Lost in China 4: Bashing Time
Lost in China 4: Bashing Time
Guangzhou, China – The Gilas Pilipinas vs. Angola game was
obviously the national team’s best game thus far, an overtime loss, 81-84. And
what do the over a thousand “expert” analysts do? Bash, bash and bash pa more.
I feel sorry for the Gilas Pilipinas players. Here they are doing their best
and all they get from home is bashing. Let’s face it. While it’s true that
their performance in this year’s FIBA World Cup hasn’t been the best, do they
deserve all the bashing that they’re getting? Another important note is that
making it to the FIBA World Cup is already a feat by itself. Winning a game or
two at the tournament is already a bonus.
So why the bashing? It might help take a look at these
bashers. There are two basic types of bashers. The first are those who bash
with the intention of gaining attention for themselves more than anything else.
By doing so, they become experts in the game and get on a high when other
fellow bashers ride along and fill the comments section with even more bashing.
The other type of basher isn’t what I’ll literally call a “basher.” They are
those who provide reviews, analysis, and constructive criticism, with the goal
of making sure that basketball’s stakeholders get a better picture of what’s
taking place as we prepare for the future international events involving the
national team.
Let’s stick to issues basketball “experts.” Once you start
throwing personal attacks and criticism at certain personalities, that’s foul
and below the belt. If you want to go on bashing, here is a “big picture” look
that I’d like to present. Make no mistake about it, the basketball family will
have to do a lot of thinking for the future of Gilas Pilpinas and I’m sure they
will. But while we’re here, did you bashers see the other countries that also didn’t
make it to the next around? Di you also bash these teams? So far, the teams that
have been knocked out are China, Ivory Coast, Angola, Nigeria, Korea, Tunisia,
Iran, Japan, Montenegro, Germany, Jordan, Canada and Senegal. If you look at
this lot, this is strong group and some are teams that we can’t beat even with
our A-game on. The biggest heart-breaker has to be host China’s stumbling out.
Canada, Germany and Korea are also strong teams. The only team from our region
that is in the second round is Australia. New Zealand is hanging on for dear
life and needs to beat Greece and Giannis Antetokoumnpo tonight. That’s how
strong the competition is in the FIBA World Cup.
And it isn’t over just yet. Gilas will play in the
consolation round that will determine the rankings between 17th to
32nd. They are grouped with Angola, Iran and Tunisia, and will carry
over their 0-3 record from the first round. Let’s keep supporting and praying
for Gilas Pilipinas. Walang iwanan, di ba? Or are we the type of fans who
abandon the team when the chips are down? Laban Pilinas. Para sa bayan. Puso!
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