A chat with Chot

Talk n Text head coach Chot Reyes has been through so many developments in basketball in the Philippines, he always offers a well-rounded perspective on questions regarding the sport. Last night, the Phone Pals were in a dogfight, trying to oust Barangay Ginebra from the PBA Philippine Cup, results of which are already known.

“Obviously, we wanted to be in the top two, but we also realize that all the other teams, especially the San Miguel group, really bolstered their line-ups,” Reyes says. “That’s something that we have to be able to cope with. That’s why we find ourselves in the position we’re in.”

Reyes, whose management expertise augments his extremely successful coaching, looks back on the last few years in the PBA, characterized by ebbs and swells.

“It’s always been very, very competitive, and the past years were characterized by parity, where it was so hard from one game to another to figure out who was the favored team,” he points out. “This year, it’s still very competitive, but not like the previous years. If you look at the standings, there were four teams that were clearly below the others in the pack. It’s still a situation wherein, if you’re not ready, on any one night, some team can just upset you.”

Chot, once the point guard of the Ateneo Blue Eagles, analyzes what the PBA’s regular fare has to be to stay on top of the game.

“It always has to be a combination of a lot of things. The games must be exciting, which means the players must come out and play their best every night. We’re seeing that occurring largely, teams are going out and playing hard every night. It has to be in combination with creative marketing of the league. We have to find a way to reach our target audience.”

Reyes, who once helped manage the competitor Metropolitan Basketball Association, has also seen the emergence of other sports and the explosion of media that have undermined the league’s previously long-held and unchallenged position in the market. There are trends that are cresting that are now splitting the pie into even more slices.

“In this day and age, PBA is not the only sport people are interested in. There’s a lot of heretofore unknown sports, like mixed martial arts, or even poker. And you have the regular other sports that people watch, like golf and tennis and boxing on TV. So PBA is one of those sports,” Reyes begins. “But more than that, on a category basis, people don’t just look at sports; they look at other types of recreation. So many people now are into physical fitness. Instead of being at home watching TV, they’re in the gym running or playing badminton or doing something else. We are facing competition with the NBA. If you’re a basketball junkie, another alternative to the PBA is the NBA. So it’s a confluence of a lot of factors, really. One thing we in the PBA must do is constantly be aware of our responsibility in marketing the league. It’s not only the commissioner’s responsibility, it’s not only marketing’s responsibility or the TV station’s responsibility.”

The former national coach also has praised for the on-going efforts of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to restore the country to its international prominence in the sport.

“It’s going very well. You’re seeing - for the first time - a real program. And by that, I mean, starting with the 16 and under team, now they’re putting the 18 and under team together, and then what I call the cadets program, and then the men’s elite program. So everything is in place. And the programs that the SBP are undertaking now really are the right direction.” But he offers this proviso. “We’re really going to see SMART-Gilas make a lot of headway and reap the successes of the past year. If there is something that they still need to get done, it’s to a lot more for grassroots development, especially in the provinces. I think the SBP should really spend a lot of time and energy in the provinces.”

As the SBP makes big strides in leading basketball outside the country, what then becomes the role of the PBA in developing national teams?

“The PBA should always been involved, in the sense that, when their services are needed, they should be willing to lend their players or coaches or whatever. They should still be prepared to lend their expertise,” Chot explains. “But in terms of really putting the program together and running it, PBA should not be involved, because the PBA has a completely different objective than the SBP.”

The full interview with Chot Reyes airs on SMART Ultimate Sports Barkada on the ABS-CBN News Channel today at 11:30 a.m. and on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.