NEVER again.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) leadership is obviously not pleased with the way the country’s campaign in the recent 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan went.
And the federation underscored that there should never ever a repeat of such disaster, with no less than SBP chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan directing the marching order.
“We performed miserably in the last Asian Games. That should not happen. We should have not allowed that to happen,” said Pangilinan during the SBP National Congress on Tuesday when the association marked its 20th anniversary.
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“(We) should have helped Tim Cone organize a better team for us to maintain our supremacy in Asia. At least in this particular part of the world, we should be among the top.”
Gilas Pilipinas went home humbled from the Aichi Prefecture after failing to defend the gold medal it won in the 2022 Hangzhou Asiad when the country ended its long, 61-year title drought.
Worse, the national team didn’t even make the knockout stage and placed ninth out of 12 countries – the worse ever finish by the Philippines in Asiad basketball.
It also marked the first time a pro-laden national squad failed to make the quarterfinals since the PBA began sending its players to international competitions in 1990.
Pangilinan rued the country failed to take advantage of the relaxed rules of the Asiad on naturalized players and Fil-foreign entries.
Gilas played with an all-local unit in Nagoya as Justin Brownlee and Ange Kouame were both unavailable to suit up.
“It’s not bound by FIBA rules, so anything goes,” said Pangilinan of the quadrennial continental showcase. “So we should do our best to send what’s available for the Philippines.”
“So this year as SBP marks its 20th anniversary, which is of course a good reason to celebrate, we should all be looking backward, but we should also look forward to the future.”
The next Asiad won’t take place until 2030 or 2031 in Doha, Qatar, with the Olympic Council of Asia still in discussion of holding the meet at every odd numbers.
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