A foreign coach is key to continued Phillipines basketball success

The Philippines confirmed themselves as the dominant force at the conclusion of the South East Asian basketball games in Ratchasima, Thailand.

They beat Indonesia 75 - 49, Cambodia 136-82, Thailand 94-53 and Malaysia 108-60. Although the numbers speak volumes, the actual games reflect how wide the disparity is among its member countries.

It's pretty much the same in football, where the Philippines don't have much to beat, and basketball ranks alongside football in popularity. Basically, the Philippines don't have much opposition when it comes to popular sports and consequently their own goals in basketball are somewhat limited.

The only thing we could do to eliminate this vague belief is to have a coach who has the nerve to choose or to cut players for the national team for future tournament. And the best way to do this, and go forward, is to appoint a foreign coach who would be prepared to select tall, young and hardworking players and not be sympathetic to any team to which he might belong. The players need not necessarily be pure Filipinos.

Basically, we need a fresh start, better training and exposure. If we had a coach with commitment and players of the same quality the fans would definitely enjoy watching, not the coach but the players.

Side-court buffoonery does not always work. Remember the last FIBA Qualifying tournament? We lost against Iran because of one mad moment when a technical foul on the national team’s coach changed the outcome of the game. Iran eventually won the tournament and qualified for the Beijing Olympics next year.