International Basketball: Asa na ta?
Bleacher Talk
August 6, 2006
International Basketball: Asa na ta?
With the NBA and the rest of the basketball world on its off-season, we may have thought no basketball action is taking place these days. Right? Wrong! It may not be as busy and hectic as the pro leagues, and is in fact going through a more laid-back phase these days. But it’s still basketball at its purest and is due to make its climax in two weeks time.
The stage is set for international basketball. Every year, the period between July to September has been “reserved” by the international basketball family to get together for the holding of international basketball tournaments. And this year may be extra special since never before has so much attention been thrown at the international scene. We can credit this to one obvious reason. The USA is no longer the world’s best team, and fans worldwide are aching to see if the trend of the others beating Team USA will be maintained this year. Team USA was creamed at the last World Championship, and was also brought down to its feet at the most recent Athens Olympics.
The highlight of all this will be the FIBA World Championship that will be hosted by Japan from August 19 to September 3. As expected, all the teams that are competing in Japan are deep into preparing for the tournament. Practice sessions and tune-up exhibition games against other national teams are the norm for them these days. Team USA just came off playing games against Puerto Rico and is going to China to play against China and Brazil in another tournament leading up to the world championships.
Across the globe, it has been confirmed that most of the international NBA stars will be suiting up for their respective countries at the tournament. Among them are Manu Ginobili (Argentina/Spurs), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany/Dallas), Tony Parker (France/San Antonio), Pau Gasol (Spain/Memphis), Yao Ming (China/Houston), Carlos Arroyo (Puerto Rico/Utah), Anderson Varejao (Brazil/Cleveland), Boris Diaw (France/phoenix), Andres Nocioni (Argentina/Chicago) and many more.
As we marvel at what’s taking place outside our shores, we Pinoys can only drool with envy and cry our hearts out in a simple case of “what should have been” and “if only.” When the national team program was launched two years ago, the whole nation was excited at the prospects of finally seeing a legitimate national team training together as it set it sights on playing in the 2008 Olympics and maybe even the World Championship in Japan. But a crucial step on this way is the FIBA Asia Championship that will be held in Qatar later this year. A top three (or is it top two?) finish here would’ve meant an automatic berth in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
But I guess we all know what happened along the way now, don’t we? And we also realize how stupid we are in literally making fools of ourselves in front of the international basketball community.
If the country’s basketball leaders had only acted for the genuine good of Philippine basketball, the country’s national team would’ve been doing what all the other national teams of the world are doing now. The irony of it all is that most of time, we don’t realize how stupid we are until this time of the year arrives. And there isn’t much we can do about it now. We should’ve been seeing the national team train as a team and play in a host of international tune-up tournaments with the goal of familiarizing ourselves with the international game and getting a feel of playing against our Asian rivals. Developing and maintaining the team’s bonding would’ve been the main task of the moment as they learned, practiced and implemented the system that Coach Chot Reyes has in place. All that has gone pffft with the current stalemate.
As a result of all these, the national team that saw action at the Jones Cup two weeks ago and that is currently in Qatar has now become a mere “try-out” team of prospects. Glaringly missing are the players who should’ve been part of the team from the start. Moreover, the BAP also sent another Philippine team to a tournament in Hong Kong and China recently.
There are reports that the FIBA will be lifting the country’s suspension soon, and this will mean being allowed to play at the FIBA Asia tournament in Qatar. But this brings up more questions than answers. Who’s in charge of Philippine basketball now? BAP Chairman Joey Lina or Pilipinas Basketball? When are we going to start practicing as a national team again (obviously late already)? When will the real national team be in place instead of just a try-out team? If Lina’s in charge, will he acknowledge the program of Chot Reyes or simply send the Lina group’s Air 21 team as the Philippine team? Or will he decide to form another national team composed of the BAP’s loyal followers and end up kulatado in at the bottom again?
So what will it be Chairman Peping Cojuangco, Joey Lina and Pilipinas Basketball? Have we finally learned our lessons and swallowed our pride? Are we ready to act for the genuine good of Philippine basketball? If the current activities of the international basketball community doesn’t move our leaders to do something, I don’t know what else will.
