What now, SBP?
The Games of the 31st SEAG had ended and despite being dethroned champions, we had a satisfactory campaign, headlined by a diminutive gymnast that made gigantic feats in his events leading to five gold medals. As expected, Asia’s best vaulted to new heights using his pole. Our boxers made good as well as our lady power lifters. Likewise our athletes in various combat sports had podium finishes.
Our Filipinized track athletes, who seldom sets foot on the land of their mothers and likely can’t differentiate buwad bolinaw from tinabal, expectedly medalled in thier respective events.
Of all the sports that our God-given physiques could have excelled, we chose to be passionate on one that is most suited for the vertically gifted. It did not prevent our passion for the game of basketball as we found ways for imports to become Filipinos and wear the Philippine colors in international competitions. Who cares if they can’t sing the national anthem.
For three decades, we ruled the region but good things have to last and we saw our basketball dominance end to the Indonesians. Much known for the their football prowess, we wouldn’t raise a squeak if the Indons routinely kicked our butts. But basketball?
The Indons were handled by a European who formerly did well as our national team coach but was fired for reasons only the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas can understand. He knew our plays as well as our coach and he did his homework well.
The SBP’s favorite son who’s handling the national team immediately owned responsibility and accountability for the disappointment. But it took four days for the nation’s basketball federation to break the defeaning silence when they released a shallow statement of apology and vowing to “bounce back and reclaim our spot to stay ahead”. Big freaking deal.
With the same system, the same guy calling the shots and picking favored players a few weeks before tournaments begin, we will surely get bounced around claim a spot at the bottom. A doable program of collegiate standouts was in the works under another foreign coach but like the one mentioned above, was unceremoniously terminated. Maybe because these foreign coaches don’t kiss butts?
The FIBA Asia Cup begins in about six weeks, and of all places, in Indonesia. We are in Group D with India, Lebanon and New Zealand. It would either be the Lebanese or the Kiwis who will gain direct access to the quarters and the second and third Group D placer will battle for the other group qualifier.
People might say we still medalled in SEAG basketball but in a basketball-mad nation, a silver is a loss.
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