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Winning is never a one-way street

Al Mendoza

By Al S. Mendoza

ONE step backward, two steps forward.

That’s the saying that could mean, “Rest for now, and be stronger later.”

Or, “Prudence is the better part of valor.”

Or, “Do not rage against the dying light, for tomorrow will surely come.”

We just used that saying in Taiwan.

Absolutely, we gained advantage tenfold.

By not playing to win the Jones Cup, we placed near the cellar with a 2-6, win-loss record.

Embarrassing?

Not at all.

Because this time, finishing first was never the intention from the start.

This time, by just being in the Jones Cup wasvictory by itself.

Winning has never been a one-way street. Winning also has many faces.

The lowly finish made us winners in many different ways.

We were clobbered in Taiwan, yes, but behind those black eyes are hidden the main objective: testing the true strength of the team.

In Taiwan, we were like a brand-new car.

Because it was untested, we needed to break it in.

OK, we go further: We had no team going to Taiwan.

What we had was a delegation that would be trimmed down to the final composition of a squad bound for a mission.

So, midway into the Jones Cup, two players had been dropped to form the Final 12.

These gallant dozen would next do battle in the Fiba-Asia Championship in Tianjin, China.

Set to begin on Aug. 6, the tournament will select the three countries to represent Asia in the Fiba-World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey, next year.

Initially, the RP Team’s chances to collar one of the three World Tournament slots appear bright.

That’s because our group mates in Tianjin  are Sri Lanka, Japan and Korea.  By world standards, these foes are lightweights.

Thus, it is very likely that we will advance to the Tianjin quarterfinals with relative ease.

It is, however, in the quarters that we could be facing heavyweight rivals in Iran, Lebanon and Jordan-not to mention China.

That was the main reason why we were in the Jones Cup: Scout our main opponents in Tianjin.

By scouting, we could draft a check-list on both the opposition’s weaknesses and strengths.

“I have to admit our future foes are strong, said RP Team coach Yeng Guiao. “But I’m proud of my boys because they were able to test them well-banging bodies and studying the moves of Iran, Lebanon and Jordan in Taiwan.”

So, notice that we also went to Taiwan to prepare.

And in the thick of this preparation, we were ready to lose.

This was one time when losing smelled sweet.

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