We need Blatche to win basketball gold in Korea Asiad

By Al S. Mendoza

 

THE Spain Fiba World Cup is on.

We got there without encountering even a minor glitch.

We placed second behind Iran in the Fiba Asia Cup last year, earning us a ticket to the Olympics of basketball.

The Top 24 basketball powers in the world are in Spain and we are bracketed with Croatia, Greece, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Senegal.

As I was writing this, we were hours away from the Philippine-Croatia match.

Only a miracle could make us defeat Croatia, a powerhouse squad from Europe whose players are so tall they make us seem like dwarves.

The top four teams will advance and, again, only a miracle could send us to the next round.

It’d be more than good enough if we beat one of the five countries in our bracket, a miracle (again) if we beat two.

The most likely countries that we could beat?  Puerto Rico and Senegal.

It is always a given that in world basketball, we are underdogs simply because we do not have the ceiling.

But why do we still need to play in the Fiba Worlds if we have no chance of winning?

Well, for one, we got to Spain after we beat South Korea last year in the Fiba Asia Cup.

That is a distinct honor, recalling 1978 as the last time we got to the Fiba Worlds.

For another, friendship among nations is what drives a country to be in world sporting competitions.

Look at the recent Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

Although the Philippines and China had been entangled in diplomatic tussles over some disputed Philippine West Sea islands, our very own Gabriel Moreno teamed up with China’s Lia Jiaman and the duo went on to win the gold in the mixed archery event.

That was a spectacular finish and one feat that should spur leaders from both countries to quickly retreat into the boardroom and discuss ways to end the impasse on the Spratleys/Kalayaan Islands issue.

If athletes from quarrelling countries could team up beautifully as evidenced by that gold medal-winning performance by Moreno and Li, both only 16 years old, why can’t their elders get their act together to resolve their territorial disputes?

And now this:  Seemingly, why is South Korea suddenly questioning the eligibility of naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche, who is due to play for Gilas Pilipinas in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, beginning Sept. 14?

Is it out of spite because we ousted Korea from the Spain Fiba Worlds so that they want Blatche, 6-foot-11, disqualified to cripple our slot rotation?

We are actually using Spain to sharpen our tools for the gold in the Asian Games in Korea.

If Korean officials get to kick Blatche out of Gilas, then it’s goodbye basketball gold in Incheon.  Sigh!

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