Who’s a fan of basketball here? I know most of Filipinos are basketball fanatics, especially the men. Basketball is played almost everywhere in our country, it is the most popular sports in Philippines. The World of basketball, world of tall guys, athletic man that can fly 20-45 inches above the ground, world of quick and versatile athletes, also world of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, the world of Americans, Spaniards, Chinese, Turkish, Argentineans, Greeks, Serbians, and once upon a time world of Filipinos.
Do you know that...Two basketball players from our country already played in National Basketball Association or NBA? Yes, the first Fil-Am who joined the well-known association was Raymond Anthony Townsend, a 6′3″, 175-lb point guard, drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 1978 NBA draft. The second one was Ricardo Brown, drafted by the Houston Rockets in 1979 NBA draft.
Once upon a time, Philippines dominated the world of basketball. The history tells us that, before, Philippines is the powerhouse basketball team in Asia. But now, we’re one of the mediocre countries when it comes to basketball. We’re far far behind with the elite countries in basketball.
The golden era of Philippine Basketball is through 1910’s to 1970’s were Philippines won a total of 8 gold medals and 1 silver medal in Far Eastern Games (through 1913-1934), far eastern games is the precursor of the Asian Games and played every 2 years, it is played only 9 times after that it is broken. In Asian Games we won a total of 4 gold medals (through 1951-1962), Asian Games is the modern version of Far Eastern Games and played every 4 years. In FIBA Asia, Philippines won a total of 4 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and 1 bronze medal (through 1960 – 1971), FIBA Asia is the highest governing body of basketball in Asia. It is played every 2 years. In 1954, Philippines finish 3rd place at FIBA World Championships, and it was the second best finished by an Asian country after Turkey finished 2nd place in this year’s competition. FIBA is the highest governing body of basketball in the world. In this time span, Philippines played consistently in the Olympics, they finished 5th in the 1936 Olympics and it is the best finish by any Asian country in the Olympics.
Carlos Loyzaga is considered the best Filipino Basketball player of all time; he led the Philippine National Team to multiple championships. He played basketball from 1951 to 1964. At 6’3”, playing center position he quickly ruled the game, because of his shooting and rebounding skills. His retirement take a hit on the Philippine National team. The Philippines’ dominance declined but continued play competitively in the Asian games and world championships, but in Olympic Games, they played poorly and unable to reach the top 10. In April 1975, ten MICAA commercial ball clubs broke up with the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) and formed Asia’s first professional basketball league, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is the first and the oldest professional basketball league in Asia and second world’s oldest next to NBA. The league's rules are a hybrid of FIBA's and the NBA's rules. The league’s first champion was the Toyota Comets. The crispa radmanizers were the first one to won the PBA grand slam, winning three consecutive conferences.
In 1938 The Philippine Amateur Basketball League (PABL) was formed as an amateur basketball league for collegiate players and was sponsored by large companies in the Philippines. The PABL would later be renamed into the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) as it grew into a commercial, semi-professional league.
In 1998 The Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), Philippines’ second professional basketball league, was formed and effectively regionalized the basketball professionalism throughout the country. The league’s first championship was won by the Pampanga Dragons.
If we could just realize that as time goes by, we’re getting worse, while other countries are improving and evolving. We once dominated and now, we are so weak. My opinions why we end up like this is that, first, like I said earlier, Carlos Loyzaga’s retirement had a big impact to us, second the difference in height takes its toll, the average height of an adult Filipino is 5’4 1/2“for men and 4’11 ½” for women, third nowadays basketball players here in our country lack athleticism, fourth these days, Fil-Am players take almost ½ of the population of Professional Filipino Basketball players. Because of this, the chances for a pure Filipino to develop his skills are decreasing. And lastly, according to my opinion, our national players need more support from the government, their training facilities and training quality must improve, and good staffs and coaching can lead to improvement.
If in the past our players made it to the top, I’m sure they can do it again. Just do what it takes, believe and don’t lose hope, do the proper things then again we can take back our lost glory!
well said..
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