The Philippine National Men’s Basketball Team came two victories short of making it to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in France. Pitted against teams ranked higher with just 11 men and an unfortunate injury to the Kaiju (Kai Sotto) himself in the vital Brazil game, Gilas Pilipinas outdid themselves despite failing to achieve their primary target of claiming a spot in the basketball tournament of the summer games.
The loss against Brazil, however, is greater than the loss against Georgia in the group stage. Not because it ended our campaign, but more than anything else, Philippine basketball is very much alive and fighting. It spoke well, too, of the future of the sport in the country. Coach Tim may be blond and has green eyes, but he exemplifies the very traits that we often associate with Filipinos – resilient, brave and patriotic. Coach Tim inspires not only his players, but Filipinos whether in Riga or in Batanes to believe and keep the faith.
Moreover, Coach Tim Cone and the gallant Pinoy 11 showed that Philippine Basketball can compete against the best of the world and not just against collegiate selections, club teams and kung sino-sino na lang na mga kalaban that we got used to compete with, just for that annoying learning experience argument courtesy of you-know-who.
The Designated Kit Man is wishing that Tom Saintfiet can also do a Tim Cone with our national men’s football team soon. Not just to assemble the best possible line-up or to get players, who will really lay out their hearts and soul on the pitch despite facing higher-ranked, bigger and more experienced opponents. Coach Tom should also inspire our team to go beyond what is expected. To beat the odds and make the players believe that they themselves can be at par with the rest of the world. Of course, this is easier said than done, but Coach Tom can learn a lot from Coach Tim’s playbook. And this is not to belittle or to impose on Coach Tom.
If there is one thing that Coach Tim did which made his team overachieve, it was to strengthen the mental fortitude of his players. Once the mind willed it, the players outdid themselves. Coach Tim made them believers and not just players wearing the sun and the three stars.
I just wish our football teams, not only the team formerly known as the Azkals and the Filipinas, will have this mentality. This belief that they belong to the competitions that they are into, not just because of the learning experience, but because they deserve to be there. That mindset is that they should be the best versions of themselves whether on the court or on the pitch because they are playing for the flag and country is the ultimate requirement.
The team formerly known as the Azkals will have two opportunities to strengthen their mental fortitude before the Mitsubishi Electric Cup, the biggest regional competition this year, starts in late November.
Lately, I have been ranting on some issues. Something like not being invited to a press conference and some other related matters. Which made me realize that if I’m willing to raise hell, then I should always be ready to suffer the heat and the consequences. It is just fair. The universe will not stop just because I felt wronged. It goes both ways. And heck, I might have just misread the events and the circumstances as they unfold. But I will not use the argument tao lang po. I should be man enough to admit when there is a mistake or an error on my part.
While having your subjects or your sources as friends is one of the most welcome upsides of being a journalist, it is not the main reason I do this job. I might have upset, annoyed or even angered some people with the topics of my columns, but then again, you just can’t please everyone. Someone or some people will still have something to say, whether reasonable or based on facts is totally a different matter, on almost anything. Some will raise definite concerns. Others para mema lang. But one will be lucky indeed if the argument came from logic and not just because of a phrase in the column that someone just quoted without the full context or worse, drawing a conclusion from just a screenshot.
Being a journalist is a hard job. But at the end of the day, our loyalty belongs first with the public. We are here, I think this applies to most of us, to find out the truth and help our readers or our audience make informed choices that will impact their future.
We are here not to make friends.
Stay safe. Stay happy peeps!
For comments or questions, you can reach The Designated Kit Man at erel_cabatbat@yahoo.com or follow his account at Twitter: @erelcabatbat
