The last seconds of the game of Gilas Pilipinas against Italy last Tuesday night probably summed up the host nation’s campaign in the FIBA Basketball World Cup. There was no single attempt to foul the Italians in the last ball possession. They could have put up at least one last semblance of a fight and delayed the inevitable.
But no. There was none. It was like who cares, the Philippines was behind by seven points and the result was a foregone conclusion already. Why bother? Probably the players on the floor just gave up because they simply wanted the game to end. No more fouling, means no more extending a campaign that was very disappointing to say the least and disrespectful to a great extent.
With all the support, the millions of funding, a strong line-up, the love and support of the nation, the hope and prayers, what we got in return? The dubious distinction of being the second host nation, after Colombia in 1982, to lose all its opening three games in the FIBA World Cup among many other “realities” this campaign has brought us – to include that Philippine Basketball is really way behind the world.
The dribble, drive offense as shown by too much reliance on Jordan Clarkson on so many isolation plays is no longer effective against teams that play as a team, which is the essence of basketball as a team sport. Dribbling will not win games especially when the one doing the dribble and shooting the ball is effectively checked by the opponents, who can predict what our team will do on the offensive end. Kick out the ball? To whom? We don’t have a shooter on the floor, much more on the team. And no adjustments were made for the whole three games. Basang basa ang opensa.
After Clarkson, there were no other plays. Moreover, so many players were wasted on the bench. We probably had one of the biggest cheerleaders on the bench and even a six-time PBA MVP was just an afterthought in the last quarter of the game against Italy.
“For the meantime, let the basketball gods savor the victory in the SEA Games, hanggang dito na lang yata kasi maghahari ang ‘Pinas, but we must never forget to remind them what needs to be done before another potential failure and tons of rehashed excuses unfold in September.”
I wrote this last May 19 right after the Philippines regained the gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games, which the same coach lost to Indonesia in the previous edition. Fast forward to this week. And the reasons are plenty. From losing the momentum because the favorite player fouled out, coaching the national team is a challenge because you have to find playing time for all the players to Italy is Italy! and many more.
Pass the blame to everyone else but not yourself was the game plan and charge it to experience as always. No apologies, no admission of incompetence, no sorry for letting the nation down when even the ordinary fans know what needs to be done on the court and yet mas pinaghandaan pa ata ang porma kesa sa sustansiya.
Maybe, we expected too much. But then again, setting the emotions aside. Let’s look at what the national team has accomplished under the current coach. Save for the silver medal in the 2013 FIBA Asia, which qualified the Philippines to the 2014 World Cup, what has the current coach accomplished after that? The gold medal in the last SEA Games then what? (Insert crickets’ stridulating…) Many coaches have been fired for losing even just two games. But here we are.
While we are at it, maybe the leadership of the national sporting association that is in charge of the country’s favorite sport should also take a cue from what happened in the past few days. ‘Di lang ang coach dapat. What will be the direction for basketball in the future? What will be the program? If there is one in the first place. And who will coach the Philippine National Men’s Basketball Team in the Asian Games?
We had accomplished so much until 2014, but almost 10 years later, we can’t even win a game at home when it matters most. We love our basketball, and love our country even more. Loving the sport means being able to point out mistakes, too, and not just sweep them under the rug simply because we want to be positive.
Judge me after the World Cup? The verdict is very obvious. This should not be a question, but rather a conclusion.
Stay safe. Stay happy peeps!