FIBA Experience

Earlier this month, the Philippines hosted the FIBA Asia Championship. The podium finishers here, get to join the FIBA Worlds happening in Spain next year. Its pretty much a big deal especially for the country that loves the sport. Add to that we being the host also doubles the pressure to finish on top.

I was settled with just watching the games on TV since I knew that it was hard to score tickets. Then one day, my friends and I finally decided to watch the games live, given that we get tickets, we'll head to MoA to experience FIBA.

The first game we saw live was the game against Jordan. It took us 2 hours to get to MoA, re-routing several times on the way, since the traffic was really bad. It was halfway through the 1st quarter that we got to the Arena, but still we were so chill about it. I even remember mentioning, that we don't need to panic since its just the 1st quarter we can still take our time. When we went inside, we found that our guys were down, then it seemed like on cue, our boys made a run. My sister was all, 'hindi pa pala exciting yung game ha'. Come the third quarter, our boys, came out blitzing making most of their shots, and indulging us, with some game highlights. I think of all the times that I've been watching basketball, this is the only time that I got really tired after cheering for 3 straight basketball minutes. Nakakaubos ng energy, but at the same time, nakakakilig how much faith people have in our team. And its a whole different feeling being one with the crowd cheering for the same team. I'd usually cheer for the less popular teams, so yes, this is a welcome thing in my life. The night ended with us winning. Yay! We're on the right track people.

We missed the next couple of games. The one they lost again Chinese-Taipei, the game verses Japan, Qatar and Hong Kong that gave us the number 1 seed in our group. The next game was versus Kazakhstan. It happened to coincide with the first leg of the Philpop Concert Series. So what we (Joy, Kam, Kris, Ace and I) did was right after the show, we rushed to nearest place where the game was being shown, to just watch and maybe have dinner too. It was so much fun, a different experience altogether! We won the game and was heading to the semis. It was during the post game conversations that I realized that we might face Korea in the semis. That very country that always curtails our chances. This for me was also the most important game of the whole tournament. A win against the Koreans will give us the ticket to Spain. So it was definitely a game worth travelling to MoA for.

During the game versus Korea, it can be said that the crowd was more tensed, I couldn't blame them since it was an all important game, and Korea was the nemesis, the team where we always fell short. Everybody was hoping for a win. We were down for most of the first half, when we got back just like the match versus Jordan, we had a blazing start in the third and that helped shift the momentum on our side. It was a close game, and I was in tears in the dying minutes when I was slowly realizing that we can actually win. More than grinding out a win against these Koreans, it was the fact that we are heading to Spain that made me tear up and scream and jump up and down. It was the most surreal basketball moment of my life.

I've seen a handful of championships from NCAA-UAAP-PBA and even the DLeague, but nothing will ever compare to this. The feeling of seeing the boys get us a slot for the FIBA Worlds was something else. And I still can't believe that I got to witness history being written in our basketball book.

The following day, was the championship match against Iran. Sadly, we didn't take the gold, but silver isn't bad either. We'll take it.To the men of our team, thank you for a gallant effort. What an incredible run for everyone. Congratulations. You fought with all you have, you fought with so much heart and pride, and for that, we are thankful to you. Saludo kami sa lahat ng sakripisyo na ginawa niyo para sa bayan. #labanpilipinas