Wrong approach

But it was very obvious that height, heft and international experience were not the major factors that destroyed the chances of Gilas Pilipinas

The embarrassing performance of Gilas Pilipinas in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Basketball World Cup should serve as a wakeup call to Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) to retool its program.

Sure, expectations were low when the Filipinos made it in China.

But for me, the 46-point loss to Italy, the 59-point setback to Serbia, the defeats to Angola and Tunisia, who were both ranked lower than them, should be considered as debacles that should prompt ranking officials to troop to the drawing board and chart a long-term plan to boost the country’s basketball system.

Serbian coach Sasha Djordjevic even rubbed salt to the wound when he said that no matter how the Filipinos love basketball, they are still “missing the quality” that would put them at par with the rest of the world.

Djordjevic knew what he was talking about.

Aside from blowing his top when Paul Lee gave a little shove on one of his players, he also coached the Serbians to perfection and used their quickness, shooting and basketball IQ to crush the Filipinos starting the latter part of the first period.

When the smoke cleared, Lee and Guiao could only shake their heads, saying that: “It was such a tough loss and the Serbians are definitely the best team in the tournament right now.”

In Manila, rabid Filipino fans were up in arms.

Some of them were blaming the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for giving the squad very limited time to prepare while others were pointing at Guiao, naturalized player Andray Blatche, Gabe Norwood, Kiefer Ravena and even assistant coach Sandy Arespacochaga for failing to come up with an impeccable scouting report.

But it was very obvious that height, heft and international experience were not the major factors that destroyed the chances of Gilas Pilipinas.

The basketball powerhouse which saw its territory greatly diminished following the countless civil wars, including that in 2000 that prompted Montenegro to bolt out in 2006, has a nationwide program that picks aspiring players from various provinces to train them under one roof.

Usually, the conditions in the training camps are harsh as the players are being trained not just to play, but also to serve the country through basketball.

They will stay, study and play together with the best cagers being deployed in various international age-group tournaments.

Serbia’s hottest cager — Nikola Jokic — was quite fortunate.

Despite his size, he had a penchant for horses and started playing basketball only when he was already 13 or 14 years old.

His access of the NBA was very limited as it was broadcasted live in Europe around 3 or 4 a.m., so he had to watch YouTube to check the moves of Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan and other old-school players of the game.

When he turned 16, he moved from their small town of Somboy to the bustling city of Novi Sad to study in the university and play in the club level.

Yes, in Serbia, students are in school to study — not to play. So if somebody really wants to play, he has to join the training camps and, eventually, pick a club, in this case, KK Mega Basket, which spotted Jokic following a good performance in Novi Sad.

The basketball system in Europe is way different from the United States, in which the Filipinos patterned their game after.

In Europe, if the scores end up around 50 to 58 points, it’s already a good game. It’s a testament to their defense, strategy and team play.

Unlike in the United States where scores could soar up to 90 to 100 points, Europeans put special premium on passing, ball movement, running and short jumpers.

Jokic said he wasn’t aware how big it was to become an NBA player.

In fact, when the Nuggets drafted him, he was sleeping. He only learned about the news when his dad and brother were already popping up the champagne in celebration for his new life in the United States.

Then, he stayed in the Euroleague for one more year before formally flying to Colorado to honor his NBA contract.

Actually, around 10 years ago, we had a chance to imitate the Serbian model.

Serbian coach Rajko Toroman was fresh from leading Iran to the Beijing Olympics in 2008 when he flew to Manila to gather the best young players in the country.

The objective of the original Gilas program was to allow these players eat, drink and breathe international basketball until they are capable enough to stand against the rest of the world.

Yes, the bright lights of the PBA were still there, but the Serbian guru wanted his wards to stay as amateurs and just focus on the international brand of game.

Leading the pack was the best amateur player of that era in Chris Tiu as well as JV Casio, Mark Barroca, JR Cawaling, Rey Guevarra, RJ Jazul, Jason Ballesteros, Dylan Ababou, Aldrech Ramos, Greg Slaughter, Mac Baracael and Magi Sison. Their candidate for naturalization was American CJ Giles, a 6-foot-11 high-flyer from Seattle who was only 24 years old at that time.

With Toroman running the show, Gilas made heads turn in the international arena as they mastered the field by campaigning in countries like Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.

In fact, Casio even emerged as the Best Point Guard in a tournament in Dubai, where the Filipinos finished behind the seasoned national teams of Iran and Lebanon.

The SBP completely abolished it in 2012 with prolific PBA coach Chot Reyes replacing Toroman.

The core of the squad, instead, joined the PBA draft as the federation opted to take the easier route of drawing players from the PBA whenever an important tournament arises.

In this case, the continuity of the program was disrupted as the players have to join their respective mother teams right after the staging of an important tourney.

Until now, Gilas Pilipinas still observes the same practice.

And it had to take three lopsided losses and a heartbreaker of an overtime setback in the world’s biggest basketball stage before top officials realize that there’s something wrong with their approach.