THERE is now this latest—sanest, too?—school of thought wherein it is best to form a developmental team in basketball for dispatch to future international tournaments like the Asian Games, World Cups and, yes, even the Olympics.
Initially as the idea itself suggests, the squad will definitely have players young enough to be your schoolboy heartthrobs and are, therefore, endowed with supple muscles perfect to structure practically into lifelong use.
Already, collegiate stars are being eyed to form the pool of candidates for the national squad in pursuit of this scheme. They are aplenty, mind you.
I could rattle right off the promising kids from the UAAP, including Sotto (high school), Malonzo, Rivero, Abando, Paras, Gomez de Liano, Ildefonso, Go, Baltazar, Ravena, and even the spitfire, Fil-Peruvian Val Chauca of Adamson.
As always, the UAAP is an eternal mine of mammoth talents, not to mention the NCAA, too.
Aren’t CJ Perez of Lyceum and Robert Bolick of San Beda the proud NCAA products that both shone for hard-luck Gilas in the just-ended Fiba World Cup in China won by Spain over Argentina?
But while the scheme seems certain to reap rewards, long term wise, what about the task at hand that is just around the corner: the Southeast Asian Games basketball competition in November-December in Manila?
Aren’t we duty-bound, almost, to win the cage crown, if only to lessen the hurt of our terribly shameful last-place finish in the 32-team field in the recent China Worlds?
And to ensure a SEAG victory, isn’t it imperative to require the mandatory services of our tested gladiators from the PBA, in the process putting on hold the deployment of our young hopefuls—if only temporarily?
Already, there are reliable reports that our Asean neighbors have naturalized American giants in their lineups. We can’t afford to be overconfident. Not in this time of peril.
But we could compromise: How about inserting three, even four, youngsters to the next Gilas squad for the SEAG campaign?
I think that’s fair enough. Safe, too.