In this 2nd part, I wish to highlight the growing nature of basketball as a “global sport”, influenced by the popularity of the NBA as well as its “open door policy” on allowing foreign-born players to compete in the league. These two factors must be recognized and embraced as an accepted fact — that the world and game of basketball is, indeed, already GLOBAL.

Article of Excuses

I recently read an article by a noted sportswriter who wrote about the lambasting we got from a tournament, the FIBA-Asia Club Championships, in which the All-Pro Philippine Team participated. We all know that Filipinos are known sour-grapes when it comes to losing in basketball. In that article, we got the usual litany of excuses as to why we got beaten badly. In fact, most of them were valid: unfamiliarity with international rules, lack of cohesiveness, and fatigue.

But what I could not accept, no matter how well-argued the point, is the inclusion of the overused, misused, and abused excuse for losing —– that we were up against teams that were powered by non-Syrians, non-Jordanians, non-Japanese, and non-so and so, and that we won’t stand a chance in future FIBA-sanctioned tournaments if these countries field in non-native players.

Okay, okay… The sportswriter has a valid point. It is but fair and proper for national teams to send citizens of their country to compete in international competitions. Rules are rules. There should be no two ways about that. Cheating must not be tolerated.

But what I am trying to drive at is this…. Let’s take care of business first — that of ensuring the improvement of the quality and level of play of Filipino cagers; training our attention and focus on making the Filipino basketball players stronger, more competitive, and more adjusted to international wars. If the price of ensuring these is by way of experiencing humiliating or bitter losses at the hands of foreign teams reinforced by imports, through one of so many ways, either by losing badly or by losing stupidly for being unable to close out games (that you’ve controlled and led for 39 minutes) or by getting banged up and beaten up with no trophies to speak of in the end, then so be it.

Never mind the underhanded tactics and ploys of other countries. Never mind the fact that their players were plucked from another country or another planet. Let FIBA take care of that.

Let’s focus on rebuilding. It’ll take time. A long time even. Other countries in our region took more than decades and scores to develop their players and enable same to be regional-class and world-class hoopsters.

NBA Taking the Lead

If there was a model or an approach worth emulating, then it would have to be what David Stern adopted for the NBA. Stern masterfully took advantage of the first major development that changed the world and the game of basketball (which I mentioned in Part I of this series) — FIBA’s decision to allow professional players to compete in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments —, and translated, what seemed like a tactical ingenuity, when he sent 11 Hall of Famers and an collegiate standout in Christian Laettner to Barcelona, to a deft strategic move that would thrust the NBA into worldwide popularity.

I consider the Dream Team’s participation in the Barcelona Olympics as the watershed event that catapulted the sport of basketball to worldwide recognition. A monster PR tool for the NBA, the Dream Team captivated the minds and souls and hearts of all basketball fans and non-fans alike. It was a coming out party for the NBA. And that was what Commissioner Stern needed — the attention of everyone.

Once Stern got that attention, off to work he went. He campaigned on further increasing the level of awareness of the NBA internationally to its current level of pervasiveness by employing the vaunted American brand of aggressive marketing, creating programs designed to educate people about the game, as well as encourage participation in the sport (e.g. Basketball Without Borders, Yearly NBA Games in selected countries), setting up NBA offices in international locations, inking deals and partnerships for the rights to broadcast the games and market NBA-related materials, holding of NBA pre-season tournaments like the inaugural 2006 NBA Europe Live, etc. The biggest coup for Stern would have been the selection of Yao Ming as the top pick in the 2002 NBA draft. With that move, Stern cemented the NBA’s foothold on mindshare for basketball in the world of sports (China alone can account for a major share of that).

The NBA’s ascendancy to worldwide popularity came at a most opportune time. The rise of the internet as a powerful medium of massive reach helped in the evangelization of the league as well as the sport of basketball. Proof of the internet’s power came to fore when Yao garnered the most number of votes in the 2003 edition of the NBA All-Star Game as the NBA allowed fans to vote online. No doubt, a large number of Chinese logged on to NBA.com and voted for their compatriot.

