Azkals-mania aside, future looks bright for Philippine basketball

While everyone (including myself) has been caught up in the football craze powered by the Azkals (still a fitting name, before it used to stand for "homeless" but "asong kalye" is also a term used for *excuse my French* bastard hybrids), its popularity could and should be credited to a lot of things. One and two, it's a NATIONAL team that has SHOWBIZ-worthy faces and bods. Three, we don't get to see them play very often.

Case in point, I bet you that should a football-counterpart of the PBA be made, that it would drive away bandwagoners and organizers would have problems selling out fields worse than the PBA's gate attendance to a Powerade-Meralco game.

With that, people should stop saying that football is better suited for us Filipinos because it relies on speed and not height-- uhm, did you watch the Azkals-Sri Lanka match? A couple of years ago, that is exactly how our team looked. We looked like Sri Lanka. Our players were even shorter and had smaller bodies than our broad-shouldered, Hindu looking neighbors.

Anyway, I am writing this because someone should go out and say it. The future of Philippine basketball looks bright, if not brighter than ever.

Fans, coaches and scouts have probably outgrown their mini love affair with high leaping athletic wings, and are now concentrating on actual basketball players rather than athletes as spearheaded by the Smart Gilas Pilipinas national team.

In both the now import-flavored NCAA and UAAP tournaments, we have seen a return to high scoring, talented shooting guards and big men (okay, so a 6"3 big man would be pushing it in the pros but at least the post game is still alive despite the Dirk Nowitzki-fever).

FEU's RR Garcia, Adamson's Alex Nuyles, DLSU's LA Revilla, UST's Jeric Fortuna, Jeric Teng Kevin Ferrer, NU's Ray Ray Parks (who is forcing it too much but will probably get it as the season unfolds) and Ateneo's monster rookie Kiefer Ravena.

Of the lot, Ravena, if he learns to play PG, will be a star in the PBA. Alex Nuyles is a shoo-in for any Yeng Guiao team, while LA Revilla has the best handles in the amateurs bar none.

Forgive me for not naming any NCAA player, I haven't cared about that league not since the PCU troika of Gabby Espinas-Jason Castro-Rob Sanz (and later Beau Belga).

Here's a couple of UAAP predictions that I'll throw out there just for fun:

Ateneo will be in the finals and will win their 4th chip.

UST will rival Ateneo for basketball supremacy akin to their 2010 Juniors MVPs.

FEU will be in the Final Four, look dominant, and fail/sell out/be controversial yet again.

DLSU will not win a title unless they go back to shopping for Fil-Am point guards and centers (re: Mike Cortez, Don Allado era).