Tickets to Smart-Gilas games hard to get

It seems the organizers of the on-going William Jones Cup did not take into account the demand for tickets to the games of its participating teams. From all indications, tickets to the games at Hsinchuang Stadium will be difficult to acquire for Filipinos hoping to see Smart-Gilas in action. The demand will be even greater now that the Filipinos have sent shockwaves through the field by beating back-to-back defending champion Iran.

According to team manager Butch Antonio, organizers did not allocate complimentary tickets to participating teams. Traditionally, teams that join international competitions are given a regular number of tickets for their own games for family members or well-wishers. Only team members, coaching staff, utility personnel, national media and basketball officials are accorded accreditation allowing them entry into the games for free.

Instead, tickets are being sold at 7-11 convenience stores throughout Taipei. But according to Filipinos trying to buy Jones Cup tickets in the city, the store staff do not speak English, and are having problems understanding which tickets are needed for which games and playdates. Even the exact locations of seats matching the tickets being sold are not clear to the sellers. This has caused frustration on the part of Filipinos trying to cheer the national team on, and they do not know who to approach for a solution.

In past Jones Cup jousts, organizers have even hoarded tickets to ensure an overwhelming number of fans for the home team. Basketball fans in Taipei have been particularly hostile towards Filipinos, especially since the Philippine Centennial Team took away the championship in 1998. The nationals, then bannered by PBA players and the core of the 1996 Alaska grand slam team coached by Tim Cone, swept all their games. They plowed through Group B with victories over Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Japan (in overtime) and Costa Rica.

In the crossover semifinals, the Centennial squad defeated South Korea, 96-77, setting up a finals showdown with host team Chinese Taipei. Despite the hosts’ roughhousing, the Filipinos clinched the title, 82-72. After that, succeeding Philippine teams have gotten the short end of the stick from organizers and even technical officials.

In 1999, when the Iloilo MegaVoltz represented the country, they were given a hostile treatment. In their game against the hosts, the referees were calling very obvious non-calls against them, and not calling dirty tactics on the part of the host team. One situation saw a player from the host team hit a Filipino cager with no foul being called. In an ensuing melee, two tournament officials even held back Iloilo guard Vince Hizon and even admonished him to keep his mouth shut. Fans rained water bottles, food and debris all over the court. One player described it as being in a war zone. Team manager Rafa Dinglasan even brought home an umbrella speared at him by an irate Chinese spectator.

Eventually, the players barricaded themselves in the dugout, and broke the legs off a table to defend themselves. Much later, they were able to return to their hotel, but not before their bus was damaged.

Hopefully, these shenanigans are all in the past, and Filipino fans will be able to see their national team in the flesh.

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Some basketball observers are starting to notice the decline in efficiency in basketball in the country, more noticeably in amateur leagues. One former coach noted that, in the 1970’s, it was unacceptable for teams to shoot below 50 percent, today, 42 to 45 percent shooting is considered decent. Free throw shooting percentages, once hovering in the high 80’s and even 90’s, are almost 10 percentage points down.

There are some possible factors for this, in the 1970’s, there was no three-point shot, which some critics initially branded a shortcut innovation. They argue that if teams fall behind, they just gamble on a triple. Some players have even dropped perimeter shooting altogether, electing to practice lower-percentage three-point shooting. Another supposed factor is that coaches are less inclined to teach fundamentals, and prefer players who will win them games right away, although there are no surveys to substantiate this claim.

One former player this writer talked to said that with all the NBA and PBA on television, kids try to emulate their favorite pro players’ moves without first mastering the basics. Still others point to the improved defenses making it more difficult to score. Still others say that coaches even at the high school level teach so many plays, players would rather study the playbook than master fundamentals.

Whatever the reasons are, some coaches are realizing that they are themselves the solution to the problem, and pausing to send more time teaching fundamentals than drawing up plays.