The Mightiest?

#PUSO... wait, what?
 

Before we proceed, let us first congratulate the Mighty Sports – Philippines team that swept the recently concluded 2016 William Jones Cup en route to the gold medal.

We would like to commend Al Thornton, Vernon Macklin, Zach Graham, Migchael Singletary, Hamady N’Diaye,Dewarick Spencer, Troy Gillenwater, Jason Brickman, Jeric Teng, Leo Avenido, Sunday Salvacion, Larry Rodriguez, TY Tang and head coach Bo Perasol for a job well done. They opted to wear the “Philippines” on their jerseys, and they did not embarrass us in any point of the tournament.

They did however, directly or indirectly, send a few wrong messages.

First, why did the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas allow a team that had more imports than locals represent the country in an international tournament? Sure, the Jones Cup does not exactly have any FIBA-related weight, but isn’t this why we had the whole Gilas program in place? Why the SBP is in play? To revive Filipino pride in basketball? To bring some glory back to the Philippines?

We won the gold, and we are not complaining, but the whole thing was kind of a huge step in the wrong direction.

Second, we watched the games, and there were a lot of times wherein Perasol himself opted to field in all five imports. He’d plug in a local every now and then, but they’re more bystanders than contributors. The ABL Malaysia Dragons’ champion point guard Jason Brickman could’ve been showcased here, but he was pretty much just another local on the roster tasked to give the ball to Thornton, Graham, or Gillenwater.

They could’ve at least played Brickman, Teng, Import, Rodriguez, Import right? It’s just pretty perplexing, to say the least.

Did the SBP approach the situation as “well, we can’t send the PBA Gilas, and we don’t have enough Gilas Cadets available, so whoever wants to represent us can go do their thing.”

Ray Ray Parks isn’t that busy right? Where’s Kiefer Ravena? There’s a lot of Filipino basketball talent, young and old, to go with really. Why didn’t they just bring in a PCBL team and reinforce that? Oh, they did with Mighty Sports, but they kind of exaggerated the “reinforce” part.

Again, nothing against the players, coaches and Mighty Sports in general. They did their jobs. They won the gold.

We are looking at the SBP.

Isn’t this why the damn thing was created in the first place? To control who we send out where? Are we just nitpicking here? Are we being too prideful and bullish?

Now we are hearing that Mighty Sports will go and represent the country in other Asian tournaments. Hopefully, the team can reconsider and add a few more locals not just on the roster, but in actual fives playing on the hardcourt.

Or maybe I’m just pissed because my boy Jeric Teng was glued to the bench.

E di sana naglaro na lang siya sa Rain or Shine, nakakapagpapawis pa every 3 games.