Don't blame the refs

Fat Andray wasn't a match for fit Yi
(Photo credit to the owner)

After all that has happened in the recently concluded gold medal match of the 2015 FIBA Asia tournament between eventual champions China and our very own Gilas Pilipinas, we feel that some circles are selling the Chinese short because of what is now being called as dubious officiating.

See, even before the match started our minds were already conditioned not to expect a fair fight. Then came Manny V. Pangilinan's series of tweets about how the team bus was delayed/ eventually replaced, the Philippine contingent having difficulty getting tickets and even of how our basket was surprisingly being "fixed" during warm-ups while the Chinese were already busy doing their lay-up rounds.

We were in China, the crowd was already hostile from the start. The Chinese were never known to be the hospitable bunch when it came to foreigners seeking glory in their lands. What did we expect? Some Filipino hospitality? For them to lay out the red carpet for their "enemies?" No. It was poor sports/ gamesmanship, sure. But to the Chinese, they took everything that they could to ensure victory-- both on and off the court. Because there was no one who stood up to say that "hey, this is wrong (we are looking at you, FIBA)," then the Chinese just went about their business at the expense or every single Filipino basketball fans' hopes and dreams.

An uphill climb

The Beast, unleashed.
(Photo credit to the owner)

Here's a simple challenge for the everyday white collar, suit-wearing employee:

The most common and widely accepted way of tying a necktie is the everyday man's four-in-hand knot. You know it as your "go to" move when you're late for a meeting and don't really mind an uneven knot for as long as it looks like a God damn necktie tied around your neck. Did you know that there are 17 more ways (probably even more) to tie it? One of the more complicated ones is called the Christensen knot.

Now imagine entering a necktie-tying speed contest, versus natural Christensen knot users, while you only learned the blasted thing about a week ago.

The above scenario pretty much captures Gilas 3's current predicament, losing 2 games to unranked FIBA teams over in a pocket tournament in Estonia, somewhere in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. The first loss was to the Netherlands, 62-89, wherein Gilas 3 was pretty much made to look like a bunch of amateurs that have never organized correct basketball. The second was against host Estonia, 80-90, wherein Gilas 3 looked like they were able to adjust to some of the things that were going on but in reality it was more of the host country opting to sit their stars in the 4th quarter and take their "foot off the gas" so to speak.

This is going to be a process.

Damian Lillard in China

The NBA Portland Trailblazers' All Star point guard Damian Lillard recently tipped off the adidas Take on Summer Tour of Tokyo, Japan, China, and Paris through July 1.

Lillard is interacting with fans from all over, with basketball demonstrations and pick-up games, in-store appearances, interviews and more. adidas will also launch an exclusive Take on Summer collection which includes the D Lillard 1 in solar orange, inspired by the long, bright days of summer.

Currently, Lillard is in the middle of the China tour which will have him visit several places-- perhaps I should file a quick vacation and head back East.