The long view on the Blatche issue

There is an uncomplicated way of looking at the issue revolving around the eligibility of Andray Blatche to play in the Asian Games next week. The myopic way of looking at it is to simply say that someone screwed up, that the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas was in the bind of naturalizing a player beyond the deadlines set by the Olympic Council of Asia, and casts the blame. But as the saying goes, don’t fix the blame, fix the problem. Basically, whether or not the SBP was aware of the rule years ago or not, is immaterial. Even if the rule existed, it was not practicable. Three years ago, would we have been able to find a legitimate NBA player to naturalize, and would he have been able to play full-time for Gilas Pilipinas? Would he have survived without injury, and stayed if he had gotten better offers from clubs in Europe or the NBA? Would we have known the future three years ago? Food for thought.

Another rule that the SBP may want to bring up with FIBA is the age limit for deciding to represent your mother country. The way it stands now, if you acquire Filipino citizenship beyond the age of 16, you will still not be allowed to play for your country. But realistically, at 16 you are a sophomore or junior in high school, and haven’t planned for the rest of your life, or even decided whether or not you want to have a basketball career. After all, both rules were predicated on the intention of emerging basketball countries in Africa and the Middle East to shortcut the process by bringing in mercenaries, players who would either pretend to be nationals, to be given fake passports, this is not how the Philippines operates.

Whatever the background of this brouhaha, what is of significance now is that the issue is being out back on the table for discussion. What is of consequence is that the rules will be on review, for possible change in the future. Taking the long view, this may turn out to be a big turning point in future international competitions for the Philippines. If SBP’s tough stand can be looked at in a positive light, it will open the discussion that the rules may be antiquated or simply unsophisticated. The spirit of the rule still stands, but it also discriminates against the well-meaning. Besides, any rule that has been around almost 30 years would probably be worth looking at again.

The rule may be considered discriminatory in its application. It would be far easier to find out who messed up or who didn’t follow the rules, or if anyone tried to pull a fast one or get away with something. But let the bandwagon pundits have that pleasure. Let those with the perspective of history look at this as a crossroads which will serve us better in the long run. If these rules can be eventually overturned, it will allow us to find more material for future national teams. In Europe, teen-agers are allowed to turn professional, and earn a living earlier.

Let’s look at a trend that has basketball observers both complaining and scratching their heads. The recent influx of African players in collegiate leagues has changed the way amateur basketball is played in the country. Since the arrival of Sam Ekwe started San Beda College’s renaissance after 28 years without a championship, other schools, even colleges in the Visayas and Mindanao are scouring chatrooms and social networking sites to find the next big man. It recalls Hakeem Olajuwon’s journey from Nigeria to a full American citizen playing for Team USA in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Here in the Philippines, both the NCAA and UAAP have a rule limiting foreign players to two per team, with one to play at any given time.

The general observation is that this is a short-term fix. You find a young starving African, guarantee him a comfortable life which allows him to send money back home, and he would run through a brick wall for you. And since the longest he can play for a school is five without residency, why not import him for third or fourth year high school? That’s one way to give you a better chance at winning championships, and providing continuity for your program. It is much more difficult for a rival school to pirate your foreign player. First of all, he wouldn’t be able to get his clearance, transcript or any other records. Secondly, there are rules on intra-collegiate league piracy.

But what if we put all this effort into finding Filipino-foreign players, instead? Wouldn’t it be better for everyone concerned? Then again, that would be taking the long view. The short view is to bring in a foreign player, enroll him, train him, make playing varsity ball his life, then let him find his way in the world upon graduation, you own him for at least six years, or until you decide to replace him with someone better. Anyway, the rules allow any registered student to play for the school, generally in exchange for a scholarship.

But taking the long view, this would stunt the development of our big men, which we sorely need at this point in our growth as a basketball nation. Granted they will be playing against these stronger athletes in practice, but you’re only rotating four spots, not five, during games. Again, taking the long view, we can also help the national team by putting all this effort into finding legitimate Fil-foreign players for future international competitions. Maybe some day, we will only need a naturalized player to fill in a weak spot, like small forward, or for a specific purpose, like defense.

If the two rules on eligibility can be reviewed and modified, and we start putting in the infrastructure to find Fil-foreign players at a younger age, then this whole Asian Games issue will have been of great benefit to Philippine basketball. And that is taking the long view.