Argentina, Greece, Croatia, Puerto Rico, Senegal.
That’s the gauntlet that Gilas Pilipinas will have to go through in the FIBA World Cup of Basketball in Spain beginning Aug. 30. In the current FIBA rankings, Argentina is currently third in the world, Greece fifth, Croatia and Puerto Rico 16th and 17th, respectively. The Philippines is 34th, with Senegal the only lower-rated country.
When the draw was done a week ago, there was much speculation about who has the strongest and weakest groups, with the US considered to have an easier time in Group C with Ukraine, Finland, Turkey, Dominican Republic and New Zealand. It is quite daunting to know that Group B has two of the top 10 and four of the top 20 teams in the world. But as the saying goes, the door swings both ways. It can hit anyone on their way in or out.
How well will the Philippines do? That seems to be the main question. Seriously, at this level, we are the newcomers, but we can be encouraged with the example of countries like Angola, which reached as high as 11th in the world about a decade ago without any seven-foot players and in less than three decades of serious organization. They have hovered in the top 20 since then. The Philippines definitely has more history and now, more will be behind it.
It’s premature to paint a bull’s-eye on which of the five rival countries will be easiest to ambush, mainly because we don’t know who exactly is playing. Even the countries with legitimate NBA talent are not sure those players will want to play or be fit to see action. The US is fortunate to have the bulk of available talent in the NBA, which somewhat compensates for the unwillingness of some superstars to represent the country on top of a grueling regular season and playoffs. When the rosters are revealed in August, it will be easier to speculate.
But that’s all it will be: speculation. What matters is who is healthy and plays well on game day. The FIBA-Asia the country finished runner-up in is proof of that. Factors like food, water, sleep and fatigue all come into play after the initial adrenalin rush subsides. Coaching, too, is an obvious influence. In this writer’s opinion, one win would be a blessing, two should be considered a national holiday. After all, it has been decades since we’ve seen this kind of competition.
Consider the achievement of the Philippine Rugby Football Union. In the last seven years, they went from zero to sending both the women’s and men’s teams to the Hong Kong Sevens, then qualifying for the Rugby 7s World Cup. Of course, when they got to the World Cup, it was a different story. But the fact is they climbed to the level of the best 24 teams in the world. Winning at that level would be the next step in their evolution.
The philosophy is a little different for Gilas Pilipinas, mainly because it is basketball, the nation’s passion. You know the Filipino heart, if we’re in a battle, we’ll make the other guy bleed. No quarter asked, none given.
There is one thing that is for sure. We will all be madly partisan, patriotic and hypnotized. For those of us who can remember that far back, the Northern Consolidated Philippine team was the last team to beat the US in an international competition in the Jones Cup in 1985, until Smart Gilas Pilipinas did the same under the leadership of LA Tenorio in 2012. We all have our most memorable moments from those games, indelibly stamped onto our collective consciousness. That is the experience that faces us today, a cathartic, exhilarating five games, at least.
Regardless of the opponent, we will always be the Davids railing against Goliaths of the game. While we have narrowed the gap in terms of size, experience is still a huge factor. The final line-up of our own team has yet to be decided, and though the sentimental choice would be to bring all the players who got us there, it is doubtful that it will happen that way. There is too much at stake, and wisely, the Philippines has to make its own adjustments.
But even if we should lose, if we lose respectably, that will also be an achievement. Perhaps we may lose by a handful of points, of 10 or 12, but as long as the fight is there, we can be proud. That is the one thing we can be guaranteed of, for certain, that as long as there is time on the clock, our players will constantly try to turn the tide.
But back to the main point. This is basketball, our one great unrequited love, and we are hoping that this time, she will love us back with the same passion. And we will look for signs, in every rebound against taller opponents, crossover move that gets us past an NBA superstar or Olympian, every blocked shot born of great timing more than equal leaping ability. Those will be the building blocks of our hope that, maybe today – but more probably in the future – we can do more than just hold our own against the world’s best. After all, we were not given a free ride. We were not a wild card entry, even. We proudly qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder among the giants.