Asiad organizers mandate use of own ball in hoops tourney

INCHEON, South Korea – South Korea is taking full advantage of their home court.

Team managers, except for some whose teams arrived earlier here, were caught by surprise when it was announced during the manager’s meeting that they will use the Star Ball, instead of the Molten Ball, for the 17th Asian Games basketball tournament.

“Kakaiba ang bola. We’ll use the Star Ball. This is the first time that all the 24 teams heard about it so sabay-sabay naman tayo ng ibang team. Hindi naman siguro sila nakakalamang sa atin. We will just have to adjust,” said Gilas team manager Aboy Castro after the meeting.

Castro was right except for the host team South Korea, whose players are already accustomed to it in the Korean Basketball League (KBL) for quite some time now.

The ball is made of premium-grade genuine leather from the United States but is being distributed by Synsheen & Co, Ltd., a Korean-based company.

Kuwait’s team manager objected to the use of the ball, saying their players complained that it is heavy and its bounce is not as good as that of Molten, the official FIBA ball. Other team managers agreed but were rebuffed by the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee (IAGOC), citing that the Asian Games is not a FIBA tournament and it was announced last month that Star Ball will be the official ball of the games.

Castro asked the organizers if they can provide the balls beforehand so that the players can have time to familiarize themselves when they start practicing here on Sunday.

IAGOC readily agreed.

“We’ll have a couple of days to adjust to this new ball. But the players and the coaches in Manila know about this already so we just have to prepare,” said Castro, who will buy some to bring it home Friday night to give the team.

Another issue that was discussed was the release of the game video tapes as the organizers said it will take around two days before it could be turned over, raising questions if the host team will be given their copies ahead of the other teams.

Castro, though, assured that they will take care of the issue and let the players focus on the task at hand, which is to end the 52-year gold medal drought in the Asian Games.