“It’s not the triumph, but the try”

By Jesus A. Garcia, Jr.

 

THE 2020 PBA Philippine Cup has been the talk of the nation during this COVID-19 pandemic era. It ended last December 9 with the top seeded and the most well-liked squad in the league, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel. It thumped co-finalist Talk and Text five, 82-78, in their best-of-seven championship series, 4-1. Talk and Text fans’ prime alibi was the absence of their reliable players super forward Ray Parks, Jr. and fiery guard Jason Castro due to injuries. Well, in my observation, that could be a valid alibi but I saw that despite their handicap, the Talk and Text five still tried their best to upset their opponent, but their best was not enough. “It’s not the triumph, but the try,” a maxim by French poet Pierre de Coubertin, and I agree because it also happened to me during my cycling days.

Besides the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games which was officially rescheduled to August 2021 due to the coronavirus still hurting the universe, the talk of the world today in basketball is the 2023 FIBA World Cup which will be hosted by three countries in Asia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan, scheduled on August 25 to September 10.

This is FIBA’s first time to be hosted by multiple states and first time to happen in Indonesia but second time for the Philippines and Japan, 1978 and 2006, respectively. Of course, the games will be divided between the three hosting nations with the Philippines, as expected, playing the primary role owing to the popularity of this James Naismith-invented sport here. The latest report says there will be four venues in Metro Manila: the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the Philippine Sports Arena in Pasig City, the Mall of Asia in Pasay City and the Philippine Arena, country’s largest located in Bocaue, Bulacan which could accommodate 55,000 spectators. Okinawa (Japan) and Jakarta (Indonesia) will be the venues for the preliminary, quarterfinals and semifinal rounds. The Philippine Arena, as of this writing, is being pushed to host the World Cup Final and hopefully it will be approved by the FIBA officials.

Thirty-two teams that passed the elimination rounds in their respective continents will be split into eight groups to play each other, and the top two in each group will advance to the second. The sixteen qualifiers will be divided further in four groups and clash with each other and the top two of each group will enter the quarterfinals, then the top two each group enter the semifinals and the best two of the four collide for the championship.

Spain clobbered Argentina in the 2019 FIBA World Cup held in China. And France, the top favorite in this quadrennial meet in 2023 besides Argentina, placed third and Australia finished fourth. The U.S. did not enter the semifinals when it lost to France 89-79 and to Serbia, 94-89.

The Philippines did not enter the second round due to its winless effort in five games. Our quintet lost in its initial game against Italy, 108-62; against Serbia, 126-67; against Angola, 84-81; against Tunisia, 86-67; and against our Asian counterpart Iran, 95-75. Yes, it was really a humiliating five defeats considering that basketball is our number one sport.

No question that we are improving beefed up by some Fil-Am players, but same is happening to other countries. Yes, big possibility that we may be humiliated again in 2023. So, let me echo Coubertin’s essay, “It’s not the triumph, but the try.”

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: ‘You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord. LEVITICUS 19: 28

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