In case you've been living under a rock, hopes of our Philippine national team making it to the medal round of the ongoing FIBA-Asia tournament took a big blow when prized Fil-Am recruits Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz were banned from playing due to "citizenship issues." The Samahang Basketbol Pilipinas, which assembled the team, were quick in citing that the two were able to play in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments before and that are of actual direct Filipino heritage (with all the necessary documentation to boot).
These claims fell on deaf FIBA-Asia ears however and it looked more and more like we would just have to play with 10 guys the whole tournament and hope that SG Chris Tiu doesn't breakdown mid-tourney.
Enter Noli Eala.
Also known as former PBA savant and savior who had big hopes for the league only to be stripped of it all by personal issues that others are quick to judge him by. It didn't help his case though, that he immediately turned his back on the Media (can't say I blame him, since these are the same guys who brought him down) and concentrated on other pursuits before going back to the sport he loves- basketball.
To his credit, Eala is one of the men behind the Smart Gilas program-- the same program that has built our Philippine national team today. He's the guy who flew in and out of the country, made several negotiations and landed a few highly-touted recruits to play while making sure to take a stab or two (or three, five, eleven, twenty, etc.) at his former employers.
And by saying that he's the guy who acted as "negotiator" or "liaison" if you will, it was clear that he was the Philippine national team's only hope if they wanted to get Lutz and Lassiter back in time for the 2nd round.
True enough Eala played a big role, though not even duty-bound, by offering a helping hand and a few key advices to the current SBP leaders and also the FIBA commission in Geneva, Switzerland. His friendship with FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann should also be taken as a big factor in turning the tides in favor of the national team.
So now, we are finally going to watch a complete Philippine national team minus the B.S. and off-court politicking. We are united under the red, blue, white and yellow of our flag. Win or lose, this is all we have, and let's support our national team.
And while we're at it, let me be the first to say "Thank you Noli."
Sana siya na lang ulit ang commish ng PBA.
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