A GUARDED QUESTION!

In my humble opinion, most of the members of the RP Powerade Team are the clear cut choices for their positions. 

If there is ever a question mark in the team, it has got to be Cyrus "Skyrus" Baguio, the man who takes over Dondon Hontiveros' spot as designated shooter and who takes a roster spot away from Jimmy "The Mighty Mouse" Alapag.

Based on Baguio's performance in the Jones Cup, there is absolutely no reason for him to be on the RP Team. He was unable to get his offense going and was barely a factor on defense. In fact, all Baguio contributed to the Philippine cause was a couple of highlight plays in the Iran game that barely made a dent in Iran's 20 point lead.

So why Baguio over Hontiveros (acknowledged as a better shot, a better defender and a veteran internationalist) or Alapag (also a better playmaker, better shot and another veteran internationalist)? 

Only Yeng Guiao knows. And I sure hope he, and Skyrus, prove me wrong.

OPTIMISM OR MISDIRECTION?

In today's sport pages, RP Team coach Yeng Guiao was guardedly optimistic, saying we had a fair chance of earning one of the three FIBA-World championship slots at stake. He also said that we had a good chance of going to the semifinals and a great chance of advancing to the quarterfinals.

Really? Seriously? Now, I'm all for hope and optimism and all that jazz but after the Jones Cup, I am simply not as optimistic as Yeng Guiao. 

Sure, we'll make it out of our group. But we are expected to. After all, no one expects Sri Lanka to actually beat us. But if we lose to Korea and Japan like we did in the Jones Cup, our next opponent may well be Iran, who beat us by 25 points without breaking a sweat. Then where will we be?

For us to actually have a chance of advancing to the semifinals, we need to finish first in our so-called "Group of Hope". That way, we get to face either Uzbekistan or Chinese Taipei (who also beat us by about 10 points in the Jones Cup).

If we don't do that, then we can chalk this team up as just the latest in a series of heartbreaking mishaps in the increasingly dimming Philippine basketball scene. 

VOTE! BE HEARD!

Are you a die hard Pinoy basketball fan? Want to let the world know your opinion of the RP Powerade Team?

Vote now and we'll see how you stack up against Yeng Guiao's choices!

Go to http://sportsfandom.blogspot.com/ to vote!

I'M SICK OF MORAL VICTORIES.

Spin doctors have called it a "learning trip" as well as a "testing ground". Team officials have labeled it "a success" in terms of solidifying the team as well as in discovering the opponents' strengths and weaknesses.

Somewhere along the way, they forgot to mention that we finished 2-6, with two blowouts from Middle Eastern teams we will surely meet on the Fiba-Asia tournament and losses to teams in our so-called "Group of Hope".

The Iran-Philippines game was called a moral victory, like the Jordan game, the Japan game and the Chinese Taipei game. A game where we officially lost but "actually" won because we, supposedly, were able to accomplish something bigger. It's akin to losing a battle but winning the war.

Now I don't know about you but I don't think we're winning any war. In fact, I think we just proved how ill-equipped we are to fight any basketball war. 

The Jones Cup sportscasters were among the most inept I have ever heard (our PBA sportscasters would kick their butts every which way and twice on Sundays as far as basketball knowledge is concerned) but they were right about some things, mainly, that we will never win in the international stage using our PBA style.

I mean, even NBA stars lost using their NBA style. They had to bring in a college coach and spend 4 years of training in the international style just to win the Olympic gold medal. 

But not us, oh no, heaven forbid. We insist on using our PBA stars and the PBA "me-first" style and attitude, despite the fact that we lose horribly to teams who display more teamwork in one quarter than we do in an entire game.

For us Pinoy basketball fans, what can we do? Hope. Hope that Ehadadi develops a serious case of the runs on game day. Hope that El-Khatib sleeps through his alarm and fails to show up for the game. Hope that James Yap morphs into Kobe Bryant.

But please. Stop it with the moral victories. Accept the loss like a man and move forward.