PBA Games

In a debate over drinks with some friends, the conversation naturally moved towards a common passion: Philippine basketball and what it takes to succeed globally as a team and for the Filipino individually. Because to this day, no Filipino has stepped into an NBA hardcourt. Heck, a Japanese player has beaten us. Here were the factors discussed and the questions I had raised against them...

1. Filipinos just lack the height: "If we were taller we would win."
The most common sentiment/surest conclusion for most Filipinos.
If there was a world championship-- 6 feet and below, would the Philippines win against the U.S.?
Even if we make it 6'1" and below (so we could include James Yap), does a lineup of Yap, Baguio, Helterbrand, Tenorio and Willie Miller win against a lineup of Nate Robinson, Jameer Nelson, Chauncey Billips, Mike Bibby, TJ Ford and Earl Boykins? Hell we could even cheat and throw in Taulava in there, would we still win?

2. Even if we had height.
The Chinese team is taller than the American team. Do these Asians, that have similar genetic profiles to Filipinos, win against the Americans?

3. "We don't have an NBA player that could carry the RP team."
The Chinese team has Yao Ming, the tallest of all NBA players. Plus they have that other seven-footer to play power forward. Have they won? Nash is a two-time MVP. Where's the Canadian team?

4. The Philippine team lacks coaching: "If we were only taught to play the game right."
If Phil Jackson coached the RP team, and Riley, Poppovich, Rivers and Larry Brown were on his staff--winners of 22 NBA championships-- will the RP team win?

5. Lack of international exposure: "All our players do is play locally and get together only when a big international tournament starts." 

Once again, the Chinese team sets the benchmark-- their team is unified, it is the priority over their pro teams, and they have travelled together extensively for years since youth basketball. Where are they?
I see three basic problems with Fiipinos and basketball.

1-) We have the height for point guards.

2-) Everybody is a points guard but nobody has a jumper-- which makes us predictable defensively because defenders can just sag and wait to block your shot when you get to the paint. Most, if not all, are slashers. Not too many outside shooters.

I cannot emphasize this enough because even the best of slashers, eventually took their game to the next level when they armed themselves with not just a jumpshot but a fadeway jumpshot. From MJ, to Kobe, McGrady, Carter, Lebron, and now Durant-- the best players have that unguardable fadeaway. This is what most Filipinos fail to see. Steve Nash? Best fadeway in the business. His is exaggerated. But he makes it look so easy. And the proof is in the pdudding: how many MVP's?

I noticed one consistent trait PBA imports have: a jumpshot. Even the big guys that are hired to play center and grab rebounds, 9/10 can shoot. And the best imports have the best fadeways.

3-) Nobody can pass.

Our model should be Steve Nash-- 6'3", passes like Magic, shoots like Bird. Once again-- 2 MVPs to prove it.
Why don't we have an NBA-bound player in the RP?

Because no one likes to pass, and no has that unstoppable, fadeaway jumpshot.

How do I know? Because after 10 years of playing ball in the streets, I ended up joining a team coached by a pro. He put the brakes on me, told me I was a points guard, and that I needed to pull up more and hit that J instead of driving into the land of the trees all the time.  He told me the only way I would play was if I passed more and played defense first. I got benched and 4 games into the season I quit.

I am the reflection of RP basketball.

Maybe that's why I also play baseball and soccer? (At least I don't get benched while playing both!)

Three of the most violent things I've done in my life: play baseball in the diamonds of the USA, play basketball with the blacks in the hardtops of LA, and play soccer in the streets of Brazil.

Maybe, just like our Japanese and Korean counterparts, the Philippines should also start looking into these two sports where Filipinos could succeed a little more because gravity is more in the points guard's favor.

PBA Philippines

10 Reasons Why I've Lost All Interest in the PBA

Some of the best memories of my youth was watching Ginebra San Miguel. I loved that team as much as I loved the Lakers. Fast forward decades later, it is unfortunate my passion has remained for only one team. Ginebra fans will know Terry Saldana, Dondon Ampalayo, Romulo Mamaril, Dennis Carbonilla, Joey and Chito Loyzaga, Dante Gonzalgo, Leo Isaac and of the course the Living Legend Robert Jaworski. I distinctly remember watching a live Ginebra game in Ultra where the little-used Joey Marquez dunked the ball (at a time when dunking happened twice a year)! I can honestly say after that last championship game of Ginebra versus Shell when Distrito hit that fadeaway, falling to the ground, game-winning shot, I've lost all interest with the PBA. The players suck, the Fil-Americans are here because they can make a living but can't cut it in the States, and the coaches are getting old.

Here are the ten reasons why I've abandoned our beloved PBA:

1. No one's got a jumpshot -- If you'll notice, there's one primary difference between imports and locals-- all imports have a go-to jumpshot. Need proof? Who's the best shooter in the league? Who's next after James Yap? Allan Caidic?

