Basketball craze
Simply put, I respect our team and the big bosses who are making decisions for Philippine basketball
We are such a basketball-crazy country. Everyone in the Philippines is just so passionate about the sport.
In the ongoing International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Basketball World Cup in China, the Philippines lost its first three games and the Filipinos love for basketball had started to get the better of us as we are becoming very critical about the players, the coaches and the overall program.
Most of us would say whatever we want without hesitation, prompting the social media to light up with all the comments.
Personally, I cannot claim any knowledge more than the coaches and players themselves because it simply isn’t my sport. If it were swimming, I would gladly debate with anyone.
Simply put, I respect our team and the big bosses who are making decisions for Philippine basketball.
But allow me to share three suggestions being a former Philippine Sports Commission and Games and Amusement Board chairman for almost 10 years.
First, the gold standard in basketball for so many decades — the United States — is already having a hard time dominating the sport.
In their previous game against Turkey, the Americans showed a great deal of the change. Yes, they won by one point, but the Turkish, like the rest of the world, saw that to beat the United States, they must shoot well from the outside.
US basketball has been so popular worldwide with the players going for fancy dunks and layups rather than three-point shooting.
And in a country like us that deeply admires the NBA, our players follow this style and are more focused on the inside game. As a result, only very few professional local players have the confidence to shoot from the outside.
To point an example, Serbia beat us by almost 60 points through 75 percent success rate from the three-point area and 85 percent from the two-point range. Those numbers were unheard of before, but a country like Serbia proved all of us wrong. It can be done.
Countries like Serbia and Turkey are really developing players who can drill shots from beyond the arc and they give them the confidence to do it in intense situations. That is what we need to input in our basketball program. We need to put premium on outside shooting.
Second, Gilas Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao claimed that they have to be mentally prepared to face world-class teams.
I agree with him as I know that a competition is 90 percent mental and only 10 percent physical. Our team may be the best physically, but if they are not mentally ready to square off with the rest of the field, then everything will be wasted.
I suggest that we increase the number of imports we allow in the Philippine Basketball Associations (PBA).
We need to hire at least three imports at a time so that our players would get used to playing with tougher, bigger opponents. After all, funding for these reinforcements isn’t a problem for the companies playing in the PBA.
Just imagine our players competing against teams with three world-class imports or more. That’s where they will gain the experience and confidence. That’s where their mental attitude of shooting to face the caliber of players in the FIBA World Cup.
If we really want to perform better in the FIBA World Cup, I suggest that our amateur and professional league allow more talented foreign amateur players and professional imports, so that our local players would get used to being pushed by high-level opponents.
Lastly, we need taller players who will handle the ball very well and can shoot from the outside.
We need to change our talent pool of basketball players with the foresight that they will one day play against giants and be able to match well with them.
I suggest we scour the Philippines and search for all the best 13-year-old boys with the height of six feet or taller. Then, we should put them all in an amateur league to give them the experience of playing together as a team.
Do they exist? Of course!
Just look at Kai Sotto.
We all know that for every five-man team on the court, each one of them plays a specific role.
So just imagine if all these six-footer 13-year-old boys playing together; two of them will play guards while the others forwards and center.
US basketball has been so popular worldwide with the players going for fancy dunks and layups rather than three-point shooting.
With that, they will be forced to play outside of their comfort zones and learn how to play their designated positions regardless of their height.
When they join a certain league, some of these young teenagers will definitely experience growth spurt more than their compatriots. Some will be taller then the rest of them. So by the time they reach college age, the shortest player will probably average 6-foot-4 and would be comfortable in bringing down the ball as well as passing and shooting.
They will be the next generation of basketball players with enough fundamentals to play in the big international leagues.
Again, these are just suggestions based on experience and observations when I was still a ranking sport official.
Just like any fan, I just had to express them to this basketball-crazy because at the end of the day, all we want are better results in the sport we all go gaga for.