International Flavor

I am not privy to nor aware of the details behind Stern’s masterpiece strategy. In his 13 years of sitting as Commish for the NBA, Stern, oft considered to be the best commissioner in professional sports, has built an international empire sans the walls.

His efforts has opened up the NBA to more international players. As of March 2006, there were 83 non-US born players (both active and inactive), from 38 countries, in the rosters of the 30 NBA teams. There are an additional 50 players from around the world whose rights are held by an NBA team. In this year’s 2007 NBA Playoffs, there were 60 international players (coming from 28 countries and territories) who competed. In this year’s 2007 NBA Draft, we can count at least 13 international players drafted in the 1st and 2nd round. It is interesting to note that the earliest international player to be drafted in the 1st round was a Chinese — Yi Jianlian, a 20-year old, 6-11 Center from the province of Guangdong, China.

In terms of global reach, the NBA is now being televised in 212 nations in 42 languages.

Rise of New Basketball Powerhouses

If Commissioner Stern’s main agenda was to make the NBA a globe-spanning enterprise and a certified Multi-National Corporation (MNC), he has, most seriously, succeeded in accomplishing this.

I am quite sure that Stern, with his intelligence and foresight, knew that what he was doing was going to be good for basketball, in general… That his efforts of expanding the NBA’s influence and presence into every nook and cranny of this world could facilitate “technology” and skills transfer… and that by aggressively instructing the team owners and management of all 30 NBA Teams to draft, sign, and play foreign-born players, the positive reinforcement of this virtuous cycle will be achieved.

As a result, we have seen the rise to 1st place podium finishes for countries such as Yugoslavia (FIBA World Champions 1998), Serbia – Montenegro (FIBA World Champions 2002), Argentina (2004 Olympic Gold Medalist) and, quite recently, Spain (FIBA World Champions 2006), in less than a decade since the USA last won the FIBA Worlds in 1994 and the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

In a reversal of roles, it is now USA’s turn to aggressively recruit personnel from these new basketball powerhouses to learn the nuances of playing FIBA-style of basketball. A good example is the San Antonio Spurs who hired a member of Argentina’s Coaching Staff to be a consultant for the organization. I read this in an article on GQ Magazine that featured Manu Ginobili (Sorry, folks. I couldn’t remember the issue of GQ where I read this). The Spurs itself can be considered an “international team” by virtue of its penchant for drafting, recruiting, and keeping foreign-born players: Tim Duncan (US Virgin Islands), Tony Parker (France), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Fabricio Oberto (Argentina), Beno Udrih (Slovenia), Francisco Elson (Netherlands), Tiago Splitter (Brazil — recently drafted), and Luis Scola (Spain — Spurs holds the rights to Scola as a player in the NBA).

If I may throw in a trivia… It was the Spurs who originally drafted the Brazilian Blur, Leandro Barbosa, 29th overall during the 2003 draft.

Round-up

These developments, as spearheaded by Stern and the NBA, paved the way to the explosive nature of internationalization of basketball as a sport. Please keep these sets of developments and the consequential “model” that David Stern has crafted in mind as I will use same as my jump off points for the 3rd installment on the subject matter.

My next post will be about my humble sets of suggestion for the Philippine Basketball Powers that Be, and why we should take the route suggested…

Just got a text a few minutes ago. Team Pilipinas just finished off Iran, 89-79.

It is a good victory for our national cagers considering they just came from another heartbreaking loss to Jordan, 70-74, yesterday. As you would have read by now, Kerby Raymundo had a chance to tie the ballgame with two free throws (RP down then by 2, 68-70, with 1:03 to go in the game). However… you guessed it. Two free throws muffed.

