Cramming time
It’s good that the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas changed its stance and decided to field a basketball team in the Asian Games. Though the latest twist leaves us with less than two weeks’ preparation for the quadrennial meet and without a naturalized player to boot, I still think this is the best move.
We shouldn’t have cancelled our participation in the first place, just because of the Gilas suspensions but that’s water under the bridge. Yeng Guiao, the fiery coach tasked to lead the Philippines, said it for all of us: “Mahilig naman tayo sa cramming.”
It’s interesting that 45-year-old Asi Taulava made the pool and I hope he makes the cut. Our national team members--not just in basketball--can learn a thing or two from him about playing for the flag. I remember during that 2002 Asian Games in South Korea, after that painful semifinal loss to the host, it was only Taulava who seemed to have the heart to play in that bronze medal game, which we eventually lost.
The rest of the team seemed to have lost their passion after that last-second loss to South Korea and it showed in their bronze medal match. It wasn’t the case for Asi, who played as if the very existence of Philippine basketball depended on him. I remember thinking it was extremely ironic the guy derided by some for being Fil-Sham was the one playing his heart out.
The basketball team will be the most watched of all the teams in the Asiad but curiously enough, it has the most modest of goals, to improve on its previous finish in 2014. And in typical Taulava fashion, he’s not settling for a seventh-place finish but is aiming for a gold, because losing the gold means a silver, which would be just as good.
That’s the spirit. That’s what SBP should have thought a week ago before they pulled our team out hours after talking about the Asian Games stint in a press conference.
As for me, a semifinal stint would be more than enough for me though I think that’s going to be unlikely. I just hope though that the team will redeem the image of Philippine basketball which was tattered when some Gilas members channeled their inner Manny Pacquiao against Australia.
Showing an attitude that doesn’t give up no matter the odds and of course, no dirty plays please, is for me the best appeal Philippine basketball can launch after the Fiba suspensions. That’s something SBP missed when it first decided to drop our Asian Games stint in favor of a pending appeal of the Fiba suspensions and fines.
The only way to redeem the country’s image is not through a tribunal or an appeal it’s by showing our Asian neighbors how we play the game.
Our last Asiad stint was a forgetable one and with us starting way, way below, there’s no way to go but up.
And also, I think this year’s Asiad members have learned the lesson of the Gilas brawl and won’t be emulating it. Maybe they could also emulate what Ateneo de Manila did in the Jones Cup, when they left their locker room sparkling clean every time, a move inspired by Japan’s conduct in the world cup.
Yes, it’s just a PR move but for me, it’s the perfect move. Anyway, good luck to us in the Asian Games.