Whoever said that I, or any other Filipinos in this forum, am going to root for the Chinese NT just because they've been handing our @sses to us since 1992? We are just being realistic here. I have belief in the team, but I am not blind to their weaknesses. Sure, I can be as fanatical as the kanto boys in our village when it comes to NT, and I sure could heckle foreign players out of the court if and when they play at Araneta. I applauded when the crowds jumped from General Admission to Upper A when we played Iran's SABA Battery in 2005. I lost all urge to work when we lost against Jordan in 2007.
At the end of the day, though, we have to acknowledge that right now, our NT is nowhere near the top of the Asian pecking order. A team is only as good as its last tournament. Common sense tells us that you cannot brag about something that you don't have, or have not proven yet. For now, I'd rather have our NT pencilled in as underdogs then hope they spring a surprise on the opposition when FIBA-Asia comes around. It's much better than bragging all you want then ending up with nothing to show for it.