congrats, team pilipinas!

coming back from a heartbreaking loss to Jordan which knocked them out of contention for the championship (and effectively the 2008 Beijing Olympics), Team Pilipinas proceeded to sweep their next 4 games to top Division II of the FIBA Asia 2007. this cements our rank as #9 in Asian basketball (last year, if i remember it correctly, we finished second to the last in a pool of 16). some say it’s playing for crumbs, but i believe we should pat the boys on the back for not losing heart and fighting for dignity and respect.

one of the best things about this tournament is that it showed we can actually beat China – something we haven’t done in the past 20 years – and we did it twice (once in the preliminary round and again in the Division II finals). even if it’s against China’s Team B, it’s still a great morale booster for everyone. kudos and hopefully we can use these wins to psyche ourselves up when we face China’s Team A in the future.

future prospects

instead of bashing the team as a lot of people are doing left and right, i’d rather focus and what’s to look forward to in the future.

it’s too soon to think about the 2012 London Olympics, however there is next year’s FIBA Asia 2008 Championships, which also doubles as the FIBA World 2009 Qualifiers in Turkey. the latter tournament gives 3 slots to Asia, unlike the Olympics which reserves only 1 slot – usually going to China. this makes it a good opportunity to put us back in the basketball map.

now, if only we can only pull our act together. first, i hope as little change as possible will be made to the existing team. this assures continuity and maturity, not a rag-tag team which gets composed at the last minute everytime we need it. second, the PBA could adopt FIBA rules for international game play. emphasis should be given to teamwork instead of individual ability. nifty moves are pretty, but they don’t necessarily win games. look at USA’s dismal showing for the last how many years at the FIBA World Cup. we don’t want to be another NBA.

lastly, a grassroots team composed of young players from college all over the country should be formed and given long-term support until they’re ready to represent us to important international tournaments. it may take as much as 4 years before they become competitive, but when they do, it will be a team to watch out for.

the philippines is a country of small people. many individuals criticize our insistence in playing a sport that is dominated by literal giants. however, look around and you can see that in this country, people have grown dense and cynical, and there is little else that can evoke as much collective passion. we’re as crazy for basketball as Brazil is for football. and if you can focus that energy to give a whole country something to smile about, why not do it?