2. Boring commentators -- Joe Cantada and Andy Jao was still the best tandem. Quinito Henson is getting old, his analysis are for first graders, and he doesn't look like he's held a ball in his life. Sev Sarmenta is older. They had a good one in Chino but unfortunately he's nowhere near the PBA right now.

3. Musical chairs-- it used to be Chito Loyzaga and Alvin Patrimonio played for one team  and went head to head till they retired. Ronnie Magsanoc and Benjie Paras were happy with their franchise and Shell franchises. Today's players change jerseys faster than I can change channels away from the PBA.

4. No rivalry -- the NBA was revived from the pits in the late 70's to greatness in the 80's because of three words: Lakers versus Celtics

5. No iconic players -- Sonny Jaworski. Need I say more?

6. Geographic Dyslexia -- It's called the Philippine Basketball League. Since when is the Philippines comprised of Alaska, San Miguel and Meralco? The PBA has become a marketing arm for the filthy rich companies. It needs to update it's business model to reflect their brand name-- the Philippines. The MBA had it right when Cebu, Pampanga, Davao, Manila, and the entire Philippines had teams. Los Angeles Lakers. Boston Celtics. New York Knicks. Get it? It's not the General Electric Lakers.

7. Fil-Ams...sure they've raised the quality of play. But their chest thumping glorifies the self and selfishness of the American game-- all that the Filipino culture is NOT about. Give me the Ginebra vs San Miguel  or Ginebra vs Purefoods rivalry anyday-- when the rivalry was bigger than the players. When the matchups took over the fans' imaginations-- Loyzaga vs Patrimonio, Loyzaga vs Ramon Fernandez, Paras vs Cuenca! Ironically, who are the two most popular players right now? That's right: James Yap and Mark the Spark. 100% Filipino blood. That tells you something about your market and who they can relate to, who they see themselves in. How classy was it when Alvin Patrimonio put his head down right after scoring on Chito "The Great Wall" Loyzaga's tough D, and ran right back on defense. Then the Dynamite would go right back at him and shoot a 3 off the Captain?

8. Identity Crisis-- Mega Derby? Red Bull? Meralco? Talk and Text? Air 21? Powerade? I don't know which is more confusing-- following  players or following jerseys. You see an NBA game televised from afar, within 5 seconds I know what team's playing, and what star player to locate.

9. American plays, Filipino bodies-- at the end of the day, Filipino basketball is patterned exactly after American basketball. As the Asian games have told us since 1990, this has not been the right way to go. The Filipino game is not lacking in flash, but embarrassingly weak in fundamentals. Maybe that's why the top Asian teams have the fugliest looking shots but they all go in. Ours is the opposite. For every air-bending shot of Cyrus Baguio, there's no complementing unstoppable fadeaway like James Yap's. Yes Kobe Bryant would be Baguio and Yap rolled into one: at 6'7".

10. Coaches-- the local coaches are as scientific as your high school basketball coaches. When you talk about about Phil Jackson, Gregg Poppovich, Doc Rivers and Larry Brown-- who are the expert Filipino coaches? Who did they learn from? What international competitions have they won?

At the end of the day, it's RIVALRY that makes basketball exciting. Even if you didn't follow the NBA in the 80's, you knew that if you watched the NBA Finals in the 80's something would happen. Somebody would get knocked down, somebody would make a game-winning shot, somebody would go home crying. But you had to pick a side. You couldn't just watch the games, you had to identify yourself as a Laker or Celtic.

In today's PBA game, the musical chairs of players, team names and coaches dilute the league because it eliminates all rivalry. And the lack of geographical homes-- Araneta and Cuneta but most games in Manila-- make it worse. Shall we call it the Manila Commercial Basketball League instead? But please...don't call it the PBA. A milk team going against an electricity distributor with a bunch of players that have lived here for years but can't speak a lick of Tagalog is not my idea of a rivalry. Sure Toyota vs. Crispa worked in the 70's-- but what business in the 70's still followed the exact same business model now? If you need the perfect example, what's the biggest basketball rivalry in the Philippines? Is it in the PBA? Exactly.  Archers and Eagles will get everyone picking a side even if they weren't Archers nor Ateneans to begin with. That's what rivalry does. It gets people interested, it captures imaginations, it makes us forget about our problems for two hours.

What if...Manny Pacquiao built a team-- the Saranggani Boxers. How good would his team be knowing he's got the money to buy all the top players? What would that do to promote local tourism and jobs? Will we finally care where in the map Saranggani is? How would that unite the Saranggani people?

And then his friend Chavit Singson decided he wouldn't get left behind and put up the Ilocos Tigers (since he has a collection in his own zoo). Would you watch that game? Which side would you choose? How nervous would the players be not wanting to lose the game for their owner?

Now that sounds like a Philippine Basketball Association to me.