Opinion: Shots fired as Gilas ‘un-invited’ to Jones Cup

MANILA, Philippines — The title? Yeah. Pun intended.

Now, officially, our worst Jones Cup-related fear has been realized. Taiwan has officially communicated its withdrawal of Gilas Pilipinas’s 2013 Jones Cup invitation.

Knee-jerk reaction? Meet my middle finger.

Level-headed reaction?

Honestly, I’m not surprised. I mean, let’s face it, we all kinda knew it was coming. I’m sure somewhere in the back of the collective brain-trust of Gilas, this was a stark possibility. I’m sure that wheels are turning and contingencies are being explored.

Still, that doesn’t really dilute the bitter feeling of knowing politics has adversely affected sporting relations once again. And, frankly, it helps ease Taipei-Manila tensions about as much as throwing a bowl-full of water helps quell a raging fire.

Added motivation

Thank you, Jones Cup organizers and Taiwan sports officials, for giving us a real reason to detest you.

And thank you for giving Gilas added motivation to blow the bejeezus out of your hapless Taiwan five come August. Boy, do I want to see you hang your heads after the buzzer sounds and we send you packing.

We won’t make life tough for you off the court. We’ll make sure our basketball fans don’t mess you up. We’ll make sure you play and get out of Manila in one piece.

But you’ll get a shellacking on the court. Our fans won’t need to mess you up because the final score will be embarrassing enough. Your team will return to Taipei in one piece, but your spirits will be sliced into cutlets.

Fanning the flames

By withdrawing your invitation, you may have momentarily derailed Gilas’s preparation plans, but in the long run, you will find out that you have merely fanned the flames and missed out on a golden opportunity to show that basketball can bridge nations.

Thank you for not even trying.

Perhaps the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and the Philippine Basketball Association can just organize our own pocket tournament at about the same time the Jones Cup will be held. Heck, we can even invite the same teams who plan to go to Taiwan. You take away our invitation? How about we take away your competition? And, lest you forget, who fills up the stands in the Jones Cup? Without the Pinoy crowd, get ready to serve stale arena food to buzzing flies and empty seats.

Good luck with that.

And remember, you brought this on yourselves. – Rappler.com

Enzo Flojo is one of the closest followers of the Philippine National Basketball Team. He is a self-proclaimed Asian Basketball hoop nut, and he doubts if anyone knows as much as he does about the best players in this corner of the world. He maintains a nationally-recognized basketball blog (HoopNut.com), and he hopes you can pester him on Twitter — @hoopnut