Grr_tiger
Jun 5, 2009, 03:22 PM
START 'EM YOUNG
Familiarity of the international game is a huge factor to win and win big abroad. Since the PBA decided not to send its players to represent the country after 2010, it's the SBP's as well as the UAAP's responsibility to provide the national team program with solid players who are armed and ready to play for the country.
To strengthen the amateur ranks, foreign training should be part of the equation from now on. Not just for the members of the national training pool, but for the whole philippine amateur basketball landscape.
Here's a list of what I would like the SBP and the UAAP to do in the next 5 years:
1. Send school teams to tournaments and training camps abroad (not just Ateneo or La Salle).
2. Invite foreign schools to compete against UAAP schools.
3. Bring in more foreign coaches to conduct training to players as well as coaches.
Philippine basketball needs more coaches like Rajko Toroman to change the way Filipinos play and guide them to the right direction.
We have seen how the young and inexperienced Smart Gilas team transform into a mean machine after their training in Serbia and the US.
Imagine if Mark Barroca, Dylan Ababou, Chris Tiu and the rest of our boys have been playing against foreign opposition since their grade school days. Lack of experience would be the last thing on the problem list.
The idea is to expose these young kids and coaches, from college all the way down to grade school, to the international game.
Familiarity of the international game is a huge factor to win and win big abroad. Since the PBA decided not to send its players to represent the country after 2010, it's the SBP's as well as the UAAP's responsibility to provide the national team program with solid players who are armed and ready to play for the country.
To strengthen the amateur ranks, foreign training should be part of the equation from now on. Not just for the members of the national training pool, but for the whole philippine amateur basketball landscape.
Here's a list of what I would like the SBP and the UAAP to do in the next 5 years:
1. Send school teams to tournaments and training camps abroad (not just Ateneo or La Salle).
2. Invite foreign schools to compete against UAAP schools.
3. Bring in more foreign coaches to conduct training to players as well as coaches.
Philippine basketball needs more coaches like Rajko Toroman to change the way Filipinos play and guide them to the right direction.
We have seen how the young and inexperienced Smart Gilas team transform into a mean machine after their training in Serbia and the US.
Imagine if Mark Barroca, Dylan Ababou, Chris Tiu and the rest of our boys have been playing against foreign opposition since their grade school days. Lack of experience would be the last thing on the problem list.
The idea is to expose these young kids and coaches, from college all the way down to grade school, to the international game.