Literal said he’s willing to sit down with Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) representatives so a joint four-year plan of action could be formulated with the goal of winning the gold medal at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, in 2006.
"Kung papayag ang PBA, we should keep the national team intact and work out a program to expose our players to more international competitions," said Literal. "We should learn from our experience in Busan. Sayang kung hindi natin mapakinabangan ang mga natutunan ng mga players at coaching staff."
Literal noted that Chinese-Taipei played at the recent 14th Asian Games not to win a medal but to prepare for Qatar. That’s why the Taiwanese sent a slew of teenaged players. The vision is to develop the youngsters into mature veterans in the next four years.
Literal said nothing beats a program that has a vision. Stop-gap and emergency measures just won’t do. To regain basketball supremacy in Asia, the Philippines must prepare long and hard. Trying to master how to play the international game in nine months is an approach that’s doomed to failure. Coach Joseph Uichico did what he could to cram for Busan and to his credit, the national squad almost made it to the finals. With more time to prepare, Uichico would’ve brought the team not only to the finals but to a gold medal, for sure.
No doubt, a four-year plan will be costly. But let’s not back off thinking there won’t be money for it. Why not get the heads of the involved basketball organizations together, agree on a vision, formulate a plan of action, set a timetable, and determine a budget before deciding whether or not to push it? Who knows? There could be sponsors willing to foot the bill for a well-thought-out program that will lead to a basketball gold in 2006.
Reader Alan Bantug of abantug@ph.pccinet.com sent this reaction to the idea: "I just read your column today and I agree with you 100 percent. Racela, Taulava and the rest of the guys should not be made to wait for Qatar 2006 to get back at their tormentors."
Another reader, whose initials are M.M.P. (name withheld upon request), had this to say:
"We have nowhere to go but up. We lost the silver by one point. We played lethargic in the bronze medal match–our loss was understandable–and we lost by just two. This, despite forming and preparing the team in only nine months, the stroke suffered by Ron Jacobs and the injury of Danny Seigle. There is hope, after all.
"I believe the adoption of the FIBA rules in the PBA is an excellent idea. Our current rules in the PBA are so westernized and not much use to us. It is very clear that the Asian basketball title is very important to us, based on the reaction of the players when they lost to South Korea, so adopting the rules in international competitions makes sense.
"I would suggest that we only have one conference with imports and another for the All-Filipino. We must also find ways for this team, our team in Busan, to compete internationally. Keep this team intact, maybe take away some excesses and bring in new, young blood. Remember in 2006, collegiate players like Mike Cortez, Sunday Salvacion, Rich Alvarez, and Cyrus Baguio will all be in the PBA by then plus hordes of future Fil-Ams and some notable rookies this year like Ren Ren Ritualo.
"I just hope and pray that our basketball officials will finally get their act together. I believe we are still the best in Asia if we are in good hands. The possibility of beating China is not so remote after all."
M. J. Laxa of mjlaxa@megalink.ph said:
"We need to send our best players, Fil-foreigner or not, regularly to international competitions like the three countries that stood on the podium. The PBA should sacrifice not only every four years. The PBA’s best players should compete in the ABC where we might qualify for the Olympics. The players should also sacrifice because it’s not for the big bucks they’re earning but for the glory and honor of the country. Anyway, they’re blessed to earn that much, comparing to the millions of Filipinos who can’t even buy food to eat. I admire the sacrifice of our basketball team in preparing for Busan. We know they did their best but the training program was not enough.
"The RP cagers need to be more exposed to international games year in, year out. But how can this happen if the PBA continues to have three conferences a year with the same faces and depending on those ballhog imports who will not help develop the talents of our players? Or if possible, can the PBA host an annual international competition like the Jones Cup where we cannot only taste but be nourished on the international brand of competitive basketball. As one of the millions of Filipino avid basketball fans, we know how capable our players are but at the end of the games, we look for people whom to blame, the lessons we learned that are too late, the what ifs. We’ve been doing this for the past 12 years."
Jay Cabral of lightcatchers2002@yahoo.com suggested:
"The PBA should lend its rookie and sophomore players to play in the ABC. Since the PBA has 10 teams, if they could lend just one or two players with a few years of experience, it will be great for our country. Scouts should look for pure shooters like Allan Caidic. I see the degrading trend in basketball fundamentals. We tend to pattern our style to the NBA.
"I don’t blame coach Uichico. He did his best and I commend him for his efforts though he didn’t need to put the blame on himself. Long-term planning should be done not a quickie nine-month practice and scouting."
Pinky Marcos of pinkymarcos@hotmail.com wrote:
"Sana po paki-sabi kay coach Jong na he doesn’t need to apologize. For me, he coached very well in the Asian Games and hopefully, the RP team gets another shot at the ABC tournament."
Adriano Manansala of addy44@go.com said:
"I’m proud of our basketball team. One day, our time will come."