In
the days that came after Gilas brought home the silver medal in the FIBA Asia
Championships and a slot in the Rio Olympic qualifiers, controversy struck the
Philippine basketball scene. Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Chairman Manny
Pangilinan opined that we should consider giving up our slot in the Olympic
qualifiers, if we could not secure the needed support from all Philippine
basketball stakeholders.
In
fact, Mr. Pangilinan practically admitted that, given the strength of the other
teams in the Olympic qualifiers, Gilas 3.0 as constructed had little to no
chance of snagging a ticket to Rio. But he also left a door open, saying that
if a commitment can be attained from the PBA that the SBP will have full access
to all the players, then he not only send a Gilas team but would also bid to be
a host for one of the qualifying tournaments.
Our
current situation is replete with political issues and maneuverings, which this
writer is not in any way an expert of. So let’s stick with the basketball side
of things and answer this question: Should we send a team to the Olympic
qualifiers?
And
the answer to that is: Yes. But not for sentimental or emotional reasons. We
should send a team for the right reasons. And as far as I’m concerned, there
are only two “right” reasons.
Right Reason #1 – If we can realistically
win a ticket to Rio. That means sending the best team we can possibly form.
Which means players like June Mar Fajardo, Paul Lee, Jeff Chan and Jordan
Clarkson must be on the squad. Ironically, it’s Jordan Clarkson who may be the
easiest to get on board.
That
also means Andray Blatche must be in playing shape, and that there are no
injuries to key players like Jayson Castro, Gabe Norwood, Ranidel de Ocampo or
Marc Pingris.
Add
to that a proper training camp, several hard tune up games and a
controversy-free training atmosphere and we should be in business. (Read how
this team can win here)
Right Reason #2 – To train a team for the FIBA
World Cup Qualifiers and the FIBA World Cup 2019. We have basically 4 years to train for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
We should make full use of those years, if we want to make back-to-back
appearances on international basketball’s biggest stage.
What
that means is making the sacrifice now for future gains. That may be hard to swallow for the proud
Filipino fan but the reality is that, among Gilas 3.0 players, only Terence
Romeo (23 years old) and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser (25 years old) may still be in
their prime when the 2019 World Cup comes around. Calvin Abueva will be 31 by then, which will
put him on the downhill side of his career, while Blatche and Castro will both be
33, almost definitely past their prime as well.
If
we go with this reason, then starting next year, our team should be composed of
players like Jordan Clarkson, Terence Romeo, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Troy
Rosario, Kiefer Ravena, Kobe Paras, Kevin Ferrer, Rey Belo, Paolo Rivero,
Arnold Van Opstal, Norbert Torres and maybe even a young naturalized player.
Pangilinan
actually made reference to doing what China just did, which is craft a long-term
plan for getting back on top of Asian basketball. Their plan (to be discussed
in an upcoming article) bore fruit this year, as China emerged undefeated from
the FIBA Asia Championships with the lone ticket to Rio. That is what
Pangilinan hopes to replicate with a Gilas-in-training team.
As
for other reasons, there will be many, but none which will actually be beneficial
to Philippine basketball. A watered down Gilas squad sent only for pride’s sake
or to avoid getting banned by FIBA will only provide more fodder for the
already fiery duel between the SBP and the PBA, which might send Philippine
basketball down the road to perdition yet again.
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