Can we make it to the Olympics?

I guess it's never too late for anything, or is it? The Philippine team that will attempt to bring the tri-colors of the nation back to the Olympics after 34 years of absence has been officially announced. Members of the team are guards Jimmy Alapag, Jayjay Helterbrand, Mark Caguioa, Dondon Hontiveros and Renren Ritualo. The forwards are Danny Seigle, Rudy Hatfield, Tony de la Cruz, Ranidel de Ocampo and Kerby Raymundo. The centers are Asi Taulava and Mick Pennisi. The team's alternates are Enrico Villanueva, Rommel Adducul and Rafi Reavis.

The team was officially made known to the public in a simple press briefing, but the impact of the announcement has rippled throughout the country as a sign of victory for the now-united basketball family.

With the BAP-SBP finally getting an official recognition from both the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and FIBA, the country is back as a "legal" basketball member of the international basketball community. As expected of the Pinoy fan, everyone expects everything else to nice and easy just because we now have a united front. But he isn't aware how all these years of disunity and mismanagement (of the sport) have stopped us dead on our tracks in terms of basketball development and have enabled our neighbors to leave us behind.

And so while the BAP-SBP, PBA and MVP all deserve our cheers of kudos and "great job," is it really a time to celebrate and expect the team to make it to the Olympics? Is it right to expect so much out of a team that is being formed barely two months before its first official qualifying tournament that serves as a stepping stone towards an Olympic slot? The toughest part that puts unmerited and instant pressure on the national team is the "expectation" of fans for the team to make it big in the international scene, even gaining a slot to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Before anything else, we must all forget about the Beijing Olympics for now. As any good coach will say, let's take things one game at a time, then slowly but surely build and grow towards our target. Preparing for an Olympics is not an easy task. The basketball programs of our Asian neighbors have their teams preparing for the Olympics years in advance before 2008. And here we are talking about going to the Beijing Olympics, with our national team formed only two weeks ago. I'm not even sure if they've started to practice as a team, with some of the Fil-Ams in the U.S. taking a break.

So what's up ahead? The first qualifying tournament is the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) tournament from May 24-28 which the Philippines might host. The country is expected to top this tournament without breaking a sweat and make it to the next leg: the FIAB-Asia Olympic qualifier in Tokushima, Japan in July. This is where Asia's best of the best will be slugging it out for that prestigious Olympic slot.

We thus have some four months of preparation for the Japan tournament. And as any basketball analyst will tell you, four months aren't enough for a national team to gel and develop to become a truly solid and cohesive team. Our Asian neighbors have had their national teams playing together as a team mainly during the off-season for the past five to six years. When all the commercial and pro leagues are taking a break, these nation's national teams are busy training as a team. The best examples would be the likes of China, Qatar, Lebanon and South Korea.

It sure looks like Coach Chot Reyes and his coaching staff will have to do a little procrastination (typically Pinoy) and develop a crash course on instant teamwork, chemistry and bonding. While skills, talent and athleticism will not be an issue for any of the members of the team, team chemistry will be a major stumbling block to Beijing. At this point, there is only so much a coaching staff can do to develop that team unity. It's imperative that the players take it upon themselves to get this done. Sacrifices will have to be made. Egos will have to be pricked. And in a team of superstars, the players will need to be reminded big time that there's no letter "I" in the word "team."

Let's all think positive and say yes, we can make it to the 2008 Olympics. But tons and tons of sacrifice will have to be made in order to form a team that can truly play as a team. But just as we talk about 2008, we should also start thinking about the 2012 Olympics. Five years may be a long wait, but if there's an Olympics that we can make (from a realistic stance), then this will be it.

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

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