Philippines - Basketball gold is vital
During a visit to Thailand a few months ago, Philippine Olympic Committee President Jose Cojuangco Jr. felt queasy when told that the basketball arena for the 24th Southeast Asian Games will undergo a major facelift. "I was uneasy when the Thais told me and showed me how they’ll fix the facilities for basketball as though they were setting us up for a trap," Cojuangco said Tuesday night in a chat with some scribes at the The Fort in Taguig.
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During a visit to Thailand a few months ago, Philippine Olympic Committee President Jose Cojuangco Jr. felt queasy when told that the basketball arena for the 24th Southeast Asian Games will undergo a major facelift.
"I was uneasy when the Thais told me and showed me how they’ll fix the facilities for basketball as though they were setting us up for a trap," Cojuangco said Tuesday night in a chat with some scribes at the The Fort in Taguig.
While basketball is not the centerpiece sport in the Dec. 6 to 15 sportsfest that will be hosted by Nakhon Ratchasima and two other satellite cities, Cojuangco said the Filipino people will not accept anything less than a gold medal.
"Even if we win the overall title but we lose the basketball gold medal, the people would still feel bad," said Cojuangco, who was a bit delighted that a minor revamp will soon take place in the national team after it absorbed two losses in the Philippine Basketball League V-Go Energy Drink Cup.
"If we lose the SEAG gold, everything will go down the drain."
Still, Cojuangco said the Philippines remains talented but the world has caught up with the top basketball countries.
"I am not saying that we are no longer talented but the other countries are improving a lot," said Cojuangco. "I just can’t understand why we can’t send the very best each time because all the other teams in the SEAG will have one thing in mind and that is to beat us."
"We cannot afford to take them lightly because they’ve improved through the years. We cannot relax because while our progress is slow, theirs have been fast," he said.
PBL Commissioner Chino Trinidad and Harbour Centre owner Mikee Romero have already discussed the plight of the national team to basketball leaders, led by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President Manny V. Pangilinan.
Negotiations are now ongoing to beef up the team.