifth grade when he was recruited by Ateneo
to be the first scholar of basketball for grade school.
“Ateneo started talking to my parents about the possibility
of me transferring to Ateneo. They said they would give me a lot of
opportunities. We talked about it as a family, and for me, being that eager kid
who just wanted to play basketball, I really wanted to try it out. I didn’t
know that eventually it would be this big for me. I just wanted what was best
for me, and my parents thought the same. So for grade six, I transferred,” he
recalls. Kiefer shares that though his dad, basketball star Bong Ravena, went
to UE and his mom, star volleyball player Mozzy Crisologo Ravena, went to UST,
neither parent pressured him to follow in their footsteps and be a Warrior or
Tiger.
Going into college, DLSU did try to get him back, and other
schools tried, too. “Yes. They sought to interest me,” he says shyly. “I chose
Ateneo because I owe probably, if not all, most of my achievements to them.
It’s just right for me na piliin ko yung (that I chose the school that gave me
the biggest opportunity.” When asked if he can imagine himself playing for La Salle, had he not made the choices he did: “Now, that
I’m grown up hindi ko maisip. (I wouldn’t think of it). But maybe the thought, what if I studied in La Salle, makakasabay ko sina ganito, ganyan ( I would
play with). But di ko rin masasabi (I can’t really say for sure) who would end
up in what team.”
“I’m so happy here in Ateneo, with my teammates. I feel most
at home here.”
4. Kiefer Ravena in
numbers:
250: number of sneakers in his collection
39: highest number of points scored in one game. “Third year
high school, versus FEU, and we lost.”
11: current number of endorsements he has.
184,800: current number of followers he has on Twitter with
his account @kieferravena, making him the most followed UAAP player on the site
15: his jersey number. “Because when I was in La Salle walang ibang natira. No connection to anything.
I was born Oct. 27, 1993, nothing would add up to 15, we don’t live in #15. I
just decided to stick to it.”
5. On growing up and
being compared to his dad Bong: “Imagine sobrang bata ka pa lang, sobrang (I
was so young, yet I was so) pressured to perform. But my dad is actually my
biggest advantage.”
“When I was young I was really compared to him, and my dad
was the first one to tell me, ‘Just be yourself, just play your game, don’t be
pressured with who I am.’ Then eventually I diverted into my own image and
style of playing,” he recalls. “My dad was my biggest advantage when I was
growing up. Other players were bigger than me, could shoot better than me, were
stronger than me. But my knowledge of the game with the help of my dad at a
young age was very high. That was really my advantage.”
Now, Thirdy, his younger brother who is playing for the
Ateneo Juniors Basketball Team in his senior year, is constantly being compared
by the public to Kiefer. “Actually I am my brother’s number one critic. I don’t
know if it’s good or bad, but hindi ko siya pinupuri (I don’t praise him). It’s
not that minamaliit ko siya ( don’t belittle him), it’s because I know what he
can do. He is physically the most athletic of us boys in the family so he is
perfect for basketball. We are here to guide him,” Kiefer explains. In his
family, it’s all about mentoring and sportsmanship with his mom also guiding
his younger sister Dani, who plays volleyball for the Miriam HS team.
“Sometimes you can be pressured to do everything, score, rebound. But it’s a
team sport and you have your other teammates to be there.”
6. On being a big fan
himself: “I would tweet NBA players just for fun.” Just recently, his ultimate
idol Kobe
Bryant even followed him on Twitter.
“Every single time he was here in Manila, I was able to see him,” says the
fanboy. They were able to have a proper “two-minute conversation” one time.
Kiefer: “I said, hey man,”
Me: “You said, ‘hey.. man?’”
Kiefer: “Yes,” he laughs in slight embarrassment. “Sobrang
idol ko kasi (He’s my real idol). I just told him I really idolize him and he
just told me to keep working hard, and that I will do great things. I really
would watch his clips, study his skills, study his arsenal.”
One morning, Kiefer woke up to the pleasant surprise of
being followed by Kobe
on Twitter.
Me: “So you’ve sent him a direct message?” (A private
messaging feature that can only be used if a person follows you on Twitter.)
Kiefer: “Yes, I did! I said thanks for following me and I
hope you tweet me back. He didn’t reply. But, of course, it’s okay,” he laughs.
7. Kiefer’s take on
the controversies of the basketball world:
1. On controversies of players cheating on their wives: “I
don’t really follow chismis (rumors), I’m not into that. I idolize Kobe for what he is on
the court, I don’t know if he’s the same beast outside the court.”
Hypothetically asked what he would do when he joins the PBA and discovers that
a teammate is cheating on his wife: “I’m the type of friend who won’t deprive
you of what you like, but I would warn you. If he doesn’t stop it’s not my
fault anymore, but I would try my best to tell him he is doing something
wrong.”
