Hagop justifies ‘pure’ system

MANILA, Philippines - FIBA-Asia secretary-general Hagop Khajirian of Lebanon rationalized the “pure” draw system that marked the lottery for the continental championships at the Manila Hotel the other day by forecasting seven out of eight prospective quarterfinalists will come from the list of hot favorites.

The “pure” system was a departure from past practice where the top four seeds were spread out to four different groups to avoid an early clash of title contenders. In a “modified” system based on the standings of the FIBA-Asia Cup in Tokyo last year, the four groups would’ve been led by Iran, Japan, Qatar and China. As it turned out, Iran and China were drawn to Group C with South Korea and a Southeast Asian entry to be determined in the sub-zone qualifiers in Medan, Indonesia, on June 20-23.

“Through the years, we’ve seen FIBA-Asia evolve and now, we’ve got at least 10 countries who are legitimate championship contenders,” said Khajirian. “In this situation, we decided to go with the random system of a ‘pure’ draw to give every team equal chances to enter a group without prior seeding.”

Khajirian said he was impressed by the professional staging of the event particularly Solar TV’s production and the supervision of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP). “If this is an example of the capability of our host country, we should be treated to a grand show at the Championships,” he said. “As for the Filipino fans, I think their passion for the game is unmatched.” SBP executive director Sonny Barrios said the “pure” system is a testament to the emerging balance of power in FIBA-Asia.

Khajirian said as host country, the Philippines has the prerogative to choose its first round schedule and order of games against Jordan, Chinese-Taipei and Saudi Arabia in Group A. He said the tournament schedule may be released on Monday if the Philippines submits its sequence before the weekend.

As for the use of naturalized players, Khajirian said the rule allows each country to recruit only one. In Qatar’s case, he said the national federation must decide which naturalized player to enlist. Qatar suited up NBA veteran Trey Johnson at the FIBA-Asia Cup last year but waiting in the wings is 6-6 Congo native Tanguy Ngombo who previously played as a Qatari local but was disqualified in the FIBA-Asia Championships two years ago for inconclusive documents. Khajirian said if Ngombo, the Dallas Mavericks second round pick in the 2011 NBA draft, submits papers to prove he is a Qatari local, then he will be cleared to play with Johnson. Five Qataris were declared ineligible in the last FIBA-Asia Championships and Qatar finished last after forfeiting games against Iran and Uzbekistan in the preliminaries for lack of players.

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Only four cagers from the 1973 FIBA-Asia (then known as Asian Basketball Confederation) Philippine title team attended the draw as special guests. They were Manny Paner, Ramon Fernandez, Yoyoy Martirez and Jimmy Mariano. Team manager Dante Silverio and conditioning coach Juan Cutillas also came. Assistant coach Caloy Loyzaga begged off from the event as his son Chito could not accompany the wheelchair-bound basketball legend. Robert Jaworski, Bogs Adornado, Abet Guidaben and Francis Arnaiz were out of the country. Tembong Melencio, Big Boy Reynoso, Dave Regullano and coach Tito Eduque have passed away. Joy Cleofas could not be contacted.

Paner said the 1973 team trained for four months, including three weeks in seclusion in Baguio.  Cutillas, who pioneered in making physical conditioning a critical element in basketball training, said the players took no short cuts in working themselves to shape.  “Thrice a week, they did 20 rounds around the Rizal oval with Paner and Arnaiz always leading the pack,” said Cutillas, the former national football coach who is relocating to his home country Spain in September with wife Tessie.  “We also ran up and down the stands at the Rizal basketball stadium.  In the finals, we just erased Korea which was supposed to be in top condition.  Our team was incredibly fit for the tournament.”

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Only Japan, Qatar and Bahrain were represented by their basketball federation officials at the draw.  Embassy officials came for China, Chinese-Taipei and Saudi Arabia.  Two countries from Southeast Asia were picked to join Group C and Group D but Khajirian explained after the coming sub-zonal qualifiers in Medan, the top two finishers will be subjected to another draw.  One Southeast Asian team will be in Group C with China, Korea and Iran while the other in Group D with Kazakhstan, India and Bahrain. 

Gilas Pilipinas assistant coaches Norman Black and Nash Racela were on the phone with coach Chot Reyes, who is in Lithuania, the entire draw.  Reyes monitored developments of the lottery in real time with assistants Joseph Uichico and Josh Reyes in Lithuania.  Assistant coach Ryan Gregorio was in the US.  Racela said after Jordan, Chinese-Taipei, Saudi Arabia and China were drawn with the first four picks, it began to make sense for the Philippines to select Group A.