United basketball?

Will the basketball family finally be united?

Much time has passed ever since POC Head Peping Cojuangco and the FIBA agreed that a unified basketball body involving all the major stakeholders of the sport be formed by the end of March 2006. If you check your calendar, that's exactly 19 days from today (including weekends). Somehow, I get the feeling that the ticking of the clock is getting louder as we get closer to the deadline.

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think the recent developments out of our major basketball leaders are pointing to this direction. I'm actually more confused with the good and bad news from all sides.

The good news is that the sport's biggest players have gotten together to draft what could be the by-laws and constitution of the future mother of all basketball organizations. Leading this endeavor is the PBA through Commissioner Noli Eala. Among the others involved are the PBL, UAAP, NCAA and the BAP through its President Joey Lina.

The press releases that have come out of these meetings have been refreshing and welcome news. It sure looks like we're on the path to forming this united basketball front. This is the kind of news that will make the basketball fan heave a sigh of relief.

But while all that has been taking place, some other more disturbing activities have also been taking place. For starters, the Philippine Basketball Federation (PBF) and BAP, the two opposing poles of this family feud, held their own national inter-collegiate basketball championships. FEU won the tournament organized by the PBF while West Negros College of Bacolod came out on top of the BAP-run tournament. The BAP also held what they called a national inter-club tournament that was topped by Wang's Ballclub. The PBL just wrapped up their last conference with Magnolia winning the championship. Red Bull won the PBA's last conference while the All-Filipino conference was launched last week.

I cite all these games being played since I'm hoping that these will be the last to be played under the cloud of a splintered basketball family. There's nothing wrong with having these games played per se, but when one knows that these are played under leaders who still aren't united, it gives one an empty feeling.

But what bothers me more at the moment is the news coming out of the BAP who seem to be acting on their own, oblivious of what's happening outside - very typically BAP. While their head is attending all these meetings for a united front, the rest of the BAP has gone ahead to chart its own path, beefing up its structure by picking prominent people to important posts. Cebuano sportsman Michel Lhuillier is the BAP's new Chairman. Former PSC Commissioner Tisha Abundo was also selected as head of the inter-schools group of the BAP. I have nothing against Lhuillier and Abundo. They're both great leaders who can actually help solve this unity problem. I just hope they don't get sucked into becoming mere rubber stamps for the people behind the traditional BAP thinking. El Señorito and Abundo must stand up, speak their minds, and use their leadership and experience to join the search for a united basketball family.

And there's more bad news. Many of the BAP's officers have reportedly frowned on Lina's participation in the ongoing unity meetings of the major stakeholders of basketball. Lina has said that he intends to brief and consult the BAP's officers on the developments of these meetings. I just hope Graham Lim and company approach this with open minds and a genuine desire to unite the basketball family, and not just the BAP family.

While the BAP is free to do whatever it pleases, all this smacks of a lack of delicadeza, considering the fact that their leader is involved in addressing the biggest problem that the basketball family is trying to solve. But then again, since when has the BAP considered delicadeza as part of its vocabulary?

19 days and counting. I've always been a hopeful person, and nothing is impossible. If our leaders are truly and genuinely concerned for basketball, they'll get the job done in a day!

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Time-out: Happy birthday to Mar Crisostomo! >>> You can reach me at [email protected]