2. On NBA player Jason Collins coming “out”: “I’m impressed
with how the NBA handled it, they handled it with such class. If it were here
it would have to start out small, it can’t be big right away. Jason Collins
wasn’t the first one to come out, and all of them had overwhelming support.
Eventually we will reach a point we will be that open.”
3. On issues of game fixing and college player salaries:
“The game fixing and ‘hulog ng laro,’ I’m not a fan of it and I don’t believe
in it. It ruins the game. I’m aware it goes around and it’s happening, but I am
not a fan and I’m never going to be one. On salaries, here in the Philippines,
basketball is such a way of life. You can’t blame college players for getting
income from basketball at a young age. In fact, I admire kids who work hard to
play basketball because they know how big it is, they know how it can help
their families and themselves.”
4. On rumors of star players being “protected” by referees:
“Protected? No, I really get beat up in games. Punched, everything, it’s part
of the game. The referees are my best friends. They can really control the
game.”
8. More trivia on
Kiefer:
Most meaningful championship? “My fifth straight. I won
three straight in high school, two in college. That was the five-peat last
year. Kasi yun ang pinakamahirap.” ( That was the most difficult).
Most painful loss? “First year high school, the championship
against Zobel.”
Most important lesson learned from coach Norman Black? “Give
it your best at all times. He was known as Mr. 100 percent, even in practice,
even when horsing around, he would be so competitive. He is my godfather in
baptism. He was my dad’s first coach. Year 1992 for San Miguel, Coach Norman
drafted my dad. After 10 years, I was under coach Norman.”
One thing your new coach Bo Perasol always tells you? “He
would always tell me to accept my role. You can’t shy away from that. You’re a
good player, and the only thing that will make you a great player is if you
accept and play your role well. Ganito pala niya ako pinagkakatiwalaan.” (This
is how much he trusts me.)
First thing you do after losing a game? “Eat a lot.”
Any favorites? “Sambokojin.”
Favorite thing to do after a win? “Go out with my family,
celebrate. Eat. Wherever near the venue, whether Araneta or MOA.”
Sport you love watching? “Volleyball, the local league. My
mom works as an analyst for ABS-CBN Volleyball coverage.”
Best subject in school? “Law 11, Obligations and Contracts.
I’m not taking up law but I like learning it.
Worst subject? “Science, anything with science.”
Relationship status: “Currently nanliligaw (courting).” She’s his schoolmate in Ateneo.
9. With his savings
and income from endorsements, Kiefer had a beach house built in his hometown Iloilo.
“It’s the first big reward I gave myself. It’s not too far,
it’s like going to Boracay. A three-day weekend would do,” he shares. “I was
hands-on building it. I designed the room, how the porch was made, the
interiors, where everything would be placed, the gate. It’s just somewhere to
relax. It’s nice, it’s so serene.”
10. On taking his
love for basketball a step further: “I will become a coach no matter what. I
know that I am one.”
“Nung bata ako (when I was younger), I would watch VHS tapes
of my dad in the room. The door would be slightly open and they would look at
what I was doing. They would hear me talking by myself. ‘Dapat kasi pinasa mo
dun, dapat dito ka, dapat ganito,’ (You should have passed the ball, you should
have been here, this is what you should have done), as if instructing my dad. I
would analyze the game. Natuwa sila hearing those things,” he revealed. He was
around seven years old at that time.
On his training regimen: “First, diet. I eat everything. As
long it’s in moderation, we burn everything. When it comes to practice, that’s
the beauty of basketball, its a set of different skills so you figure out what
you need to improve. My shooting is what I am trying to improve, seeing what
other shots I can make. Watching your videos. You take note of the things you
need to improve. Extra shots. Weights room. Just to keep everything in check.”
He also occasionally swims, runs, (“I use other sports to be better at basketball”)
and goes to the driving range (“It’s also a game of focus”).
So what does he do so differently from other players?
“Perhaps, my knowledge of the game? My ‘Basketball IQ’, I’ve heard it a lot of
times. Skill wise there are many better players than me. But the thing that
makes basketball look so easy, that is my advantage. Kunyari ito, he had to do
this and this and this, for me, you can just do this, and you get the same
result.”
* * *
Yes, he feels the pressure. With five key teammates
graduated, a 0-2 standing, and an ankle injury, it’s tough to paint what can
possibly be going on in Kiefer’s mind. “I just want to prove to everyone that
we are still capable of winning. A lot of people are already counting us out,
especially our opponents. But I have to recover 100 percent and be ready for
all the games that I will play in,” he says. Determination and passion, he
obviously has. Having his feet planted firmly on the ground despite his overwhelming
fame and success is what makes Kiefer a cut above the rest. After our interview
I bumped into Fr. Nemy Que of Ateneo and mentioned how disarming Kiefer’s
humility is. He answers, “I think from the very start he knew, he knew he had
it, he knew he wanted it to be like this.”
