BELIEVE it or not, we are slowly getting to the top, Philippine basketball is. Whatever its critics say, the current national cage program is still the best road to recovery in the international roundball scene despite the Asian Games debacle in Incheon, South Korea.
No, national team coach Vincent (Chot) Reyes is not the reason why Gilas Team Pilipinas fared poorly.
Likewise, officiating is not to be blamed. Not even the tiresome four-games-in-four-days schedule that the Filipinos had to endure (all the teams anyway were affected by the tight game skeds; by the way, the Philippines, which placed sixth in the 2010 Guangzhou Asiad, played its fifth straight assignment in as many days last night against deposed Asian Games titlist People’s Republic of China in the fifth-to-eighth-places classification round, and then will take a break on September 30 before seeing action on October 1 either in the fifth-place game or seventh-place contest).
There are other factors for our early demise in the Incheon Asiad such as the 11th-hour unavailability of naturalized player Andray Blatche due to ineligibility and the withdrawal of Jayson Castro William that shook up the team’s chemistry. In a hurry, adjustments to game strategies had to be made to pull aging Marcus Douthit back on the roster as Blatche’s replacement. The two American-born recruits have different playing styles, in case hoops fans did not notice.
Asking for the head of Reyes won’t solve any problem and is simply a knee-jerk reaction that could only be a recipe for disaster insofar as continuity and stability are concerned as our boys gear for the next big international event, which is the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in China, where only the champion automatically earns a berth in the 12-nation men’s basketball showcase in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
I know it’s back to the drawing boards but from where I sit, I believe what Gilas Team Pilipinas needs is better planning, more overseas competitions outside Asia to further toughen up to the rugged and physical ways of European ball. Team skipper Jimmy Alapag, who delayed his international-playing retirement for another two weeks to suit up in Incheon, will be sorely missed. After all, he was the Filipinos’ best player in the Asiad. Alapag gave it all but it simply was not enough.
It’s not a be-all-and-end-all factor but it’s also high time for luck to come the Filipinos’ way. From the 17th FIBA World Cup to the Incheon Asiad, our Nationals have played their hearts out. Unfortunately, “puso” or the never-say-die spirit, alone did not translate into significant victories.
“So near, yet so far” were we in scoring upset victories against Croatia, Argentina and Puerto Rico in the World Cup and winning against reigning FIBA Asia champion Iran, Qatar and host South Korea in Incheon. We lost to those teams despite enjoying a substantial advantage in the fourth quarter. “Banderang Kapos” our boys often looked like.
Even against Senegal in the Worlds, the Filipinos were up in the payoff period before having to go through a five-minute extension to pull out a two-point win over the FIBA Africa third-ranked Senegalese for the country’s first World victory in 50 years or since the San Juan, Puerto Rico edition in 1974.
In the eight-team quarterfinal round in Incheon, Team Pilipinas was ahead of Qatar, 60-53, but lost, 77-68; owned a 68-52 advantage over South Korea in the third quarter before dropping a 97-95 decision; and led by 18 points in the third quarter (and by 14, 65-51, midway the fourth period) against eventual semis qualifier Kazakhstan before edging the former Soviet Union republic, 67-65, when it needed an 11-point win to earn the second and final semis ticket behind the Koreans.
For now, Team Pilipinas will need better luck the next time it sets on an international hardwood.
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