I love this game

White men can't jump Black men can't swim Filipinos can swim and jump at the same time. har har Ang pagmamahal ng mga Pilipino sa larong basketbol ay sandyang ibang klase. Di mapantayan at malampasan. May PBA, PBL, NCAA, UAAP, at kung ano ano pa, isali mo pa ang mga inter barangay tournaments, sobrang dameh, kung may kaarawan o kulang na lang ay kung may burol pa ay mag pa tournament pa rin. No doubt, Basketball is very close to our hearts. Basketball courts everywhere, anywhere, sa bukid, gubat, siudad, kahit saan... mapa rural o urban man. Basketball court in every school, in your backyard (in all sizes, small, junior, ultra small... de lata, de kahoy, de basket basta may butas) behind the garbage pit, across the block, basketball courts seem to grow in any vacant space. And of course my favorite, the courts in the middle of the streets-- kulang na lang sa south luzon express way na rin! :) astig siguro... you can practice on your own. use the cars as your pick, in your plays and as screens too, or you can improve your "boxing out" skill... or even try to master your deadly cross over moves against a car moving at 65mph, yan ang tigasin. Pero sa totoo lang, minsan ay nakakalungkot isipin na kahit anung gawin natin, hindi talaga natin makakayanang pantayan ang mga bansang di hamak na mas magaling sa atin gaya nang Estados Unidos at mga bansa sa Europa! kahit man lang nga ang China ay mukhang kailangan pa nating kumain nang ilang sako nang bigas at mais bago natin mapantayan. Just think about this, the average height of a Filipino is shorter than the height of Steve Nash who is a point guard, or Nick van Excel even! And even if we can produce a 6'9" player like Azi Taulava (which is not even a Pinoy), such players, if they play here in the Philippines will always play the Center position, which of course will slow him down in terms of his moves and styles of play. Michael Jordan is 6'6" and he plays number 2 (shooting guard), Kevin Garnett is 6'11"! and he plays the point position. We have players like Danny Ildefonso, Danny Siegel (obvious San Miguel fan siempre!) which roughly stands at about 6'9", and they will never be able to play guard position. SLOW! post up players, can't handle the ball like a Johnny flying A does, who was almost given a one day contract in the NBA (close but... yah close). Well I know you get the picture, and until the time comes when science be able to genetically modify man, Filipinos will remain standing at "shorter than average". Way short in attaining that world class standard of basketball because HEIGHT will always be a FACTOR in basketball not if you have the leg power to jump twice your height... (bakit pa kasi 10 feet ang taas nang ring, di na lang ginawang shoulder level diba?). But of course we still have the gold in the SEA games or maybe a silver or bronze in the ASIAN games, that's still a maybe. Philippines dominating the world of basketball? Not in a million years! (I'm willing to bet my college diploma for that har har). But given the reality that we Filipinos, of malay race are undeniably shorter in height than the Americans, Europeans and even Chinese, does this mean we should stop playing basketball?Well you guessed it right, Of course not. I have nothing against the game because I play it and I love it, actually it's one of my frustrations. The only thing is that we pattern our way of playing on how we see it in the NBA. We idolize these foreign players and we copy from them, imitate their way of play thinking that it is the only way of playing it. But obviously it is not, the USA team lost and I mean lost as in LOST! LOST LOST LOST! (hahahahaha buti nga!)in the Olympic games a couple of times against European teams who has players who can shoot three point shots even in their sleep (It's like they're just throwing a marble in a big swimmingpool). The Korens and the Chinese have this kind of caliber and they try to focus in this simple skill , that is why they are the better teams here in Asia. And of course not to mention the extraordinary passing and speed that they possess. Surely if Filipinos will start to realize and develop these two simple skills (passing and 3 point shooting) , instead of trying to imitate pick and roll plays and post up plays like Tim Duncan and Lebron James in the NBA, maybe just maybe there's a chance. Pero wala tayong magagawa, mahal talaga natin ang basketbol. May kanta pa nga ang Viva hot babes tungkol sa basketbol diba? (pero sa totoo lang parang hindi tungkol sa basketbol yun eh oh) bakit natin sisirain ang larong ito kung dito tayo masaya. Tuloy ang basketbol! sa banyo.