Seeking consolation

The difference between hope and despair is a different way of telling stories from the same facts.  – Alain de Botton

Gilas Pilipinas is out of contention in the Asian Games.

After Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes very publicly called out Marcus Douthit for a subpar performance against Qatar, he was again vilified. There were even apocalyptic predictions that the team was falling apart, and Reyes was once again the villain, and had quit on his team. In response, the bulletproof Ali Peek, who had played for Chot for years at Talk N Text, posted this on his Facebook page:

“Don’t stress too much about the Marcus and coach issue! It’s a personal challenge from coach nothing more! He’s done it 2 me many times!”

Five minutes later, Peek added “Coach Chot is a motivator! Plain and simple! So we can expect a big response (performance) from the team and from Marcus!”

The point is that coaches would sometimes do that to shake their players out of a funk, sometimes publicly, sometimes in private. Phil Jackson did it all the time. Even while playing, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and even Dennis Rodman did it to their teammates, sometimes even openly questioning their manhood. The wirewalk is knowing if the player can take it or not. Of course, culturally it goes against the very Filipino (and Asian) soft spot of losing face. We don’t like being embarrassed in front of other people, let alone millions. But again, this is just one of the tools coaches use, especially those who teach motivation in a corporate setting like Reyes does.

This writer received some rather uncalled-for comments (mostly by anonymous readers) for Saturday’s column, which asked very pointed questions of us as an audience. I requested suspending judgment until the consequences of the losses became final and irreversible, as it is now. It was so easy for some readers to jump to general conclusions by picking out one statement from the entire piece, as if they found a crucial piece of evidence to show criminal intent on my part, as if I were standing in front of the hail of bullets heading Chot’s way. Part of the job.

Going back to the topic, what is the big picture? What is the real target? I recall the conversation I had with Reyes before they left on their month-and-a-half long trip to Miami then Spain for the FIBA World Cup. Though he had very little time, he put the entire program in a nutshell.

“After making the World Cup, our next goal is the 2016 Olympics,” he confirmed. “If we can win the Asian Games, great. But it must be done within the framework of getting better for the 2015 FIBA-Asia (qualifier for the 2016 Olympics). That’s what underpins all decisions.”

It may sound unbelievable that the Asian Games which we have not conquered since 1962 would sound like a tune-up, but let’s look at past national teams. In 1985, the Philippine team supported by Northern Cement upset the United States to win the championship, Allan Caidic told this surprised writer that they weren’t even thinking about the Jones Cup, because they were after getting a medal in the Asian Games. In 2012, the Philippines beat the US again, thanks to an explosive second half from LA Tenorio who, in his own words, said he was “possessed”. At the time, Reyes hoped for a medal, but said his goal was to build chemistry. After their historic triumph, he said: “While we’re happy, we have no illusions.”

Months before the FIBA World Cup, this writer said that, realistically, we would only win one game in Spain, I wish I were wrong, but research comes with the territory. So when Gilas Pilipinas put a scare into some of the best teams in the world, Filipino fans felt that the original assessment needed revision, that we could do better even. But scouts of other countries were also there, and the game against Greece alone showed how quickly they can make adjustments, choking off the team’s outside shooting. For the Asian Games, a medal was reachable. But a team is made up of many personalities, and there are times they don’t mesh. So we sniffed the hope of an Asian Games gold medal after the silver of Robert Jaworski’s powerhouse 1990. And we feel let down. That is very normal. What isn’t is taking a torch to the whole program over one setback. That will be another unpopular statement, I know. But it has to be said. We’re getting carried away, and torturing the very people who have sacrificed the most for our basketball dreams. 

So for now, Reyes and his family will have to endure the brutal name-calling, vicious calls for his head, and even personal attacks from people who disagree or don’t understand, sadly, even long-time journalists. Luckily, the team is disconnected from social networking while they focus on their job. But their loved ones are not. So the cumulative cruelty is leaving scars on wives and children who are already missing their husbands and fathers and worrying about their safety. Everyone has an opinion, but no one is entitled to call people names. We are a democracy, but last time I checked, Filipinos were known for their dignity and respect, even in the most disagreeable situations. I love basketball more than most people. It has been my life. But it’s just a game.

This painful series of losses will be considered unacceptable by many basketball fans. I agree we could have done better. The task now is to find out what was going on inside the team, and find a solution, even if it means making changes. There is no consolation for the best basketball fans in the world. None that will be easy to swallow. And as the leader of the team, Reyes will face the slings and arrows of his outrageous fortune, as Shakespeare would have said.

Maybe there is a way Filipino fans can salve their deep hurts instead of aiming at the team. Maybe there is a constructive way of dealing with the unacceptable. Maybe. We’re a nation that showed the world how to pool human resources through EDSA and the tens of millions of Filipinos overseas. No one is grieving more than the Gilas Pilipinas coaches and players and their families right now. They have been told over the past week how they have been letting their nation down, after all they have accomplished in the FIBA World Cup. Why don’t we use some of that collective muscle and give Gilas Pilipinas (and all our national teams, for that matter), something to go on?