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There seems to be a growing backlash against using imports in College Basketball, just a couple of weeks ago I saw Jong Uichico calling for a ban of such imports as it was hindering the development of local big men 'kuno'.
This article below on the other hand seems to insist on blaming San Beda for starting the Import Craze in College, which is wrong because I remember reading an article before how FEU won the UAAP College Basketball Championships with an import back in the 1970s.
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Impact of Collegiate Imports
Published September 22, 2017, 10:00 AM
By Ding Marcelo
Ben Mbala returned to action Wednesday, and the whole Green Archers community breathed a little better. After missing La Salle’s first two games, Mbala played his first game against Adamson University in the UAAP basketball tournament, and he did not disappoint.
He arrived less than 48 hours earlier after a nearly 24-hour flight from Tunisia, where he played for Cameroon in the FIBA AfroBasket. He ended up the top scorer for his home country, and, save for one player, he played more minutes than anyone in his team, despite being its rookie.
When he took the court against Adamson, he played as though he was just out for some shopping at the Mall of Asia, right beside the Arena, where the game was played. Despite missing practice, battling jetlag, and a bit of a late hustle from the upset-conscious Soaring Falcons, Mbala delivered. He shot 32 points, hauled 10 rebounds, blocked four shots, tops for his team.
More frightening, he came back from the African tournament quarterfinals with a new weapon—the three-point shot, of which he made 2 of 4—adding gravitas to his already imposing 6-foot-8 frame and 230-pound presence. After his opening game, La Salle’s rivals were again left to contemplate the question that confounded them last year: how to stop Mbala, who, not incidentally, was last UAAP season’s MVP.
It’s almost unfair that this man, who could be a top player in the PBA, is unloading his skills against lighter and shorter opponents in the UAAP. In the PBA, the player that can compare is June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer, who is 6-foot-10 and is a giant among Lilliputians. With his height and skill, Fajardo can score, defend, and frighten opponents, which is Mbala’s UAAP reputation.
So one may ask: Why is a player like Mbala in the UAAP? Why is a national player from Cameroon in a college basketball uniform?
The quick easy answer is: Schools and their patrons badly want to win a championship, and they are bent on doing it by all means possible, even if that means scouring the ends of Africa to get that perfect player. And, yes, money is no object.
Mbala, 22, who is likely costing La Salle a fortune, is not unique. He is only unique if we note that here is the most talented foreigner in an army of foreigners recruited to play ball by universities and colleges around the country.
(Article intentionally cut, to read more go to: http://sports.mb.com.ph/2017/09/22/i...giate-imports/)
This article below on the other hand seems to insist on blaming San Beda for starting the Import Craze in College, which is wrong because I remember reading an article before how FEU won the UAAP College Basketball Championships with an import back in the 1970s.
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Impact of Collegiate Imports
Published September 22, 2017, 10:00 AM
By Ding Marcelo
Ben Mbala returned to action Wednesday, and the whole Green Archers community breathed a little better. After missing La Salle’s first two games, Mbala played his first game against Adamson University in the UAAP basketball tournament, and he did not disappoint.
He arrived less than 48 hours earlier after a nearly 24-hour flight from Tunisia, where he played for Cameroon in the FIBA AfroBasket. He ended up the top scorer for his home country, and, save for one player, he played more minutes than anyone in his team, despite being its rookie.
When he took the court against Adamson, he played as though he was just out for some shopping at the Mall of Asia, right beside the Arena, where the game was played. Despite missing practice, battling jetlag, and a bit of a late hustle from the upset-conscious Soaring Falcons, Mbala delivered. He shot 32 points, hauled 10 rebounds, blocked four shots, tops for his team.
More frightening, he came back from the African tournament quarterfinals with a new weapon—the three-point shot, of which he made 2 of 4—adding gravitas to his already imposing 6-foot-8 frame and 230-pound presence. After his opening game, La Salle’s rivals were again left to contemplate the question that confounded them last year: how to stop Mbala, who, not incidentally, was last UAAP season’s MVP.
It’s almost unfair that this man, who could be a top player in the PBA, is unloading his skills against lighter and shorter opponents in the UAAP. In the PBA, the player that can compare is June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer, who is 6-foot-10 and is a giant among Lilliputians. With his height and skill, Fajardo can score, defend, and frighten opponents, which is Mbala’s UAAP reputation.
So one may ask: Why is a player like Mbala in the UAAP? Why is a national player from Cameroon in a college basketball uniform?
The quick easy answer is: Schools and their patrons badly want to win a championship, and they are bent on doing it by all means possible, even if that means scouring the ends of Africa to get that perfect player. And, yes, money is no object.
Mbala, 22, who is likely costing La Salle a fortune, is not unique. He is only unique if we note that here is the most talented foreigner in an army of foreigners recruited to play ball by universities and colleges around the country.
(Article intentionally cut, to read more go to: http://sports.mb.com.ph/2017/09/22/i...giate-imports/)
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