SBP rises from Graz fallout

Finishing 20th and last at the recent 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Graz, Austria, wasn’t the result Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) envisioned but under the circumstances, who’s to blame? From the start, it was a disaster waiting to happen. Two of the six players in the Philippine squad were hit by COVID-19 and the others were isolated for contact tracing. At least three weeks of practice were wiped out and players could only do training at home via zoom. In all, the team had only two weeks of meaningful workouts at the Inspire Academy in Calamba, the last with a four-man sparring crew led by Fil-Am Jason Brickman. The plan was to play tune-up games in Serbia way before the tournament then travel by land to Graz but that was scuttled.

The team left behind reserve Karl Dehesa for safety protocols and flew out last May 23. Three days later, the Philippines looked awful in bowing to Qatar, 21-12 and Slovenia, 21-11. The Qatar setback was painful as only last March, Manila Chooks TM beat Doha, 21-20, at the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters. But in Graz, Qatar had a completely different lineup with Bosnian Nedim Muslic, Seydou Ndoye, Abdulraham Saad and 37-year-old vet Erfran Ali Saeed. Alvin Pasaol, the country’s No. 2 ranked 3x3 player, was scratched from the roster because he hadn’t fully recovered from weeks of isolation due to health protocols and replaced by reserve Santi Santillan. After two games, Mo Tautuaa underwent a delicate emergency procedure requiring two surgeons and was sidelined the last two games, meaning the team played the Dominican Republic and France without relief. Doctors removed an abscess from Tautuaa and today, it remains a 3 1/2 inch open wound to drain the infection, requiring four to five showers a day. “When we left for Graz, I was OK but on the way to the hotel in the bus, I started feeling pain,” said Tautuaa. “I forced myself to play the first two games then I couldn’t take it anymore. My whole body was affected. I could hardly move, my neck stiffened, it was a compound of different issues. I was in the hospital for three days.”

The stats were disheartening. The Philippines had the lowest total of 48 points and average of 12 in four outings. Joshua Munzon topped all scorers with 27, then CJ Perez had 15, Santillan four and Tautuaa two. The average losing margin was 7.75 points. “We were shaky at the start but in our last game, we gave France a good fight, three guys against a tough Euro team,” said SBP’s Ryan Gregorio. “Our 0-4 record was lackluster for sure but we’re thankful for the effort of the guys. We came in with lofty dreams. It wasn’t the lack of knowledge of the 3x3 game. CJ, Vic Manuel, Terrence Romeo, Troy Rosario and other PBA players have done 3x3 and we didn’t do badly. What can you do when you’re up against COVID-19? We’re not whitewashing, not making excuses. We’re being realistic but as Pat Riley remarked after Miami got swept in the first round of the NBA playoffs, ‘we’re ready to move forward, we know what we have to do, we know the position we’re in.’”

Gregorio said SBP has mapped out a four-step program to get ready for the end-game, qualifying for 3x3 in the 2024 Paris Olympics. “We’re closing a sad chapter but we’re opening a new one because the book’s still open,” he said. “First, we plan to invite a foreign consultant to guide us in our pathway, probably from Europe to transfer knowledge. You’ll notice not even USA qualified. We’re thinking of forming maybe four or five dedicated teams to play globally, become our standard bearers. Second, we’ll encourage and develop exclusively 3x3 players. SBP will rev up our grassroots Pambansang Tatluhan program as a feeder and perhaps take it to a higher level. We’ll coordinate with the PBA in its new 3x3 league and do coordination and communication with local 3x3 promoters. Our policy of open arms welcomes anyone to collaborate and align with SBP as the national federation in charge. We appreciate Chooks To Go’s efforts in promoting 3x3 and hope we can work together for the country’s best interest in this regard. Our regional presence will be our platform to boost 3x3. Third, we’ll identify players from all over to avail of FIBA’s flexibility in eligibility for 3x3. Finally, SBP will host international competitions not just with clubs but also with national teams to give us exposure and experience, to create more interest in 3x3.” It’s about learning from the past, not forgetting it, feeling the pain and looking ahead to better times, hopefully when the pandemic is finally over.