Thoughts on the Philippines' exclusion to the Jones' Cup and Taiwan boycotting the FIBA Asia Championships

    Nadamay pa ang basketball.

   That's probably the message echoing in the heads of many Filipino hoop fans right now. Why did basketball have to be affected by the rift between the Philippines and Taiwan? I honestly have no idea why. If anyone can actually answer that question for (in such a way that is not biased), please do so.

   Now, if you guys have been under a rock lately, or if you haven't paid much attention to the headlines, the Philippines and Taiwan are in quite a rift right now. As to why, you can read that right here.

  I won't go into full detail regarding the national issue between the two countries, since I made this post to talk about the issue concerning basketball about the two countries. But, to further understand the basketball side of things, I'll explain how the Taiwanese are feeling towards the Filipinos in a national perspective a bit more. Just a bit.



  First, there have been rumors that Filipinos in Taiwan have not been served at McDonalds restaurants there. Second, the Taiwanese media deleted the Batanes Group Of Islands in their maps to show their presence in the country (I got this from Jim Paredes' Twitter). Third, well... just check out the photo below from a certain Aiza Marie Gomez on Twitter (I got it from Jim's Twitter feed as well)

A plea from one of our kababayans. (click to enlarge)

    There's more horrific things that have to be shown, but, that's for another conversation because we might end up going to deep into the topic. Now, what do I mean to convey with the three things I stated above?

    Damay ang lahat. If you are a Filipino, you are automatically an enemy in the eyes of the Taiwanese. They don't care if you work for them. They definitely don't care if you give them entertainment, or if they help you develop their country. You are an enemy. And to the dismay of Filipino hoop fans like me, damay din kami. 

  The first thing, and what is being quite well covered by the media as well is the exclusion of the Philippines in the William Jones' Cup this year. It was documented in sites such as spin.ph and InterAKTV.com. 

   The second.. well... it hasn't be AS documented. According to the Interbasket Forums, Taiwan is backing out of the FIBA Asia Championships for the sole reason that the Philippines is hosting it (you can read on more of that in the forum page here.)

  So, what does this mean for the Philippines, Taiwan and the rest of the possible competitors for the Jones Cup, and most notably the FIBA Asia Championships?

  Well, let's first state the obvious that this means less competition for practically everyone in the FIBA Asia Championships. Taiwan hasn't performing in the level of teams like Korea, China and Iran, but they are still a team to fear for. Removing them out of the picture will reduce the amount of stress the different teams will have to go through in the competition.

  Second, concerning the exclusion of the Philippines in the Jones Cup, this is actually a huge loss not only for the Philippines, but also for the other participating countries in the Jones Cup, especially those who are also qualified for the FIBA Asia Championships.

  For the side of the Philippines, this is a loss for them not only because they won't get to defend their title, but also because they won't get to scout their opponents for the FIBA Asia Championships (some teams are Japan and Iran, although probably won't use their full line up). Another reason that this is a loss for the host country of the competition this August is that, they just lost an opportunity to develop their chemistry even more. For most of the teams, this could have been their opportunity to play as a whole team and their actually fighting for something, and quite frankly, the Philippines just lost that opportunity. For the side of the other participating opponents, it's practically the same issue, except they won't lose the opportunity to play as a team.

Gilas won't be able to go back to back in the Jones Cup this year.

   Now, you may wonder, who are the biggest losers of this fiasco? Honestly, it's the ones who started this whole mess concerning the basketball relations of the two countries involved in the national issue. Yes, in my honest opinion, Taiwan well end up as the biggest losers of this mess that they themselves have created.

  First of all, Taiwan will lose the golden opportunity of entering the FIBA World Championships next year. Sure, they get to save themselves from the supposed "villians" and "enemies" that are the Filipinos, but at what expense? The opportunity to enter the World Championships. 

  Second, they receive the chance of actually getting suspended by FIBA. This has actually happened to the Philippines thrice, most notably during 1963, when President Diosdado Macapagal refused the entry of communist countries in the archipelago when we hosted the World Championships at that time. A suspension will make them look bad not only to the sports world, but also to the world in general. They boycott a competition a country is hosting, just because that country has an INDIVIDUAL, who hurt another INDIVIDUAL. In short, because of an individual's actions, a country judges the country that individual resides in. It's sad, but it is reality.

Jet Chang won't be shooting the lights out come FIBA Asia
along with Taiwan.

  Now, what should the Philippines do?

  First, I hope the government actually finds a way to patch things up. Not just because I want Gilas to join and defend their Jones Cup crown, but also because, I just want some peace. Personally, I am sick and tired  of seeing so much violence and negativity between people. I just want both countries to help each other and put personal interests aside. It's for the better of the people, anyway.

  Second, for us Filipinos, we should just calm down, and keep hum concerning the issue. Wag na natin palakihin. Let's not hurl pointless insults at the Taiwanese. Instead of creating peace, we are creating war. So let's put our heads down, and just pray that the government actually does something about this.

  For Gilas, the most important that they can do now is to simply ignore this problem (in the basketball side of things at least), and focus on the mission at hand. For sure, Gilas wants to enter the World Championships. They have to ignore all the issues surrounding their team, especially this one. I believe that they can do this, especially with Coach Chot's guidance.

  Now, in my opinion, the SBP or at least the MVP Group should organize a small basketball tournament here in Manila, something similar to the MVP Cup a couple of years back. It doesn't have to be held in a big stadium like the Araneta Colisuem or the MOA Arena. It can be staged at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, or maybe even the Ynares Center. It can invite different squads from other countries, not necessarily just squads from Asia.

  Another option would be to join other international competitions. Gilas shouldn't limit themselves to tournaments occuring in Asia. They can stretch to places such as Australia, and if possible, Europe. Battles against European teams would be essential for the development of all the players, as their style of play is actually quite popular internationally. Having to defend big men who can shoot all the way from three will be great for our young, developing big men (Junemar, Greg and Japeth).

  Lastly, among all things, Gilas should focus on developing their chemistry with each other. Chemistry is key for any team, not star power. They will have to accept each other's roles, and respect the roles of their peers. Once they get each other's styles, and they grasp the idea of team work, they can go far.

  #GoGilas #LabanPilipinas