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An hour
of reckoning loomed over San Miguel-Pilipinas even as it
celebrated with quiet restraint its moment of triumph in
the seventh Southeast Asian Basketball (Seaba) Men’s
Championship in Ratchaburi, a rustic town 100 km west of
the capital.
There
was no frenzied outburst at the final buzzer. No player
pileup. No victory ride. No tears falling, nor big hugs
all around.
Instead
there was a slow procession from the locker room back to
the playing court for the awarding ceremony, a somber
dinner at the hotel restaurant, and national coach Chot
Reyes talking about three players—Willie Miller of
Alaska, Kelly Williams of Sta. Lucia Realty and Gave
Norwood, a Fil-Am who played for George Mason U.
A date
was also set: May 31.
Unless
conflicting schedules force its postponement, five men—PBA
chairman Ricky Vargas, commissioner Noli Eala, Samahang
Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) executive director Patrick
Gregorio, RP team manager Robert Non and Reyes—would
gather on Thursday to make an evaluation on the final
composition of the national team going to Tokushima,
Japan, for the Fiba-Asia Men’s Championship from July 28
to August 5.
This
much is known: A new training pool would be formed where
Miller and Williams, if their ball clubs allow them, and
Norwood,
if he is found, would be added.
Two new
assistant coaches would be appointed to the team and the
names of Joel Banal, Jong Uichico, Binky Favis and
Alfrancis Chua were mentioned.
A doctor
would be assigned to the national team, and possibly a
nutritionist.
Last,
proposed foreign trips to
Belgrade
and Qatar, preparatory to Tokushima, the qualifier to
the Beijing Olympics next year, might be scrapped in
favor of the nine-games-in-nine days William Jones Cup
in Taiwan, where China, Korea, Chinese-Taipei and Japan
will be playing.
“I think
that would be a more attractive tournament,” said Eala,
who minced no words on the imperativeness of change
within the team which ran roughshod over the Seaba
competition by an average margin of 38.5 points.
“Although winning restores our confidence after Tehran,
this is not the time to celebrate or be complacent,” he
said. “There’s still much room for improvement,
especially in the scouting of opponents, the
strengthening and conditioning of the players, and the
composition of the coaching staff.”
Eala
said they will “regroup” in
Manila “to plot what’s best” for the team.
“While I
don’t want to second-guess coach Chot, the training
program, I feel, needs to be more focused on areas of
weaknesses, which I don’t think would be addressed by
the planned trips to
Belgrade
and Qatar,” he said. “A balance has to be struck.”
Gregorio, appointed to the SBP post only weeks ago, said
two major concerns needed to be analyzed—the
significance of the foreign trips and the conditioning
and focus of the team.
“While
winning the Seaba is a wonderful gift, the best is yet
to come,” he said.
Non went
to specifics in identifying points of attention: mental
preparedness, conditioning and total team effort.
“There
should be no superstar in this team,” he said.
“Everybody should accept the role assigned to him.”
Among
those painfully exposed during the weeklong battle with
overmatched opponents from Singapore, Indonesia,
Malaysia and Thailand were the all-pro team’s slow
starts, difficulty defending quick-moving offenses,
generally unremarkable outside shooting (except for
Renren Ritualo’s nine-of-12 three-pointers against
Malaysia), and ball-movement woes.
“We’re
not necessarily saying that players had to be changed,”
Eala stressed. “But if there’s a need to augment the
lineup, especially if we have players not performing as
expected, then this should be considered.”
The
SMC-RP squad flew back home Tuesday, with the
uncertainty of the near future hovering over it and the
promise of an Olympic experience a bit farther in
realization. |
