The calm before the Fiba storm
by rick olivares
The final practice of the
Philippine Men’s Basketball National Team saw only 10 of the 12 players
available for one last go-around at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center.
The team has been hounded by
adversity from day one – from the unavailability of players for various reasons
to scheduling conflicts with the Southeast Asian Games to the debilitating
setback of losing center June Mar Fajardo to an injury. No Andray Blatche. No
Fajardo. Yet if you look at head coach Chot Reyes, he seems unperturbed.
In fact, he radiates a calmness.
“It’s going to be fun,” he
pronounces a few hours before the team’s departure. “We’re going to play this
tournament with little preparation and lacking a full team. The only thing we
can do is enjoy the experience.”
Don’t belittle Reyes’ seeming
diffidence. The man is an accomplished coach and is very much a competitor.
Don’t think that the adversity doesn’t concern or even rankle him. This isn’t
the time to rant or blow steam. “It’s my job to show the guys a way to win in
spite of the adversity,” he explains of his appearance of calm. “The job of a
leader is to lead his troops; to give them the confidence.”
“We only had 10 players today,”
he adds. “We didn’t practice yesterday
because six of them had games. We only had one complete practice which was on
August 1. That’s it.
The biggest challenge is we don’t
have a full team. Even before thinking of the opposition we have to think of
ourselves first.”
Reyes, however, lauded his
players’ confidence. “They have a lot of fight and an unwavering spirit,” he
points out. “I like the fact that we are not operating under any big
expectations. And they understand how difficult this task is. But make no
mistake, we will do our best.”
The sereneness extends to the
players.
For veteran Gabe Norwood, who is
back with the team after a year’s absence, he has another take. “It’s a great
situation to go out and shock the world,” he says. “The challenges? It has to
always be harder. There is nothing to be gained with an easy task. The
challenges keep you on your toes and in the ground.”
The last two editions of the
national side to the FIBA Asia Championships saw silver medal finishes. Is this
team competing against the ghosts of Team Philippines past?
“We set the bar kind of high the
last time around so you want to equal or even better those finishes,” the
defensive specialist points out. “You don’t want to be a part of a team that
stumbles. You have to appreciate the challenges. They are different this time
around. But no excuses. I imagine all the teams have their own concerns as
well.”
For newcomer Christian
Standhardinger who will play a bigger role with Blatche and Fajardo now
unavailable, his only concern is today and not looking too far ahead. “The one
thing you have to understand about me is I am focused,” he says with unabashed
honesty. “I don’t even know how long our flight is. I don’t overly concern
myself with things like that. My concern is being able to do what is asked of
me and to contribute. It makes me focused and – how do you say this –
goal-oriented.”
The kid from Munich, Germany grew
up playing a lot of sports. “I played every sport -- tennis, table tennis,
beach volleyball, bowling, swimming, but when my grandpa introduced me to
basketball and there was no looking back.”
“I have no basketball idols to be
honest,” he fesses up. Not even German star Dirk Nowitski. “Nope. I just played
on my own and learning from the games I played. Maybe that is why I have a
weird or funky style. But when I am playing my thinking is, ‘how to make my
game effective?’”
And the Fil-German has been
effective with many raving about his potential. Standhardinger takes the praise
in stride. “It’s cool,” he shrugs. “But I have so much to learn. And I know
that. Maybe that keeps my feet on the ground.”
He also admits that wearing the
national jersey is an immense source of pride. “It was an easy decision,” he
admits about suiting up for the Philippines. “I am proud that I can represent
the Philippines. My family is honored as well.”
“Hopefully, this month, we as a
team can bring honor to the Philippines.”
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