RP team returns home tonight

MILAN–Despite the blowout losses, the Philippine national basketball team flies home tonight rich in experience and optimistic that the lessons in the Italian tour will go a long way in improving its chances for gold at the Asian Games in Busan in September.

In all, Selecta Philippines played four games–an exhibition in this bustling Italian industrial city and three outings at a four-nation invitational tournament organized by the Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro (FIP) in the resort town of Sondrio, over 1,000 feet above sea level. It capped its stint with a 100-98 win over Ukraine.

The team arrives at 6:20 tonight on a KLM flight via Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur.

Head of delegation Renauld (Sonny) Barrios, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) executive director, said he couldn’t be prouder of the national squad. "We were humiliated in our first game which we lost to Italy by 43 points but instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we came back and worked harder to improve,: he noted. "Every day, we saw improvement. Not too many people realized that the first Italy game was also our first game as a team."

Project director Carlos (Bobong) Velez said the trip was a learning experience. "No regrets," he said. "We were beaten but winning here was not our ultimate goal. This was a stepping stone for the real objective in the Asian Games."

Team manager Elmer Yanga, representing Selecta, said sponsoring the trip was RFM president Joey Concepcion’s expression of support to the country’s quest for gold.

Italian team manager Claudio Silvestri thanked the PBA for accepting the FIP’s invitation to participate in the Sondrio tournament which was free to the public and not supervised by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). The Italian national team is lined up to play in several exhibition tournaments–the first of which was in Sondrio–during its summer training camp.

Coach Joseph Uichico said the Italian campaign was an eye-opener in that it exposed the Filipinos’ inability to play a sustained all-out effort for 40 minutes because of the breakneck pace in the team-oriented international game. Consultant Paul Howard, who flew in from Los Angeles to help out as an outsider looking in, noted the national team must work harder in physical conditioning and play more like a college squad with a stress on the pass-screen offense and a deemphasis on the one-on-one pro style.

Uichico and Howard agreed there were several positives to build on from the Italian tour as the team improved game after game.

The players took a beating on the court from bigger and superior opponents but never lost focus in setting their sights on the Asian Games. "We should do really well (in Busan) as long as we play to our potential and stay healthy," said Jeffrey Cariaso. Boyet Fernandez said the trip made the players closer. ‘It strengthened our friendship," he added. "The desire to win the gold is always on our mind."

Eric Menk said the team’s assets are its competitiveness and fighting spirit. "We’re very competitive at practice so we expect to carry that over to the Asian Games," he noted. Menk said he knows the competition will be tough in Busan but is confident of the team’s chances.