A (national) cause for concern

Gilas Cadets
(Photo credits to Rappler.com)

Do we keep sending an all star selection, be it of the professional or amateur lot, hastily assembled and asked to achieve great things or do we start building a more concrete program with a more familiar roster?

That is the conundrum that currently hounds the state of basketball in the country. Sure, the Gilas Cadet squad under head coach Tab Baldwin and bannered by promising collegiate stars Kiefer Ravena, Troy Rosario and Almond Vosotros got the job done. But against subpar teams in the South East Asian region (basketball-wise), there was the Thailand and Indonesia games (in the medal rounds) that felt a little too close for comfort.

Both Thailand and Indonesia sent a bunch of veterans who were already familiar with one another. The same could be said for the teams that we will be facing in the FIBA Asia tournament-- Iran and Korea have legitimate basketball programs anchored on guys who are in their prime. China is slowly rebuilding around a younger core. Japan is trying to look for a system that would work for them in this new age of basketball (they just need more shooters, IMHO). India is the sleeping giant (literally and figuratively) once they start paying more attention to basketball and not much on the hours-long cricket matches.

We can't afford the same mistakes and or close shaves again. We are not in a position to take any of these international tournaments for granted anymore. FIBA Asia silver in 2012? That was three years ago. We followed it with an embarrassing Asian Games effort after the FIBA World Cup stint.

So what do you call a team that wins silver in one tournament, then gets booted out early the next meaningful one?

A fluke artist.

Ouch.

That stings.

But it is the God's honest truth.

To gain the respect of our peers, and to strengthen our claim of being one of Asia's best basketball countries, we need to start winning-- consistently.

And how to do that, given the fact that there are clearly two schools of basketball in the country?

Build young and old. Mix it. No drama, get the right players, and the ones who play alike.

Junemar Fajardo is the centerpiece.

Jayson Castro is too.

Paul Lee? If his body is right, sure.

It would be nice if Coach Tab could form a 12 man roster that features both young and old players, regardless of stature. Gilas T doesn't have to feature all PBA players. Hell, they need to bring in younger guys just to give them that much needed experience and seasoning.

While other countries continue to take the sport of basketball (as well as other sports) seriously, we continue to treat it as an All Star gig to promote certain brands, players and whatever. If only everyone would be committed. No more drama, no more blackmailing and black propaganda.

Here's a God's honest question" why aren't we sending PBA rookies, sophomores and juniors-- the younger guys to these tournaments? Why the need to always look for fresh, new talent when the ones who suited up just a few years ago, could easily suit up right away as a Cadet team?

Are you telling me that the PBA couldn't have assembled a SEAGames crew of Terrence Romeo, R.R. Garcia, Matt Rosser, Pat Paredes and so on? That Kiefer Ravena, Rosario are better than those PBA noobs?

The program is there, as well as the financier, all that's really needed is for everyone to buy in.