WHILE Team USA’s ouster from the FIBA World Cup 2019 shocked plenty of basketball fans, a handful of local basketball coaches were hardly surprised at the result.
Team USA crumbled in the endgame and lost to France in the quarterfinals, 89-79. Not only did the loss place the Americans out of medal contention, it also ended their incredible 58-game winning streak.
And while there is no denying that the rest of the world is catching up with the USA in terms of basketball, the fact of the matter is that because of the staggering number of defections and withdrawals from the national team roster, the USA simply didn’t have enough talent.
“It’s simple really. They did not have the best players,” said Jabby Bautista, a former guard of the University of San Carlos who is now a coach and the founder of the Metro Cebu Basketball League. “The other countries sent their best players to represent their countries.”
Former pro Joel Co pinpointed the similarities between the USA and the Philippines’ own Gilas Pilipinas when it comes to the lack of preparation time.
“They have less time to prepare and from the get-go when I saw the final lineup, I really thought that the team would struggle for two reasons. Mainly because the players do not have the experience to play internationally. Joe Harris did not even know that ‘duty foul’ is an automatic unsportsmanlike foul in international games,” said Co.
“Most of them may have found themselves in an unfamiliar situation where they are struggling with their game because they are used to be able to have freedom to do whatever they want to do most of the time with their NBA teams,” added Co.
Southwestern University-Phinma Baby Cobras head coach Jerry Abuyabor also shared that the European brand of basketball is a lot more suitable in Fiba play compared to NBA basketball.
“Given the new generation, I think the style of Euro basketball is more favored in Fiba rules. A lot of NBA players were adjusting,” said Abuyabor. “And with injuries hitting team USA, it was a lot easier for France to dismantle Team USA.”
Another alumnus of the University of San Carlos, Paul Joven, said that team USA having a bull’s-eye on its back must have put a lot of pressure on this batch of players.
“The hardest part of being on top is maintaining it. Every team has its eye on you,” said the man who is arguably known as one of the greatest point guards in USC history.