Loud but not intimidating

FIBA Director for TV/News Media Rights and English hoop legend Paul Stimpson is in town supervising the telecast of the 27th FIBA-Asia Championships for worldwide distribution and he’s amazed at the enthusiastic hometown support for the host Philippine national team.

“The fans are loud but not intimidating,” says Stimpson. “It’s not like in other countries where fans take off their shirts and actually try to intimidate the team playing against the home team. I’ve noticed in Manila, the fans show respect. I think it’s because of the high level of appreciation of the game. I understand fans are very knowledgeable and that’s the reason why they applaud a good game whether the home team wins or loses. I saw that when the Philippines lost to Chinese-Taipei and beat Japan and Qatar.”

With the knockout quarterfinals starting tomorrow, Stimpson says Iran is clearly the team to beat. “They’re 10 to 15 points ahead of any other team in the tournament,” he notes. “They’re playing as a team. Korea comes in next then it’s wide open. China is struggling at the moment. I’ve spoken with coach (Panagiotis) Giannakis and he’s determined to stress defense with the Chinese team. To me, defense is like a bank, it’s solid, something you lean on. It’s not like the stock exchange which goes up and down. China’s problem is they don’t have the material at the moment to do what coach Giannakis wants. He wants to control the pace but who can do it for him on the court? Without Yi (Jianlian), who will score for them? If Yi comes back, I’d like to see him power his way inside instead of taking fallaways. Wang Zhizhi may be a little slow now that he’s older so I’m not sure if he’s an option. A lot of adjustments have to be made.”

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Barako Bull coach Rajko Toroman, who used to call the shots for Iran and the Philippines, agrees with Stimpson but qualifies that as the tournament progresses, the Chinese seem to be gaining in confidence. “Even without Yi, I think they’re starting to play better with coach Giannakis,” says Toroman. “But I’m afraid that if China doesn’t survive the knockout quarterfinals, they’ll look for a new coach. They’re not deep at point guard. Sun Yue is not like he was before and I think it’s because he’s not playing in the Chinese league. I heard he prefers to play in pick-up games in the US. So he’s not sharp.”

Stimpson says playing as a team is key to making headway in the international game. “I remember at the 2006 FIBA World Cup, someone predicted Greece would beat the US in the semifinals because they had no NBA players,” he recounts. “In his view, the US wouldn’t play as a team because they were loaded with stars. His prediction came true.”

Giannakis was the Greek coach who engineered the US defeat, 101-95. The US team included LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Shane Battier, Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Elton Brand and Gilbert Arenas and was coached by Mike Krzyzewski. After beating the US in the semifinals, Greece fell to Spain, 70-47, in the gold medal match. The US has since recovered to rule the next FIBA World Cup in Turkey, learning a bitter lesson from the setback in Saitama.

Stimpson says from the way Gilas plays, he can visualize international stars like Nicholas Batum and Tony Parker of France and Manu Ginobili of Argentina fitting in the PBA style. “I can understand why Americans play in the PBA as imports because the league puts a premium on athleticism,” he says. “In Europe, the style is more physical than athletic although there are many exceptions like Batum and Parker.”

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Stimpson is impressed by Gilas and singles out Gabe Norwood as a valuable piece in coach Chot Reyes’ system. “Norwood is a very smart player, always in control, doesn’t take bad shots and plays excellent defense,” he says. “Those two small guards, (Jimmy) Alapag and (Jayson Castro) William, are extremely quick. Alapag provides instant offense with his three-pointers off the bench and is a leader on the floor. I notice a lot of love from the fans for (Gary) David, I understand he’s a big scorer in the PBA.”

Stimpson says Qatar is an aging team but coach Tom Wisman has done a good job of capitalizing on its strengths. Kazakhstan is a surprise, he continues, with new Italian coach Matteo Boniciolli molding the team into a tough, physical contender.

Stimpson says under FIBA rules, ties are broken via the quotient system where only the scores for and against the involved teams are taken into account. Scores in games against other teams are not considered. Because of the tight schedule in every tournament, FIBA doesn’t allow for playoffs to break ties.