Nice to know that Smart Gilas Pilipinas beat the Japanese National team in a recent tiff.
Marcus Douthit tallied 25 points, while fellow Fil-Ams Marcio Lassiter, Jimmy Alapag, and Kelly Williams scored 15, 15, and 12 respectively.
Japan's shooters were poised to have big games, but fell flat in the end, with Douthit asserting his dominance inside.
A lot has happened since the likes of Ambrosio Padilla and Robert Jaworski led the Philippines to the Olympic Games way back when (consequently, Padilla helped lead the RP to the best finish ever in Olympic Men's Basketball by a Asian country- 5th). We have seen an influx of Fil-Ams enter the fray, and squabbling between basketball federations within our our country (BAP and POC, which led to IBP suspending us in 2005). Furthermore, other Asian nations such as Japan, South Korea, and China have retooled and reloaded in the past couple of decades (with a number of native players having already made it to the NBA). Our current FIBA Asia rank is 8th, and our current FIBA World Ranking is 53rd.
Do we have a lot of work to do? Yes, but then, given the support our team's received from, most notably, Mr. Manny V. Pangilinan, the future looks bright for Philippine hoops in the international scene. We may never produce 7 footers on a regular basis, nor may we get a Pinoy cager into the NBA, or the Euroleague, anytime soon, but for now, our short term goal should be surmounting Asia, or at least, placing higher that 4th for the time being. I like the fact that the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has gone grassroots, but then, it has to go a little further by conducting tryouts and clinics all across the country (and even internationally, where there are large Filipino contingents) on a regular basis. MVP could even go so far as to establish a sports institute whose main task will be to scout, source, and develop athletes from a young age. I'm not saying that we should do like China, for instance, does, but then, adding a little science to athletic development should help accelerate our progress in the realm of sports.
For as long as I can remember, in a lot of our sports, we've had stories of greats like Efren "Bata" Reyes for billiards, and Manny Pacquiao for Boxing having been brought out of the doldrums by their seemingly innate talent. Things don't always end ala fairy tales, especially in basketball. The game Naismith built is highly scientific, with success dependent on collective strategy, and intensive and focused physical and mental development. You can't expect to be pulled from a farm and just beat Yi Jianlian in a game of 1 on 1. One needs to be trained in the finer rudiments of the game to be able to have a shot in hell at winning.
And so, a brighter future begins with Gilas, and its promising wunderkinds.
What a thrill it would be for the old guard of Philippine basketball, along with a new generation of fans, to be able to see us compete with the big boys again, or even more so, than in the past.
MC
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