The Spurs - the type of game we should emulate

I never really agreed with the notion that the Spurs are a boring team, especially the Big 3 version of the Spurs (Timmy, Tony and Manu)  of the last 5 years.  Watch this video highlights of this year’s playoffs, courtesy of “John Rambo” -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kH1mc6esaV0

If you don’t find that brand of basketball especially the passing  and flawless execution as exciting you’re not really a basketball lifer. Yeah there are only few highlight dunks , but you’ve got to appreciate the beauty of complete mastery of team play over individual highlights.

I know a lot of Filipino fans associate Miami Heat “small ball” with the Philippines , but actually when you really think about it , based on the type of talent we have available, small and crafty guards (ala Parker and Manu) a high IQ big man (Duncan) the team that actually resembles the Philippines more in terms of type of talent is not Miami but the Spurs.  The Spurs are actually no bigger in the NBA context than Gilas is with the FIBA Asia context (with Marcus, Fajardo and Jap) , this notion that our bigs are short is actually no longer true and is a thing of the past (pre Doulthit or Gilas years). What we actually don’t have is athletic and powerful wings or Guards with size like Lebron, Wade’s or the El Khattib’s or Douglas of FIBA Asia.  So really personnel wise actually we are really dissimilar to Miami.   If we actually want to capitalise on our strengths the Spurs flawless passing and execution and smart team defence is actually what we should emulate. 

An inside look into the Saints competitiveness

OK here is some inside info on what actually transpired, I actually had concerns with at least the perceived competiveness of the Saints, as an initial introduction to Philippine basketball I certainly could not afford a lemon or a less then competitive team. I reiterated this to the Saints management that we needed to propose a roster that would be assessed as competitive vs Gilas (reason for the use of the word “proposed roster”). I still remember an Australian team that played Yeng’s NT team , that really was an embarrassment, this I could ill afford . The other thing I was up against was perceived perception, It’s easy to say you’re sending the “tall Blacks” ranked # 18 world – and get instant recognition. But what if the team was not called the “tall Blacks” but was actually every bit as good if not better? How is this possible , that a club team is better than the NT? well 1st of all there are eligibility rules for a NT like the tall blacks, just like the Philippines you can’t have more than 1 naturalised player, heck you can’t even have say a Lassiter , a Stephen Holt all in one team, but you could in say a club team like TNT, You can’t also have imports. The Saints have 2. So put it this way TNT with ineligibles like maybe Reyes, plus a naturalised player like Marcus and two additional imports could be possibly stronger than Gilas right? You guys understand that as local fans , cause you know the players involved, but how do you communicate that to another National federation wanting to play your NT, that’s the challenge. 
I must say a lot of it is luck in terms of alignment of schedule, you have to understand that there is almost no club team or league any where in the world that is in mid season or end of season form in the month of July. Most teams and leagues are in fact at summer or season break at this time, It’s really by sheer coincidence that the NZ NBL finishes exactly at the same period for Gilas to have tune-up games (thejones cup dates). What sheer luck or blessing in disguise, who could have even predicted a nation to nation dispute (tiapei vs RP) would have happened to add favour to the need for tune-up games, All I can say is I count how fortunate I am !