| Filipino coach trained Spider Man and Coach Carter |
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| Sunday, 01 April 2007 | |
LOS ANGELES - When you watch “Spider-Man 3” this summer, watch out for the cool basketball moves of Tobey Maguire. He was trained by Filipino American basketball coach, Hernando Planells, also known as “Coach H.”  The 30-year-old Planells, who is the son of Filipina Carmen and Spaniard Hernando, is currently the head basketball coach for the Hollywood Fame team that is in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and is also a basketball scout for Marty Blake who is the director of scouting for the NBA. As a basketball scout, Planells uses his keen eye for talent to evaluate players for the NBA draft. “I have helped Marty Blake to provide professional basketball scouting and consulting to the NBA and to other clients around the globe,” Planells pointed out in an exclusive interview with Philippine News. Aside from Miami Heat assistant coach Eric Spoelstra, Planells may be the only other Filipino American professional basketball coach in the United States. His experience and background has also allowed him to be a technical advisor for Reelsports Solutions, in motion pictures including “Coach Carter” starring Samuel L. Jackson, “The Longest Yard” starring Adam Sandler, “Rebound” starring Martin Lawrence and “Spider-Man 3”starring Tobey Maguire. As a technical advisor on movies, he developed basketball choreography, personally trained the actors and coordinated tryouts and casting calls for athletes. He was also hired to train the athletes of “Extreme Dodgeball,” the highest-rated television show on the Game Show Network. “Coach H” was named the head coach for the Bouncers on Spike TV's smash hit “SlamBall.” Born in Los Angeles, Planells lives in Claremont, California with his wife Carmel and their two children, Preston and Gabrielle. We were able to catch up with him and below are excerpts of our interview with Planells. How did you get involved in Hollywood Fame basketball team?  I had heard an announcement about a new minor league team coming to Los Angeles and it being owned by celebrities. I thought it was interesting and made a call over to them. After some conversations and meetings, they asked me to come on board as the Director of Player Personnel. It certainly helped that I am a scout for Marty Blake, who is the Director of Scouting for the NBA; ownership needed someone who was familiar with players and thought that I would be a much needed addition to the Fame. As the season progressed, I was elevated to Associate Head Coach where I worked under former NBA Head Coach Don Casey. When Coach Casey stepped down I was promoted to head coach and was very thankful for the opportunity. How is it working with celebrities at Hollywood Fame who owns it (i.e. Nick Lachey, Stacey Keibler and others)? The ownership group is fantastic. They are heavily involved with the team and the day to day operations. They are committed to making this work in Los Angeles which is a very hard market for minor league sports. How did you get involved into show business and choreograph the basketball action in such movies as “Coach Carter” and “The Longest Yard”? In 2001, I returned to Los Angeles after a one-year stint at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and came across an ad looking for a basketball coach for a TV show called “SlamBall.” I applied, went to the coaches' tryout and was selected to be the head coach for the team called the Bouncers. I was on “SlamBall” for two years and that is where I met Mark Ellis who owns a company called Reelsports. They specialize in sports choreography in movies, TV and commercials. They needed a basketball choreographer for a movie that was going to start in a few months and Mark asked me if I was interested in working with him. I jumped at the opportunity and have been working on sports production ever since. I have worked on “Coach Carter”, “The Longest Yard,” “Rebound,” “Spider-Man 3” among others. Tell us more about your experiences working with Tobey Maguire (“Spider-Man 3”) and Robin Williams. Tobey and Robin are tremendous and it was an honor working with them.
As for working with Robin, I received a phone call asking me to train Robin for a couple of days so that he can be prepared to do a basketball scene in an upcoming movie “Licensed to Wed.” Robin worked extremely hard (with jokes in between drills!) in our very little time together to make sure that he was prepared. He ran through all the drills, practiced his shooting and his ball-handling. After two days, he remarkably improved. Any other Hollywood actors you worked with? Please tell us what movies and how it was working with them. I worked with Samuel L. Jackson on “Coach Carter,” Adam Sandler on “The Longest Yard,” Martin Lawrence on “Rebound” and right now I'm working with Will Ferrell and Woody Harrelson on a basketball movie. Working with all these actors has been a great experience. All of them are really good people who want to make great movies. All of them have been very open to my coaching and training methods because they understand how important it is for them to look like a real athlete on the big screen. Tell us more about your Filipino descent.
Have you ever been to the Philippines which is a basketball-crazy country? I've been to the Philippines twice but I haven't been there in about five years. I loved it over there. Basketball is such a huge sport over there and I have always wanted to coach in the PBA and work with the national team. What are your future projects? After I'm done with the season, I will be working on the Will Ferrell basketball movie “Semi-Pro.” I am also coordinating a women's pro basketball showcase that will take place in May. During that time, I will be getting my schedule to start training NBA draft hopefuls at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. I am also trying to lay the ground work for a basketball camp/clinic in the Philippines. I have always wanted to go back and put together a clinic where Filipino basketball players can improve their fundamentals and footwork and introduce them to new techniques and ideas. (note: this article was conducted and written by Janet Susan R. Nepales of philippinenews.com) |
Since Tobey already plays basketball, he needed less training from me and more guidance in the choreographing of the basketball scene. We worked together on what he wanted the scene to look like in “Spider-Man 3.” We put it all together and when it was time to shoot, he made it his own and it turned out great. 
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