Basketball overload

If you are a basketball fan in the Philippines, then last week was paradise. As if we didn’t have enough basketball as a staple, last week saw the zenith of all our favorite basketball leagues simultaneously. The NBA Global Games finally arrived, the PBA started another exciting championship series, the UAAP drama peaked with a Game 3 that went into overtime, and a new, game-changing collegiate league finished its first official tournament.

The strategy that worked in bringing the NBA Global Games to the Philippines is the same one that has proven effective for international music acts. After laying down their initial itinerary to our neighbors like Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore and mainland China, the world’s most popular bands and singers then plot side trips to the Philippines, which explains why many of these acts perform in the country in weekdays. Fans don’t mind because of how rarely these performers get to this part of the world. And after experiencing the fanatical passion of Filipino fans, the country becomes a regular stop of their tours.

In the case of the NBA, the Global Games have been on the drawing board for at least 13 years. In that span, the league has been flying in NBA All-Stars, legends, cheerleaders and mascots, evolving events from NBA Madness to NBA 2Ball to the NBA Asia Challenge and, in 2011, NBA 3-on-3. This year alone, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, James Harden and other NBA headliners have all visited the country independently of each other. “Linsanity”, the documentary on Jeremy Lin’s unexpected ascent, was premiered two weeks ago. It was about time the league played an official pre-season game in the country.

The first NBA China Games were held in Shanghai and Beijing in 2004, with Macau following suit three years later. But several factors have stood in the way of a Philippine edition of the pre-season games. The rollercoaster flow of the economy, persistent flooding, questions on peace and order, and even the buying power of the local market. But those questions have all been settled, and the overwhelming love of Filipinos for the game and the NBA have created an unprecedented warm welcome for the league and its teams.

As if the teams needed any boost to their recognizability, the game was helped by the emergence of the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference, and the transformation of the Houston Rockets. Last season, they picked up Jeremy Lin and James Harden, who had each increased their profile from great performances in New York and Oklahoma City, respectively. In the offseason, their latest acquisition was Dwight Howard, who now joins the impressive lineage of Rockets big men like Moses Malone, Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon. You couldn’t have scripted a better build-up.

The NBA’s big splash came in the middle of a thrilling UAAP final, an unlikely pairing of underdogs. De La Salle University, led by rookie head coach Jun Sauler, came up strong in the second half of the season to storm into the Final Four with nine straight wins. The Green Archers discovered a new set of young leaders to beat the odds. University of Santo Tomas, with coach Pido Jarencio, knows the feeling. In his rookie season seven years ago, Jarencio did the same thing, and has been hankering for another title since. This season, the Growling Tigers made history again, overcoming the twice-to-beat advantage of league-leading National University to become the first fourth seed to barge into the finals.

Much has been made of the match-up between brothers Jeric Teng of UST and Jeron Teng of DLSU. Their father, beloved PBA strongman Alvin Teng, spent many sleepless nights worrying about how to console whichever of his sons would lose. He told this writer that he feared Jeric, playing in his last UAAP campaign, would be done for the season after injuring his right shoulder. Happily, that was not the case, and both brothers contributed mightily to their teams. After a particularly intense scuffle in Game 1, the patriarch took his boys aside and reminded them not to forget that they are brother first, and student basketball players second.

Each team played to its strength. You knew the Green Archers would attack the basket with their massive frontline. In fact, the big disparity in offensive rebounding was one of the deciding factors in the first two games. The Green Archers were going to trap, and you knew it would take its toll. UST, meanwhile, had the best outside shooting numbers in the league, and a formidable albeit foul-prone frontcourt centered around Karim Abdul. The Tigers have always been a very emotional team, teetering on the knife’s edge between intensity and control. At their best, they have been like a forest fire that at times consumed them, as well.

Meanwhile, the PBA hit its climax after unveiling an impressive set of new imports. San Mig Coffee and Petron both found their characters and meshed with their reinforcements to survive the competition. Same scenario, coaches of vastly different experience ranged against each other. Petron was able to build and keep a lead late in Game 1 to draw first blood in the series. Game 2 is being played as we go to print.

Meanwhile, Technological Institute of the Philippines won the inaugural full-season tournament of the National Collegiate Basketball League. The NCBL, which tested out its alternative concept with a short tournament in March, has drawn interest from other schools who are disillusioned with how bigger leagues are run.

The short introductory tournament included host TIP, Trinity University of Asia, Centro Escolar University and Don Bosco. The league is promoting a home and away format premised on higher values like sportsmanship and proper etiquette for athletes. Host schools treat rival teams as visitors and not hostile invaders. Schools from other parts of the country have also inquired about possible membership.

In addition to all that, National Geographic Channel is airing “Pinoy Hoops”, a three-part documentary of the Filipino obsession with basketball for three consecutive Mondays beginning Oct. 21 at 9 p.m. Hosted by Rafe Bartholomew, author of “Pacific Rims”, the series focuses on the most unlikely places where basketball is played, the big business of the sport, and fans who have built their lives around the game.

It’s a great time to be a basketball fan in the Philippines.