INQUIRER Sports

IN ALL MY PAST COLUMNS, I ALWAYS SAID that participating in international basketball tournaments like the Olympics and the World Basketball Championship is only a waste of money, time and effort, however well-intentioned.

Basketball?being a tall?s man game?is not the game for genetically short Filipinos.

?Filipinos have to find other good sports because it?s hard for them to excel in basketball due to height limitations,? said NBA legend Vlade Divac in a recent interview with sportswriter Marivic Awitan.

And so to hear it from the 7-foot-1 Divac, the country?s misguided basketball officials should shift their priorities by supporting other sports like billiards, bowling, badminton, boxing and chess where height is not a factor.

A two-time Olympian (1988 Seoul and 1996 Atlanta), Divac helped Yugoslavia (now Serbia) bag the Olympic silver medal won by Russia and the US quintets, respectively.

Divac is now president of the Serbian Olympic Committee (SOC), a post he assumed when he retired from the NBA in 2007.

Before his retirement, Divac played for many-time NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings.

He was here as a member of the NBA Generations team which routed the PBA Legends, 109-86, Friday night at the Big Dome in Cubao.

As SOC president, Divac also met with his Philippine counterpart, former Rep. Jose ?Peping? Cojuangco and exchanged views on sports development.

Said Divac: ?It takes at least five years for a sports program to develop in one country. One should focus on other sports to prioritize, aside from basketball, which is very popular here.?

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There is no question that the Philippines will dominate the billiards competitions of the 25th Southeast Asian Games in Laos in December.

Why did I say that?

It?s because the country has assembled the best and strongest ever billiards team for any one particular international tournament in recent memory.

World Cup of Pool champions Efren ?Bata? Reyes and Francisco ?Django? Bustamante, who also won the inaugural tournament in 2006, will spearhead a formidable lineup that also includes one reigning and two former world champions.

They are Ronnie Alcano (2006 World 9-Ball Championship and 2007 World 8-Ball tournament), Alex Pagulayan (2004 World 9-Ball Championship) and Rubilen Amit, the first-ever winner of the World Women 10-Ball Championship.

Formed by the Billiards and Snooker Congress of the Philippines, the star-studded team also includes last year?s world No. 1 Dennis Orcollo, 2008 World 9-Ball Championship finalist Roberto Gomez, SEA Games veteran Benjie Guevarra Jr., 2002 Busan Asian Games silver medalist Warren Kiamco, 1998 Bangkok Asiad gold medalist Gandy Valle (who teamed up with Romeo Villanueva in 9-ball doubles); and Ramil Gallego, who will make his Games debut.

Providing the capable support cast to Amit in the female side are Mary Ann Basas and Irish Rañola, both veteran international campaigners.

The most successful athlete in Philippine billiards history, Reyes won the 1999 World 9-Ball Championship in Cardiff and the US Open in Virginia in 1994.

The 55-year-old from Angeles City is an International Billiards Hall of Famer.

What makes Efren so good?

Longtime Reyes manager Rollie Vicente said: ?Efren has limitless patience, a pleasant personality, strong personal discipline and God-given talent.?

Reyes and Bustamante are set to leave to campaign in the rich US circuit, including the US Open which starts on Oct. 18.