Taking a hit

FOSHAN, China—The game started out close, with Italy and Angola tied at eight early in the first half. The Italians scored 10 straight points, continued pulling away for a 92-61 victory on Monday here and gave PBA commissioner Willie Marcial reason to feel a tad uneasy.

“We know that we will take a hit,” Marcial told the Inquirer, in reference to the history of the PBA taking a dip in earnings and attendance each time a national team built from its stable of stars performs poorly in the international scene.

The Italians’ second straight comfortable victory—courtesy of Marco Belinelli’s 17 points and the 11-point, 11-rebound performance of Jeff Brooks—virtually knocked Gilas Pilipinas out of contention for a second round slot.

The Filipinos’ only shot at surviving the group stage is a crushing upset of world No. 4 Serbia, which the country was playing at press time.

Without that, Marcial knows what to expect.

The PBA has been a part of Philippine international basketball history for close to three decades now by lending its players every time the country needs to be represented by its best in big events.

Sadly, history hasn’t been kind to the PBA after those national teams fare badly.

But Marcial is hoping that things don’t follow the same trend this time and is looking at the Governors’ Cup that opens on Sept. 20 to snap that trend.

“[W]e just hope that our fans continue to stick it out,” he said. “We did this (support of the national team) for the country and for all our basketball fans, basically.”

In the advent of open basketball in 1990, the PBA has been supporting the National Five, first during the Asian Games when Robert Jaworski assembled an all-star crew that finished second to China in Beijing.

There were several other equally ballyhooed crews that followed, counting Tim Cone’s Centennial Team that also failed in 1998.

After those tournaments, the PBA saw dips in attendance and even television ratings, as fans somehow shied away from the games.

“The PBA games remain the same—fast-paced, high-scoring—much to the liking of our fans,” Marcial said. “I’m sure we can still treat our fans to the best brand of basketball they deserve to see.”

There is also an intriguing narrative that may just provide enough hype to drive fans to the season-ending tournament. San Miguel Beer is chasing an elusive Grand Slam and all the other teams in the league have put the Beermen in their crosshairs in an attempt to foil a season sweep.

Can that rescue the PBA from its traditional spiral every time the Nationals falter abroad? The jury will be out in the coming days.

Or, Gilas Pilipinas could salvage some positives with a win over Angola on Wednesday.

Not losing sleep
Meanwhile, Kiefer Ravena is trying to not let some apparent witch-hunting bother him, but admits losing sleep over how Gilas Pilipinas was waylaid by Italy last Saturday night.

“Most of us are really disappointed in ourselves, we hardly had any sleep,” Ravena told a handful of scribes after practice late Sunday evening. “If you play like that, who can (sleep)? If those who did not play (fans) couldn’t sleep, what more for us?”

The Filipinos lost their World Cup opener by 46 points to the talented, hulking Italians and almost everyone—counting naturalized center Andray Blatche—are owning up for playing with very little heart and letting the country down.

Ravena believes that it was a wake-up call of sorts. And that it was the worst that they could possibly play.

“As you know, we played so badly against Italy,” he said. “So I don’t think we can go lower than that.”

Ravena is speaking with a lot of positivism ever since coming here. This, despite being tested for drugs for a second straight time Sunday.

“Like I said, I don’t take it personally,” he said. “It’s part of the tournament, I guess. (Although) I was a little surprised, my name being there (selected at random) again.”