Much work to be done

The two press conferences of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas signal some good things for basketball in the country.

First, the SBP will be free to move and implement its programs, unless the Basketball Association of the Philippines actually commits to taking their case (overturned this week) to the Supreme Court. But, truth be told, that would be an open-ended case.

“There are many more important matters for the Supreme

Court to tackle,” said SBP executive director Noli Eala.

“This isn’t really an issue of national security or anything like that.”

But there still remains a lot of work to be done. Quietly, the SBP has already increased from five to nine the number of FIBA-accredited referees. Also, they have been supporting the Philippine Olympic Committee in trying to get basketball reinstated into the 2009 Southeast Asian Games.

Moreover, open tryouts are now being held for the future national team. The players should be in their early to mid-20’s so that they will be hitting their peak in time for the FIBA-Asia tournament in 2011, and possibly the London Olympics themselves.

SBP chief Manny V. Pangilinan also put forth the proposal that the national players be compensated accordingly.

“The national players should receive something competitive to what PBA players are receiving,” Pangilinan proposed.

“They also have an economic interest in playing the game. And they are making a sacrifice.”

SBP vice-chair Ricky Vargas also said that he hopes the PBA will allow the national team to play as a guest team, and that they be allowed to play with the naturalized player who will be seeing action with them.

But, Pangilinan stressed, the Philippine team has to be competitive, or else there would be diminished value for the sponsors.

“It would hurt the sponsors of the team if they kept losing,” Pangilinan added. “That’s why it is important that the team performs well. Or else, the exposure won’t be of much value.”

The tryouts have already included the best collegiate players in the country, who seem sincerely interested in playing for flag and country. If one recalls the NCC team that represented the Philippines in the 1980’s, what was striking about that team is not that almost all the players did well in the PBA, but that so many of them served for so long, and continue to be part of the league. That program will be reflected in the new national selection. Keeping the team together will be critical in building competitive chemistry for international exposure.

On another note, this writer asked the SBP leadership how they were inclined to vote in the November 28 POC elections.

“We have given all responsibility for voting to our executive director,” Pangilinan said, referring to Eala.

In an informal count of NSAs by a small group of journalists, 19 NSAs were assumed to be voting for Macapagal, 18 for Cojuangco.

But, according to another POC insider, a handful of those supposedly for the incumbent may be ineligible. At least two of them are actually undecided.