STRAIGHTFORWARD former national basketball team coach Joe Lipa reiterated his belief that time is imperative in forming a competitive international team.

Lipa, many-time mentor of the best youth basketball team the country has ever seen, said that basketball is not just about sending the best individual talents we have at the moment.

“It is important to send a team that will undergo an effective basketball program. Though I appreciate the sacrifices made by the PBA [Philippine Basketball Association], there is always too much expectations from a PBA-backed team,” Lipa told BusinessMirror.

Lipa said it is partly the local coaches’ fault why Philippine basketball continues to lag behind other Asian countries, which we used to dominate in the past.

“It’s also our fault because we continue to teach our young players the conventional way of playing basketball,” said Lipa.

Another major problem, Lipa added, is our continued craze to the National Basketball Association (NBA) brand of basketball, which the veteran coach said is focused on entertainment.

Lipa said most of the young players today are fixated with slam dunks, fancy passing and flashy dribbling.

Days before the Fiba-Asia tournament, BusinessMirror asked the opinion of several experts, with Lipa being the boldest coach in terms of analyzing the kinks in our much-ballyhooed Team Pilipinas.

“We have the talent for our team to perform very well. We have good shooters and their foot speed and quickness are a big plus factor,” said Lipa. “We are basically a perimeter team. We’ve got good shooters but I am very worried about our players having an off-night. The moment we shoot bad, I think we will be having problems.”

True enough, Team Pilipinas got waylaid in its opening game versus Iran where the Filipinos shot awfully from the two-point region, making just nine-of-42 attempts for a woeful 21.4 percent.

 Iran scored a surprising 75-69 win over Team Pilipinas as they outperformed the Filipinos in the shooting department, making nearly half of their two-point field goal attempts, 16-of-36.

Lipa also added that the Philippines needs to have assertive representation in the Fiba hierarchy to negate what he feels is an inadvertent changes implemented by world leaders in allowing the use naturalized players.

 “True, it’s a big man’s game but if Fiba leaders are keen in giving all countries equal chances, they should conceptualize rules that will negate the practice of other countries to use naturalized players,” added Lipa.

Giving Way

TOKUSHIMA—Chot Reyes is stepping aside as coach of the Philippine national team after the Fiba Asia tournaments formally ends on August 6.

Asi hurting so deeply

TOKUSHIMA—It doesn’t matter how big a guy is. Losing can crush anybody’s heart, even somebody as huge as Asi Taulava.

STRAIGHTFORWARD former national basketball team coach Joe Lipa reiterated his belief that time is imperative in forming a competitive international team.

TOKUSHIMA—The days of the pros representing the country are almost over. At least, that is until the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) puts in place an under-19 program that is expected to don the national colors with the intent of going to the Olympics…the London Olympics in 2012.

TOKUSHIMA—Iran and Lebanon booked semifinals seats after going perfect in their first two games.

UNIVERSITY Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) basketball commissioner Ed Cordero has dismissed De La Salle’s protest against Ateneo, citing it “lacked merit,” thus upholding the Blue Eagles’ 80-77 overtime victory in their game last Thursday.

THE National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Management Committee will conduct its own investigation on Paolo Orbeta of the College of St. Benilde who was charged by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for rigging a game.

THE annihilation continues.

University of the East (UE) again unleashed a ferocious attack that shocked Far Eastern University (FEU), 89-60, and the Red (Hot) Warriors are a win shy of a first-round sweep of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

THE news of Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) chairman Florencio Fianza’s leaving the office and appointing an officer in charge rumbled throughout the four corners of the local racing industry on Tuesday.