THE coach of Serbia belittled our Gilas Pilipinas and look what happened to him in the Fiba World Cup in China.
He mis-coached his championship caliber boys and Serbia, the proud second-placer in the last Fiba Worlds in 2014 in Spain, got itself bundled out in the medal tally.
Now, if the Serbian coach is declared persona non grata in his own country, suits him fine.
Karma they call it.
You don’t badmouth your foes just because you beat them big time. That’s like continuing to deliver kicks and blows to an already fallen, helpless, enemy. Barbaric. Disrespect for human dignity.
It’s like you cite in derision a mote in your brother’s eye when you yourself have a pair of specks both messing up your eyes.
You scuttle, when you yourself is not scuttle proof.
You condemn and you get condemned in return.
Yeng Guiao apologized for his Gilas boys’ winding up almost at rock-bottom—was it really dead last?—in China.
Fine, fine, as his action spoke volumes of statesmanship. It could only mean that, yes, coaches must know when to own up a debacle.
But did he really bungle his coaching job?
I guess not. This is not to defend Guiao but wasn’t it plain and simple that we went there bearing the scantiest of hopes to even survive the eliminations in our four-team bracket?
This is the Worlds, where only the best could qualify for a shot at the crown that, alas, practically excludes Asians from even coming close to contending for the trophy—any metal for that matter.
OK, we didn’t perform well, our lack of cohesion due to lack of preparation triggering numerous turnovers and improper offensive executions.
But then, even if we were 1,000 percent ready, still, we would be beaten black and blue as our perennial problem of height shortage will pull us down in the end.
In short, we don’t really belong in the Worlds. We are simply there in fulfillment to our code of brotherhood among nations through sports—to repeat a tired, old line.
So, to Yeng Guiao, no apologies, please?
It’s the Serbian coach who owes us an apology. That bastard.