Mission accomplished by cagers

MANILA, Philippines — The dream was to bring home a medal but the realistic goal was just to improve on the Philippine national basketball team’s seventh place finish in the previous Asian Games four years ago. In the Jakarta edition, coach Yeng Guiao, his staff and the hastily-formed squad that worked double time in limited practice achieved the objective of a higher wind-up as the cagers barely missed the Final Four, bowing out on a lofty note with back-to-back blowout wins.

The speculation was the Philippines could’ve bagged at least a bronze if only the team had more practice time and enlisted one more big man of stature, like JuneMar Fajardo or Greg Slaughter or naturalized player Andray Blatche. It was evident in this year’s Asian Games that Guiao’s Band of Brothers got better every game, an indication that pushing back practice at least a week would’ve made a big difference. Despite the handicaps, the Philippines nearly toppled two giants of Asia, coming a three-point shot shy of beating China and blowing two eight-point leads to yield to South Korea.

Blatche, suspended for three games in FIBA-sanctioned competitions for his involvement in the infamous brawl with Australia last July, could’ve suited up because the Asian Games are supervised by the Olympic Council of Asia and do not recognize sanctions by international federations. But the SBP opted to sit down Blatche and the other suspended players as a sign of solidarity with FIBA. The Asian Games’ eligibility rules are different from FIBA’s as foreign-born “heritage” citizens are allowed to participate as locals.

Guiao left for Jakarta with only one thing in mind – to finish higher than seventh, the Philippines lowest placing in basketball ever since the Asian Games were started in 1951. Returning home without a medal was a damper but ending up fifth was a consolation prize. The finish tied the Philippines’ showing in 1970 and 1978 and was the highest since the team came in fourth in 2002. The Philippines was sixth in 2010 and seventh in 2014 so fifth place wasn’t too bad. “It’s not the result we wanted but fifth place is the best we’ve had in 16 years,” said SBP president Al Panlilio.

“I truly believe we were just a few days short in preparation and one big man short from medaling,” said Guiao. “But I have no regrets. It’s a great blessing and experience.” Jordan Clarkson, who received a last-minute approval from the NBA to play in the Asian Games, said he can’t wait to put on the Philippine jersey again and promised a medal “next time.” However, Clarkson will not play for the Philippines in the last three windows of the FIBA Asia/Pacific World Cup Qualifiers because of his commitments with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The next NBA season starts Oct. 16 and training camp will open earlier than usual.

Guiao will call the shots for the Philippines in the coming fourth window against Iran in Tehran on Sept. 13 and against Qatar in a closed-door game in Manila on Sept. 17. He has submitted a wish list of 14 players to the PBA for both games with eight holdovers from the Asian Games lineup.

Assistant coach and chief scout Ryan Gregorio said if only Clarkson arrived a week earlier, the outcome would’ve been different. “JC’s a great basketball player and a genuine Filipino,” said Gregorio. “He’s so grounded. If he came in a week earlier, it would have been a different story for us. We played at a very high level in our last two games. Pang finals sana. JC had a blast, shook hands and thanked every member of the team after our last game. We hope he gets to play again.”