It might interest all of you to know that both Jordan and Iran are bracketed with the Philippines and China in the “Group of Death” for the FIBA-Asia Qualifiers, which will take place at the end of this month (July 2007). The top two teams of each group advance to the quarters and so on. Assuming that we’ll be waylaid by China (hope not, though), we will need to beat both Jordan and Iran to obviously assure ourselves entry to the next round. Or if we’ll only manage a 1-2 record, we’ll have to rely both on hardwork (win by as many points as we can and lose by as few as possible — quotient system) and help from Lady Luck (that Iran, Jordan, and the Philippines cancel out each other’s win) to move into the next round via photo finish.

I am quite satisfied with the way Team Pilipinas has played in this 29th edition of the Jones Cup. If we had played it more intelligently and carefully, we would’ve been sporting a 6-0 win-loss record by now. Our three losses: to Lebanon, 62-65 (via a last second 3-point shot that went off the glass); to Japan, 82-84 (via a dying-seconds-turnover by Dondon Hontiveros, en route to a breakaway layup for the marginal basket); and to Jordan, as mentioned above.

Chot and his wards came to the Jones Cup to study and practice. I believe they are doing their job well.

Keep it up, Boys!

The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) model is now outmoded. They’re still living in the past, trying to cling to the spirit of its heydays in the 70’s and the 80’s. Sad to say, the spunk and glamor are gone. Well, at least for me, an avid basketball fan, who had religiously followed the league, game after game, until the early 90’s. Same can probably be said about our existing insular brand of “basketball infrastructure”, from the various collegiate leagues to the various commercial leagues, professional and amateur.

One can say that this insular point of view has kept us from improving to an acceptable level of regional or, even, global standards. In this 3-part series about Philippine Basketball, I aim to put forward ideas that the leaders of the sport can consider, toy around with, and hopefully, implement successfully — all with the end-view of putting the Philippines back to a podium place finish in regional and international tournaments.

For me, there were three (3) major developments that changed the world and the game of basketball, as it is now. First, FIBA’s decision to allow professional players to compete in FIBA-sanctioned international competitions. Second, the burgeoning popularity and worldwide reach of the NBA. And finally, the influx of foreign players into the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The PBA responded right away by fielding in an All-Pro team in 1990 for the Beijing Asiad and had sent select teams made up of pros since then. The best finish we ever achieved since we started sending our PBA players to international tournaments was a runner-up placing behind China in that 1990 version of the Asian Games. We then finished 3rd in the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games, 4th in the Bangkok Asiad in 1998, and 4th again in the 2002 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar (we would’ve placed 2nd behind China once again if not for that last second 3 point shot by Lee Sang Min of South Korea — and the 2 missed free throws by Olsen Racela — in the semis of that tournament).

At best, those initial forays were less than fully systematic. Constant arguments and debates on how to properly execute a basketball program geared towards developing a national pool of professional players hounded local basketball aficionados and kept them from effectively implementing a grand, sustained plan. There were even controversies against fielding in a foreign coach in Tim Cone. Ron Jacobs also had a hard time getting appointed to the national coaching job. Jacobs was given the nod eventually, but could not fulfill his duties as he was struck by a physical ailment while getting ready to prepare the national team for the 2002 Asian Games.

It was only recently that a semblance of order and a well-thought out program was instituted. PBA Conference schedules were made to synch with and give way to international basketball tournament schedules. A national training pool was created. A pool of coaches were nominated and selected. PBA team owners were providing full cooperation. But then, the unfortunate hand of bad luck struck Philippine Basketball as we were suspended by the FIBA and precluded from participating in FIBA-sanctioned basketball competitions. All because of politics in basketball.

The Pilipinas Basketball program was somehow derailed by this unfortunate turn of events. It may be a blessing in disguise as we now have a unified hoops organization in Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (BAP-SBP) that is bent on reclaiming lost glory for Philippine basketball. But the important fact is… our basketball gods knew that somewhere, somehow, the road to recovery starts with a recognition of unity and the need for cooperation.

But then again. That’s just the start of the long road ahead.