>>> Time-out: Happy birthday to Ricky Rama Poca! >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
August 6, 2006
International Basketball: Asa na ta?
With the NBA and the rest of the basketball world on its off-season, we may have thought no basketball action is taking place these days. Right? Wrong! It may not be as busy and hectic as the pro leagues, and is in fact going through a more laid-back phase these days. But it’s still basketball at its purest and is due to make its climax in two weeks time.
The stage is set for international basketball. Every year, the period between July to September has been “reserved” by the international basketball family to get together for the holding of international basketball tournaments. And this year may be extra special since never before has so much attention been thrown at the international scene. We can credit this to one obvious reason. The USA is no longer the world’s best team, and fans worldwide are aching to see if the trend of the others beating Team USA will be maintained this year. Team USA was creamed at the last World Championship, and was also brought down to its feet at the most recent Athens Olympics.
The highlight of all this will be the FIBA World Championship that will be hosted by Japan from August 19 to September 3. As expected, all the teams that are competing in Japan are deep into preparing for the tournament. Practice sessions and tune-up exhibition games against other national teams are the norm for them these days. Team USA just came off playing games against Puerto Rico and is going to China to play against China and Brazil in another tournament leading up to the world championships.
Across the globe, it has been confirmed that most of the international NBA stars will be suiting up for their respective countries at the tournament. Among them are Manu Ginobili (Argentina/Spurs), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany/Dallas), Tony Parker (France/San Antonio), Pau Gasol (Spain/Memphis), Yao Ming (China/Houston), Carlos Arroyo (Puerto Rico/Utah), Anderson Varejao (Brazil/Cleveland), Boris Diaw (France/phoenix), Andres Nocioni (Argentina/Chicago) and many more.
As we marvel at what’s taking place outside our shores, we Pinoys can only drool with envy and cry our hearts out in a simple case of “what should have been” and “if only.” When the national team program was launched two years ago, the whole nation was excited at the prospects of finally seeing a legitimate national team training together as it set it sights on playing in the 2008 Olympics and maybe even the World Championship in Japan. But a crucial step on this way is the FIBA Asia Championship that will be held in Qatar later this year. A top three (or is it top two?) finish here would’ve meant an automatic berth in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
But I guess we all know what happened along the way now, don’t we? And we also realize how stupid we are in literally making fools of ourselves in front of the international basketball community.
If the country’s basketball leaders had only acted for the genuine good of Philippine basketball, the country’s national team would’ve been doing what all the other national teams of the world are doing now. The irony of it all is that most of time, we don’t realize how stupid we are until this time of the year arrives. And there isn’t much we can do about it now. We should’ve been seeing the national team train as a team and play in a host of international tune-up tournaments with the goal of familiarizing ourselves with the international game and getting a feel of playing against our Asian rivals. Developing and maintaining the team’s bonding would’ve been the main task of the moment as they learned, practiced and implemented the system that Coach Chot Reyes has in place. All that has gone pffft with the current stalemate.
As a result of all these, the national team that saw action at the Jones Cup two weeks ago and that is currently in Qatar has now become a mere “try-out” team of prospects. Glaringly missing are the players who should’ve been part of the team from the start. Moreover, the BAP also sent another Philippine team to a tournament in Hong Kong and China recently.
There are reports that the FIBA will be lifting the country’s suspension soon, and this will mean being allowed to play at the FIBA Asia tournament in Qatar. But this brings up more questions than answers. Who’s in charge of Philippine basketball now? BAP Chairman Joey Lina or Pilipinas Basketball? When are we going to start practicing as a national team again (obviously late already)? When will the real national team be in place instead of just a try-out team? If Lina’s in charge, will he acknowledge the program of Chot Reyes or simply send the Lina group’s Air 21 team as the Philippine team? Or will he decide to form another national team composed of the BAP’s loyal followers and end up kulatado in at the bottom again?
So what will it be Chairman Peping Cojuangco, Joey Lina and Pilipinas Basketball? Have we finally learned our lessons and swallowed our pride? Are we ready to act for the genuine good of Philippine basketball? If the current activities of the international basketball community doesn’t move our leaders to do something, I don’t know what else will.
>>> Time-out: Happy birthday to Ricky Rama Poca! >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com.
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