‘Learning more important than winning’

Coach Chot Reyes said San Miguel Beer-Pilipinas could have easily won the 16th FIBA-Asia Champions Cup had they opted to field in two imports like most of the foreign teams.

But no, he wouldn’t have done it at the expense of learning.

"We could have gotten the likes of Dicky Simpkins or Mark Sanford or Jerald Honeycutt and win this tournament easily," said Reyes who’s in charge of the overall preparation of the RP team.

"Make no mistake about it. We really wanted to win this tournament. But not at the expense of learning," he added yesterday after the RP team, gearing up bigger tournaments ahead, drubbed Syria, 73-57.

The Filipinos lost three straight games — to Iran, Lebanon and Jordan — and bowed out of the title hunt. With the victory over Syria, they earned the right to face Kuwait today in the battle for fifth place.

Reyes said as much as they wanted to win the tournament, learning the ropes of international basketball, painful and at times even embarrassing, was their main goal.

With the prolific Tony Harris as import, the Philippines won the tournament in 1996. Harris holds the PBA all-time scoring record for an individual, scoring 105 points (including 45 free throws) for Swift in 1992.

The RP team, made up of PBA superstars, is using the event in preparation for the ABC Championship in Doha, Qatar this September, the 2006 Asian Games also in Doha, and the 2007 ABC, hopefully here in Manila.

The 2007 ABC is the biggest of the three since it will serve as qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The Philippines has missed the last eight Olympics as far as basketball is concerned.

Reyes said based on the results of their previous games in the ongoing tournament, there’s still a lot to learn for the RP team.

"And we’re learning. But we need more tournaments like this for us to get a feel and adjust to international play," added Reyes.

After losing to Lebanon the other night, the RP team vented its ire on Syria, handily winning the game and moving into the battle for fifth with Kuwait which whipped Kazakhstan, 96-87.

Meanwhile, Reyes received his official appointment from the Philippine Olympic Commitee as head of training and selection process of both th emen’s and women’s national teams to four international tournaments within the year.

Reyes said tryouts for the RP women’s team to the SEABA Championship June 20-26 in Singapore will start at 6 p.m. today at the Moro Lorenzo gym on the Ateneo campus in Loyola.