Olympic hoop dream alive

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines isn’t giving up on the dream to play basketball in the Tokyo Olympics with the hope hinged on the outcome of the 20-nation 3x3 men’s qualifying tournament in Bengaluru, India. Only four Olympic slots are left with tickets earlier claimed by host Japan, China, Russia and Serbia. The top three finishers in India will advance to Tokyo, leaving one last spot to be determined in a six-nation Universality qualifying tournament in Budapest, Hungary.

If the Philippines fails to finish at least third in India, it must be ranked among the top five remaining FIBA 3x3 countries not yet qualified to join host Hungary in the Universality tournament. Both the India and Hungary competitions will be held next year. The India tournament was originally set last March 18-22 and the Hungary qualification last April 24-26 but both were postponed due to the pandemic.

SBP has named four players – Joshua Munzon, Alvin Pasaol, C. J. Perez and Mo Tautuaa – to comprise the team competing in India. Additionally, SBP picked Santi Santillan and Karl Dehesa as reserves. Chooks To Go, the main sponsor behind the 3x3 bid, brought in two Serbian coaches last December to train the national team then recruited four Serbian players to simulate the competition in India for two weeks of workouts last March. Since the lockdown, no practice has been held but Bounty Agro Ventures president Ronald Mascarinas said training will resume as soon as the government allows it.

“We’re hoping to get the boys back once everything ‘normalizes,’” said Mascarinas, the man behind the Chooks To Go brand. “Of course, their safety and well-being are our priority right now and we’re continuing to pay the Chooks players like Alvin, Joshua, Troy Rike, Chris DeChavez, Franky Johnson, Santi, Karl, J. R. Alabanza and Dylan Ababou their monthly salaries. We trust they’ll be in top competitive condition once they return.”

Chooks To Go 3x3 commissioner Eric Altamirano said a draft proposal to restart practice will be submitted to SBP within the week. “Assuming we’re allowed, we’ll call the national team and the rest of the 3x3 pool back to pit practice sessions,” he said. “We also plan to start our 3x3 season within the year in preparation for the World Tour we are hosting in January. All players in the national pool will play in the Chooks season but we’re not yet sure about the composition of teams. It would be good if Mo and C. J. join so they’re familiar playing with each other. Mo and C. J. need more time to get familiar with the rules and playing with their teammates. The others in the team have played together in our last season and in the Invitational Tournament in Indonesia before the SEA Games.”

Mascarinas said Chooks and FIBA are carefully monitoring the daily IATF updates regarding the resumption of mass gatherings. “We believe that our case is different from other leagues because we play in malls,” he said. “Coach Eric is looking at a lot of possible scenarios once final guidelines are announced.”

Altamirano said he will take up the possible scenarios with SBP executive director Sonny Barrios. “I’m praying that government will consider easing up on sporting events,” he said. “Too many people are affected. It’s not recreation for them but it’s their livelihood. I’m hoping all basketball groups will come together and appeal to government on the resumption of sports such as basketball.”