THERE have been an increasing number of questions about making use of African student-athletes in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), leading some quarters to call for their “banning” that is something I believe to not only be racist but also detrimental to growth in sports.
This continues from where I left off in my column on Monday.
Argument #2 These foreign players were recruited to play.
Argument Debunker: You mean to say that (no offense to all the players mentioned but you must read this right and in its proper context) Kiefer Ravena, Jeron Teng, Troy Rosario, Mac Belo, Roi Sumang and everyone else WERE NOT RECRUITED TO PLAY?
Oh, he plays for the Adamson Falcons because he’s a whiz in Algebra! He suits up for UST because he’s going to be a nuclear physicist.
Find me one student-athlete who was recruited first for their academic know-how before their athletic skills. In any sport. Across the board and through the years. FIND. ME. ONE.
If they do not go to class then that is a school’s own lookout.
And when one suits up for a school, regardless of where they come from or what their religion, race or background is…THEY REPRESENT THEIR SCHOOL AND NOT A COUNTRY. When our athletes plays in the Asean Basketball League, unless they play for a Philippine club, then they represent the team from another country. You cannot have rules for one and another set for another.
That’s a very racist approach and let’s be very clear about that.
And if there are issues about their eligibility, then the burden of proof lies upon the screening committee to debunk them and punish the erring parties involved.
Argument #3 They prevent local players from developing.
Argument debunker: Most of these foreigners play the center slot because of their height. The current wave of African players arrived in Season 71 with FEU’s Pippo Noundou. Let’s correlate that data with centers that played in the UAAP and were drafted in the PBA.
Only for first-rounders because a second-round pick is a crapshoot.
In Season 76 Rodney Brondial switched from center to power forward when Ingrid Sewa was on the floor. He slid back to the middle when the big man was on the bench. Brondial learned to play with Sewa and developed a better outside shot; one he uses to devastating effect with Barangay Ginebra in the PBA today.
In contrast, then UE Head Coach Boycie Zamar felt that Chris Javier did not adjust to the presence of Charles Mammie even if he could hit the outside shot.
And if you look back at the data I presented earlier about plus and minuses when Mammie and Javier are on the floor, the answer is obvious.
Furthermore, since Season 71, there has only been one champion that featured an African player—National University.
And if you follow the PBA, you will know that many of the celebrated stars in college do not stay very long, much less are given playing time. Some of the players who played well in the slot in college are too small for PBA standards. Not when you have behemoths like Slaughter, June Mar Fajardo, Raymond Almazan, Ian Sangalang, Asi Taulava, Japeth Aguilar and company patrolling that lane. Reil Cervantes, who was a star center-forward for FEU, was on the bench for Ginebra before disappearing. If there was no expansion club to pick him up in Kia, then I am not sure if he’d be back in the PBA.
La Salle’s talented power forward Jason Perkins told me that size-wise, he’s too small to play the four-spot in the PBA. He will have to slide to the three and that is why he has to work on his outside shot and driving skills.
Ranidel de Ocampo thrives because, in addition to posting up and attacking the basket, he can shoot from the outside. Marc Pingris gets by because of his veteran smarts and hustle. But life in the shaded lane is tough because of the presence of these giants.
I believe that the problem with the Filipino center is the lack of size, athleticism and quality at the same time. Isn’t that why we naturalized players like Dennis Still, Marcus Douthit and Andray Blatche, because we didn’t have anyone to fill that slot?
In the 1990s, when people were up in arms about the presence of Fil-Americans playing in the PBA, there were all sorts of rules about the number of Fil-Ams. But they arguably improved the league much more than the imports ever did. They significantly raised the level of play to the point that the homegrown players got better.
If you look at Gilas Pilipinas and their 2013 Fiba Asia Championships stint, how many were Fil-Ams? Gabe Norwood and Jimmy Alapag are the only two. That’s a far cry from the 2007 squad that listed Danny Seigle, Alapag, Asi Taulava, Kelly Williams, Gabe Norwood, Mick Pennisi, Jayjay Helterbrand and Erick Menk.
To be concluded tomorrow