RP cagers doomed from start

BUSAN, South Korea – The Philippine team’s failure to medal in basketball despite coming within seconds of a crack at the gold should give the nation a firm resolve to continue with an aggressive program not only for the Asian Games but for other international campaigns.

A move to adopt FIBA or amateur rules in the All-Filipino conference is a clear sign that the pro league back home is keeping its options open with regard to its commitment to the national team.

"We all love basketball and we want to be flexible about the Asian Games," said PBA commissioner Jun Bernardino who spearheaded the campaign of the Nationals here.

The RP cagers came within seconds of upending host South Korea, 66-68, until Lee San Min buried a three-pointer at the buzzer and the Filipinos suffered its most painful defeat in Asiad memory, 68-69, in the semifinals.

So devastated were the Filipinos, they came out flat and lethargic against Kazakhstan and lost the battle for the bronze, 66-68.

"While the flesh was willing, the spirit was not. They tried but they just couldn’t respond against Kazakhstan in the stretch," said Bernardino.

Thus, the team matched the fourth place finish of the national team, then coached by American Norman Black, in the 1994 Hiroshima Games. It was the worst performance of a national squad since PBA players suited up for the Games in 1990. It won a silver in Beijing and a bronze four years ago in Bangkok.

Hopes were high for this particular team for it assembled a battery of talented local and Fil-Am cagers and mapped out a rigorous nine-month buildup with foreign exposure and stints in the pro league.

But it seemed doomed from the start. It lost its original coach, long regarded a basketball guru in Manila, to a massive stroke and its No.1 offensive threat to a torn Achilles ligament just four days before the Games.

Still, the Nationals bucked tremendous odds and nearly overcame the South Koreans, its tormentors in many an Asiad, before a stunned 5,000 Korean crowd. But as fate would have it, two missed free throws in the last 23.9 seconds and a crack Korean three-pointer as time expired sent the Filipinos to a shocking defeat that will be long remembered.

Now the Koreans owe the Filipinos two – one, for handing that terrible loss and, two, for inflicting an emotional low that cost them the bronze the following day.

"We showed beating Korea can be done and we are proud to have shown it here, proud of the way the boys played," said national coach Jong Uichico.

The turn of events should fuel that resolve to come up with a long-range program that will develop players for international competitions.

"Hopefully, we can come up with a long-range program, a solid long-term program for the benefit of Philippine basketball. The success of a program is always its continuity," said Bernardino.

One measure is the adoption of the FIBA rules in the All-Filipino, which will be recommended to the PBA board so that the league would legitimize the zone and develop outside shooters.

"We will heavily recommend it to the board but first we must assess and evaluate our position in the Asian Games whether we would continue representing the country or if not what will we do, but definitely this should be addressed for sure, not tomorrow but now," said Bernardino.

He also said proper consultation with PBA teams on the issue of the Asiad participation is high in the league’s agenda. "It is something that the PBA board and the team owners must decide on because it is their teams, it is their money that are very much involved in the undertaking."

The nine-month training by the Nationals saw the team competing against European teams in a short Italian series, playing in two conferences in the PBA and going up against Taiwanese, Australians and Qataris in tuneup matches. It cost the league over P20 million.

"While we didn’t get the desired results, we showed with a good program in place we can be very competitive again. The boys did all their best and we could have succeeded but for a few breaks," said Bernardino.