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By Ed Picson
Alright, so the die is cast. The Philippine national basketball team goes up against the biggies right away in the FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship in Tokushima, Japan next month.
The tournament will determine the two countries that will represent the region in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
At the outset China, Jordan and Iran will stand in the way of our getting into the next round of the tournament and they indeed make for very big, intimidating shadows. China is, of course the perennial Asian champions, while Iran won the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup held in Tehran just a few weeks back, where we could only manage fourth. Jordan is also no pushover.
China as the host country is already assured of an Olympic slot. But whatever happens in the tournament, they will be one of the Asian teams. In other words, only one other Asian country can qualify from the Tokushima tournament.
Immediately after the news broke about our being in Group A, there was collective foot-thumping as people rued the luck of the draw which has made our comeback in international competitions a veritable tightrope act.
To compound matters, we are expected to walk the rope blind-folded with no safety nets beneath.
Well, the truth is, it was never supposed to be easy. The controversy that caused our protracted banishment from FIBA-sanctioned tournaments was triggered by the inexplicable propensity of the BAP in fielding mediocre teams that were slaughtered in many tournaments. The hue and cry was, we don’t mind losing, but at the time, the teams that represented the country had no chance at even performing decently.
An ice cube in hell could have had better chances of surviving.
After endless wrangling and wheeling and dealing, some sort of Modus Vivendi has been reached, and finally we are sending our best players to represent us in international competitions. As we have written here before, that was all the Filipino basketball fan asked for.
It would be the height of naiveté to think that we could slay all the Asian basketball dragons in one fell swoop just because our national team happens to be composed of our superstars in the PBA.
Joining the tournament in Tokushima included submitting ourselves to the luck of the draw. So did everyone else. But as in any activity dependent on luck, one can only hope for the best.
Coach Chot Reyes has been quoted as saying "We will go to Beijing or we will die trying." A tad melodramatic that, but we all know where he is coming from. And we expect no less from a group that has been given the necessary tools available to extract the best from our best players.
But allowances must also be made for the abbreviated timetable that the team has had to work under owing to the extended brouhaha that lasted for well over a year. But this is no time for recriminations or excuses. The order of the day is to roll up sleeves and get cracking.
Obviously there is no time to waste. The travel plans for Belgrade and the Jones Cup have been laid out and the work that awaits the players and the coaching staff has been cut out for them. So let’s get it on!
With all due respect, I think talk about being in the "group of death" in Tokushima is not going to do the team’s morale a lot of good. That draw is all behind us now and we have been given the opportunity we have been bargaining for-to be given a chance to compete with our best players.
I say let’s prep us this team for a vicious encounter that we intend to come out of either as victors or proud warriors worthy of the Filipino reputation as sturdy, steadfast and un-cowed, but never the vanquished.
Let’s give ‘em hell!
Alright, so the die is cast. The Philippine national basketball team goes up against the biggies right away in the FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship in Tokushima, Japan next month.
The tournament will determine the two countries that will represent the region in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
At the outset China, Jordan and Iran will stand in the way of our getting into the next round of the tournament and they indeed make for very big, intimidating shadows. China is, of course the perennial Asian champions, while Iran won the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup held in Tehran just a few weeks back, where we could only manage fourth. Jordan is also no pushover.
China as the host country is already assured of an Olympic slot. But whatever happens in the tournament, they will be one of the Asian teams. In other words, only one other Asian country can qualify from the Tokushima tournament.
Immediately after the news broke about our being in Group A, there was collective foot-thumping as people rued the luck of the draw which has made our comeback in international competitions a veritable tightrope act.
To compound matters, we are expected to walk the rope blind-folded with no safety nets beneath.
Well, the truth is, it was never supposed to be easy. The controversy that caused our protracted banishment from FIBA-sanctioned tournaments was triggered by the inexplicable propensity of the BAP in fielding mediocre teams that were slaughtered in many tournaments. The hue and cry was, we don’t mind losing, but at the time, the teams that represented the country had no chance at even performing decently.
An ice cube in hell could have had better chances of surviving.
After endless wrangling and wheeling and dealing, some sort of Modus Vivendi has been reached, and finally we are sending our best players to represent us in international competitions. As we have written here before, that was all the Filipino basketball fan asked for.
It would be the height of naiveté to think that we could slay all the Asian basketball dragons in one fell swoop just because our national team happens to be composed of our superstars in the PBA.
Joining the tournament in Tokushima included submitting ourselves to the luck of the draw. So did everyone else. But as in any activity dependent on luck, one can only hope for the best.
Coach Chot Reyes has been quoted as saying "We will go to Beijing or we will die trying." A tad melodramatic that, but we all know where he is coming from. And we expect no less from a group that has been given the necessary tools available to extract the best from our best players.
But allowances must also be made for the abbreviated timetable that the team has had to work under owing to the extended brouhaha that lasted for well over a year. But this is no time for recriminations or excuses. The order of the day is to roll up sleeves and get cracking.
Obviously there is no time to waste. The travel plans for Belgrade and the Jones Cup have been laid out and the work that awaits the players and the coaching staff has been cut out for them. So let’s get it on!
With all due respect, I think talk about being in the "group of death" in Tokushima is not going to do the team’s morale a lot of good. That draw is all behind us now and we have been given the opportunity we have been bargaining for-to be given a chance to compete with our best players.
I say let’s prep us this team for a vicious encounter that we intend to come out of either as victors or proud warriors worthy of the Filipino reputation as sturdy, steadfast and un-cowed, but never the vanquished.
Let’s give ‘em hell!
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