No one probably knows the game better than three-time basketball Olympian Ramoncito Campos, 84, who has been an avid watcher of the sport for decades. So when Campos texted Smart-Gilas assistant coach Djalma Arnedo his comments after the youthful national team crushed the Powerade PBA selection, 98-69, at the Araneta Coliseum last Monday, you just had to sit up and take notice.
Here’s what Campos said: “Was impressed (by) the way the team played and smothered Powerade. This team will get somewhere. They have all the elements of a champion – three-point shooting, offense and defense. Finally, the Philippines has a team to be proud of.”
It’s been awhile since the national basketball team has made a dent in international competitions. The last Asian Games medal collected by Filipino cagers was the bronze that coach Tim Cone delivered in 1998. And the last Asian Basketball Confederation (now FIBA-Asia) title won by the Philippines came in 1986 with coach Ron Jacobs.
But what surely fired up Campos’ imagination was Smart-Gilas’ bold objective of bringing the Philippine basketball team back to the Olympics. The Philippines hasn’t played the game in the Olympics since 1972 so if ever the national team makes it to London in 2012, it will end a 40-year drought.
Campos played for the Philippine team at the 1948 London, 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Olympics. The country’s best finish was seventh in Melbourne with coach Leo Prieto. No Asian country, including China, has claimed a higher placing.
If there’s one thing Campos would surely like to witness in his twilight years, it’s the Philippines returning to the Olympics. The road, however, isn’t easy. Only 12 teams are qualified to play basketball in the quadrennial extravaganza and in London, Asia will be represented by the FIBA-Asia champion of 2011. That means for Smart-Gilas to earn a slot in London, coach Rajko Toroman’s squad must top the FIBA-Asia Championships two years from now – outplaying in the process powerhouses like Iran, China, Jordan and Lebanon.
Is it possible? As the saying goes, nothing is impossible. Toroman piloted Iran to the FIBA-Asia crown in 2007 then took the national team to the Beijing Olympics the next year. That’s the same thing he has in mind for Smart-Gilas except the Philippines has no NBA-caliber type of center like 7-2 Hamed Haddadi.
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Walloping Powerade was symbolic of the passing of the torch to Smart-Gilas, which has inherited the honor and privilege of representing the country in international competitions from now on.
The SBP has envisioned a program where players of the Smart-Gilas national team will remain with the squad for two or three years before graduating to the PBA. It marked the ditching of the pick-up system that characterized the PBA’s participation in previous international competitions. Obviously, the pick-up system won’t bring the Philippines back to the Olympics.
Last Monday, Toroman looked like a reincarnated Jacobs, without the nicely combed hair, as his troops played a style that makes for a winning formula in international competitions. The hallmarks were evident – teamwork, movement, unselfish play, accuracy from medium range, intensity on both ends, hardly any post-ups, control of the boards and respect for the game.
The fact that Powerade had only one practice with just five players showing up helped make Toroman’s job easier. The pros ran the handful of plays that they did at the FIBA-Asia Championships in Tianjin but when the first option broke down, they free-lanced and went one-on-one, trying to use their experience to throw off the new kids on the block.
In Tianjin, Powerade’s biggest losing margin was 18 in the 83-65 loss to Qatar. So Smart-Gilas’ win by 29 was a huge blow.
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Powerade actually got the early jump on Smart-Gilas, racing to a 14-7 lead. Naturalization candidate C. J. Giles was a one-man show for Smart-Gilas at the onset as the locals struggled, apparently overawed playing against their heroes from the PBA. But when Toroman settled things down, Smart-Gilas just wouldn’t hold back. Even with a cushion of over 20 points, Smart-Gilas continued to full-court press and mercilessly mowed down the opposition.
By the way, Giles and his brother Malcolm are preparing to settle down here. They’re thinking of setting up a T-shirt business and their mother will be flying in shortly to join them. Giles, 24, seems to be taking his naturalization seriously.
James Yap proudly carried the flag for Powerade and finished with 17 points but worked for every shot, almost exclusively on his own. In the end, Smart-Gilas shone with 29 assists compared to Powerade’s 12.
Clearly, Toroman is on the right track in developing Smart-Gilas into a sleek fighting machine. But the team is far from being at the same level as Iran or China at the moment. Against Powerade, Smart-Gilas showed lapses unforgiveable in international play – unforced errors, turnovers, sloppy ballhandling and poor decision-making. In all, Smart-Gilas committed 22 turnovers to Powerade’s 15.
Still, there is reason to hope and Campos has confirmed it.