MANILA, 23 May 2003 — The Philippine Basketball League (PBL) is intensifying its commitment for flag as it offered the resources and players of the league to handle the preparation of the national team to this year’s Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam.
PBL Commissioner Chino Trinidad also expressed support to one of the Basketball Association of the Philippine’s (BAP’s) international endeavors — the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Men’s Championship in September.
Trinidad put forward his league’s offer after a consensus was reached among top basketball officials on the need for a real program to bolster the country’s chances in international competitions.
One of those who suggested to create a program was Jose Lipa who said what the country needs is a long-term program to fully prepare for prestigious international meets.
“Whenever the country’s pride is ar stake, we should throw our all-out support for the national team. Even this early, I will be committing the resources and talents of the PBL in preparing a team for the SEA Games,” said Trinidad.
“We have proven that we are always ready to serve the country if duty calls. When we were asked to create a standby team for the 2001 ABC Champions’ Cup in the midst of the basketball crisis, we readily formed a team in less than 24 hours with Baculi and Austria leading the coaching staff,” he added.
BAP vice-president Christian Tan thanked Trinidad for the offer, saying he’ll be sorting out things at the BAP first and see how the outpour of support will fit into the formation and preparation for the SEA Games national squad.
Earlier, Trinidad and officials of the BAP welcomed the plan to put together a comprehensive program geared toward the formation of a national team for future campaigns overseas. Trinidad said it’s high time the basketball community comes up with a concrete plan to address this problem.
“I think the PBA has tried everything as far as the Asian Games is concerned. It has tried doing it wit a short-term plan and it has tried doing it for one year,” said Trinidad. “And I think the results only show that there’s no substitute to a long-range plan for the national team.”
BAP Secretary-General Graham Lim, for his part, is hardly fazed by the possibility that there would be no all-pro team to lean on when the country competes in the 2006 Asiad in Doha, Qatar.
In fact, Lim said the national team may find no need for the pros once an effective and functioning program for the national team is put in place.
“We welcome the help offered by PBA commissioner Noli Eala,” Lim said. “We need all the help we can get.”
Eala had said the pro league is to incline to form a team of professional players for the 2006 Asiad, calling instead for the creation of a pool of college and amateur players that would be kept intact for a long time and prepared to take over that commitment.
While the pro league wouldn’t completely turn its back on the national team, Eala said any support the PBA would throw from hereon would most likely not go as far as forming, training and sending an all-pro team just like it did in the last four editions of the Asiad.
Trinidad said the PBL will throw its wholehearted support if and when a project of this nature gets off the ground.
“The PBL will always be there to support the national team in whatever way we can,” he said.
Interestingly, with its newfound success, the PBL plans to go regional, a concept that had gone into the doldrums after the demise of the Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA).
It could be recalled that the MBA, before it disbanded, and the PBL last year floated the possibility of forming a grand alliance that would give birth to a super amateur league.
Both leagues had already held preliminary discussions with the parties concerned regarding the dream merger of having a unified amateur league. Unfortunately, the MBA closed shops.
“We (PBL) cannot duplicate what the MBA did. First and foremost, it’s too expensive. A regional concept would be ideal at this time and we’re carefully studying such a format,” said Trinidad. “There are so many talents available, and the success of our out-of-games gives us more reasons to really go and expand further especially to the provinces,” he added.
Trinidad said the concept would not only boost the amateur league’s fans base but also assure young talents from all over the country the opportunity to play.
“Our concept is not only to provide entertainment but also to help in grassroots development,” said Trinidad.
PBL chairman Dioceldo Sy said the regional concept was a welcome development for the league, which has evolved as a major playmaker in the country’s basketball scene. “I see little problem in going regional. This goes to show that the PBL is a success,” said Sy.
