He said “it’s our duty to apologize” so tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan belatedly cried sorry for the Gilas Pilipinas team’s shameful performance in the 2019 Fiba Basketball World Cup in China.
The apology, by the way, came after a vibrant and upbeat Mr. Pangilinan had offered a festive welcome to everyone for the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup.
Welcome to the 2023 Manila World Basketbol Fiesta.
Nothing wrong with coming up with a late apology.
What’s truly bothersome is the manner they have tried and offered hasty solutions to the dismal fall of the Gilas team in China.
Among the first moves being considered was to go the European way.
Nothing solid or firm on this sketchy plan.
But it would help the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) to make a painstaking evaluation and critical study before attempting a first wild shot.
There’s the fearful likelihood the move to go the European way in international tournaments could backfire and produce disastrous or comic results.
The proposed shift can never be as simple as changing outfit, like pulling out the overcoat in place of a simple jacket to be fully alert and alive in winter weather.
Pardon, but what the Philippines needs after the China debacle is not a thicker wear.
Philippine basketball could first consider saving for a life jacket, since it barely survived total drowning after it finished at the very bottom in the last basketball World Cup.
It would also help to listen and study sage advice, like what tested experts openly declare that adopting Euro basketball can never be as simple as trying a new international menu.
Euro basketball, for one, has been firmed up with blood and sweat. It was perfected through decades of setbacks, jarring tests and trials, en route to building and acquiring unshakeable defensive tools and quiet solid ways of winning.
Defense anchored on warrior firmness is the battle cry: and please forget about whimsy displays on the floor.
Euro basketball, in short is totally different culture and philosophy.
It is also exacting and complex.
With the flighty approach, akin to instantly acquiring elite alien apparel, the Philippines is bound to end up going the way of the clown in a European mask for its next international assignment.
This latest proposal to change national basketball culture is definitely desperate, to say the least.
It can, at best be called: Kneejerk.