Philippines - Crucial game

From www.tempo.com.ph
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The Indonesian basketball team, as you read this, should’ve fallen in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Club Championship.

Otherwise, the RP-Harbour squad, representing the Philippines on its first international foray since the lifting of the FIBA suspension in February, would be in deep trouble.

The host Indons were to play the Filipinos late last night, with the winner a cinch to capture the championship and secure a ticket to the Asian Club Championship in Iran next month.

Ordinarily, playing Indonesia in basketball hardly ruffle any feather back home. Thailand, maybe, but not our SEA Games neighbor down south.

Badminton, we concede to the Indons. But the game Dr. James Naismith invented remains a domain of the Filipinos.

But this dominance could end abruptly if the national team coached by Junel Baculi loses to the mysterious Indons, who swamped Vietnam on opening day by 75 points and clearly were still some way off from their truly murderous form.

If we win, then it’s all over but the shouting. But if we lose against Indonesia before its hometown crowd, then we could’ve just as well kissed the title goodbye.

Malaysia, it is possible, could go on and beat Indonesia by more than 15 points, our winning margin against the Malaysians in the inaugurals, which would then result in a three-way tie that would effectively leave us out in the cold.

And we haven’t even talked yet about the coming SEABA tournament in Ratchaburi next month, with Thailand skipping this club championship obviously in preparation for an ambush in that all-important pre-Olympic qualifying tourney to be staged right in its backyard.