The challenge ahead - THE GAME OF MY LIFE by Bill Velasco

I still can’t get over the look on Bai Cristobal’s face last Tuesday. He had just found out that his Philippine women’s team had been "disbanded."

"The girls, the players have worked so hard for two years," Cristobal said, his voice cracking. "They’ve poured sweat and blood into this, and it’s no joke. Now, they’ll do this?"

Cristobal had every right to feel heartbreak. His players have been training from 6 to 9 a.m. every day, without fanfare, deep in the shadows of their more illustrious male counterparts. The coach himself buys them their morning pandesal.

Today, he wears a different look. No, not one of celebration over Freddie Jalasco’s resignation as BAP president for there is no triumph in that, but a look of sober, grim determination, because the job ahead is mammoth. His team’s campaign in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) championships for women in Thailand April 21 to 27 is just the beginning.

"Nobody won in this thing," he said, referring to the months-long struggle for leadership of the country’s most popular sport. "This is a signal for all of us, we must work together for the better."

And there is a lot of work to do. Aside from all the major competitions (the men’s team alone has the ABC Championship for Men, the Jones Cup and SEA Games, and some qualifiers) there are other projects that the BAP left hanging during this imbroglio. The National Basketball Coaches’ Commission was rendered immobile, and the mini-commission for its summer projects has also gathered dust. Summer is here, and it is when the BAP’s various offices fan out across the islands for their clinics, coaching seminars, accreditation and upgrading.

"The pressure is now back on us. We have to prove a point," declares men’s head coach Boycie Zamar. "Now we’re focused on basketball in a technical sense."

"I have mixed emotions, speaking on behalf of the team. So many were involved here, not only as a team, especially the personalities, but all other personalities. In the end, I’m also happy in the sense that we all got together for the sake of basketball."

As of this writing, the men’s team is playing in the finals of the 1st Bert Lina-Jam Mercado Battle of Champions in Laguna. They play powerful national inter-club champion Cebu Lhuillier, reinforced by seven-time PBA Best Import Bobby Parks and former PBA import (and long-time Cebu resident) Darryl Smith. Even Tanduay’s sidelined superstar Eric Menk is in the line-up but had not seen action until this point.

Despite having been "disbanded," the RP boys have taken their lumps for flag and country. Team captain Romel Adducul was doubtful for yesterday’s game, having had surgery after being accidentally poked in the eye by the Laguna Lakers’ Randy Lopez. Youth standout Mark Pingris hurt his knee in Saturday’s game, and it has not yet been ascertained what the injury is.

"It just proves that they’re willing to risk their careers, even their lives for the national team," says a somber Zamar."

But the challenge ahead for the Basketball Association of the Philippines is twofold: creating a grassroots program to feed all the basketball leagues in the country and sustaining our national teams. We have not had a full-time national team for fifteen years. With the disbandment of some MBA teams and the increased exposure of our younger players, there is a surplus of talent. What do we do with it?

Frankly, the best thing would be for all our other basketball bodies to stay out of the picture. Sending PBA, MBA or PBL players is not the solution. If the three were to declare a moratorium or a ceiling on hiring amateurs, then we could build a strong team for the next three to five years. After their tour of duty, these young men would then go into the big leagues, more polished and more valuable. This was proven in the 1980s with the Northern Cement squad, which helped push established PBA players competitively. They played with a new cohesiveness and discipline that was refreshing to see. Their impact on Philippine basketball is still being felt, as some of them have already become coaches and executives in the professional game.

On a larger scale, our Asian neighbors’ basketball programs are setting new precedents. China is putting the first Asian players in the NBA. Twenty-three-year old Wang Zhi Zhi will be a Dallas Maverick shortly. When he was 17, Wang played here as part of China’s youth selection in a couple of PBL exhibition games, even wearing sponsor Crispa’s colors. A veteran of two Olympics –where he played well against NBA Dream Teams – 7-1 Wang may soon be joined by 7-6 Yao Ming and 7-0 Menk Bateer. Can you imagine how many millions of Chinese youth will play basketball once their countrymen step out into the NBA spotlight? When will Filipinos share that stage?

The next few days will reveal what the new BAP’s leadership has planned for the future of the sport. Let’s hope they do not fail the way others have in the past.