Will a change in guard bring Gilas back to glory?

The national basketball team soared to heights last seen a little over two decades ago only to fall with a thud that resounded throughout the Philippine cage community.

Filipino basketball fans took apart the national team’s missed chances in the Asian Games where it finished at a historic low of seventh place.

The target was coach Chot Reyes who benched veteran Marcus Douthit and criticized his playing publicly. But to purists, Reyes’ order to shoot at the Kazakhstan goal to force overtime created a firestorm of critics in social media.

The decision, announced by the PBA Thursday, October 30 to revamp its program under a committee, came as cagedom marks the 60th anniversary of the Philippines’ third place finish in the 1954 world championship in Rio de Janeiro.

With Reyes gone, is the future brighter for Filipino cage fans who want to see the Philippines qualify for the 2016 Olympics by winning the 2015 FIBA Asia?

Whoever will helm the team for the 2015 FIBA Asia will have a younger lineup. Jimmy Alapag retired at the age of 36. Gary David is 36. Marc Pingris and Ranidel de Ocampo, 32. Jeff Chan, 31. LA Tenorio, 30.

James Yap of Purefoods, who won two MVP awards in the PBA this year, is 32. He was not selected for the national team.

Cage legend Mon Fernandez said the next team should be made of the best players in the PBA, including Andray Blatche who did not play in the Asian Games due to eligibility. Blatche, a nine-year NBA veteran, signed a contract to play in the Chinese league.

“With the best PBA players and a naturalized player, we still have a chance in Asia,” Fernandez said in a private Facebook message. It is not sure if Douthit will be returning to Gilas Pilipinas.

Boosting our chances are the fact that China is still searching for the next Yao Ming. South Korea battled their way to the Asian Games gold medal match, losing only in the last few seconds to Iran. Japan finished third in Incheon, beating Kazakhstan, 76-72.

There are a lot of players to choose from in the PBA, and when they are chosen by the new coach, their roles should be pointed out.

In an interview two months ago, former national coach Arturo Valenzona said:” When a player is chosen, you tell him what is his role. You would want players with leaping ability to help in defense, for example.”

There will be a new coach, and a new system. The dribble-drive offense championed by Reyes is part of cage lore. Did it work? “Any offense is good if properly executed. Just a simple give-and-go used to work during the time of (Carlos) Loyzaga and (Lauro) Mumar,” said another ex-national coach Nemie Villegas.

More important is whether the PBA will shorten its season in 2015. All fine-tuning is useless unless the national team is given enough time to immerse itself in FIBA rules. Neglected often is the fact that a PBA game lasts for 48 minutes while games under FIBA rules are 40 minutes long.

A new basketball chapter has begun. But will it be a return to the past glory of qualifying for the Olympics or another in the never-ending tale of what-could-have-beens?

– Rappler.com