No excuses

May 30, 2010 | Posted by Benjie

The disappointing seventh place finish of the RP-Smart Gilas in the just concluded FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Doha, Qatar has been the subject of criticisms among the Filipino basketball fans. Others have already concluded as early as now that this program of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) towards regaining Asia’s basketball supremacy is nothing but a dream. There are some, however, reason out that because of injuries of key players and the unfamiliarity of new recruits combined for the dismal performance. Whatever it is, the fact is that RP-Smart Gilas finished seventh in the 10-team tournament . No ifs, no buts.

Prior to the start of the competition, scores of Filipino basketball enthusiasts were looking forward to a semi-final appearance and settle for at least the fourth place. Such was a realistic expectation. However, as the tournament progressed, that semi-final dream had been slowly slipping through the Gilas’ hands. Injuries to JV Casio, JR Cawaling and Marcio Lassiter were already a concern for the coaching staff right before the opening tiff. Furthermore, the recent addition of Chris Lutz and import Milan Vucicevic was feared to disrupt the fluidity of the offensive patterns. In other words, the potential problems were already assessed beforehand. But how come the coaching staff were not able to find solutions to these issues?

I understand that the recently concluded Champions’ Cup is part of the learning process to achieve the teams’ ultimate goals of grabbing a medal in the Asian Games and an Olympic berth in next year’s continental qualifiers. However, injuries and unfamiliarity should not be made as scapegoats because these may happen in the actual competitions. No matter what were the reasons for the debacle in the Doha joust, RP-Smart Gilas finished seventh, no excuses!