Just shoot that darn ball will ‘ya
“Shooting, obviously, is integral to the mission of any basketball team. You can’t score and can’t win without getting the ball in the basket.” – Nick Nurse, Rapture (2020)
When I was growing up, basketball was the only thing that mattered. It occupied all of my being. Not a day was spent without touching a ball, either playing a game or just shooting around. It embodied a purpose, an enjoyment, a life. You sweated out, rested, played again, and before you knew it, the day was over until you did the same thing again the next day. There was no holding back even if the backboard and netless ring were nailed to a tree or whatever makeshift structure just to make basketball happen. Even the playing surface need not be cemented. Dirt grounds would serve the purpose. As long as there was enough space to shoot, it was good enough for us. Basketball was a poor man’s game in the Philippines.
Once in a while we played for money. The good shooters and players would certainly come home with more coins in their pockets than when they left. But they needed to spread their wings, ply their skills to other neighbourhoods in order to make more money. And the good thing was it was safe to play anywhere. There was real sportsmanship. Losing was a motivation to do better next time.
I was good enough to play as a starter, handling the point guard position for our high school team. But I was also very good in rebounding, not because of my jumping ability, rather on my deftness of anticipating where the ball might fall. I seldom attempted to shoot the ball. This was not out of selflessness, but of bothersome nervousness and avoidance of failure. For that, I never got the attention of screaming girls. The shooters did.
On my first semester as a university student, I enrolled immediately for basketball as my required physical education course. I was also surveilling the field of prospects that would crack the university basketball team. If ever I had hoped to be included, it was dashed right away. I didn’t have the height or the quality skill of a prospect. I moved on to other sports to complete my P.E. requirements.
But playing basketball never left me. I joined my roommates at a boarding house in Manila whenever they wanted to play in the neighbourhood. I got along well with one of them that whenever there was flooding in the street or just on study breaks, we played inside our room with rolled socks as our ball and rounded wire as our basket lodged on top of the door. I also participated with university students who organized a weekly tournament for a game or two. Then when I moved to YMCA as a boarder, I got to play several times in the gym.
The highlight of my basketball life happened when our town held a for-a-fee tournament during off-school months. My neighbour, who was a treasurer in another town, decided to sponsor us, with his two sons included in the team. We had a six-foot centre and a five-ten shooting guard, which, in those days, made us very competitive. I again played the point guard. We practiced a lot as a team and even went to other towns just to get a competition. When the tournament started, we played with uniforms and were winning our games. The townsfolk started watching us. On the night we played against a quality team, the space surrounding the basketball court was full of packed viewers. We played hard but still lost by a slight margin. For me, it didn’t matter. I never imagined to ever playing in front of so many people before. It was truly a gift. Unfortunately, the tournament ended in a controversy. It was called off unceremoniously.
When I immigrated to Canada in the late 70s, I bonded with Filipinos playing basketball on Saturdays at the Crescent Town gym near Danforth and Victoria. We formed a team, got a sponsor and named our team J & B Produce. During our practice sessions at Crescent Town, we played against the White Knights. The White Knights were a very disciplined and a well-coached team. They had winning ways in their genes and quite formidable. They had been around in the Fil-Act basketball league and their reputation was high. So it was a big challenge to play and practice against them.
On our first Fil-Act game, we played against a team from St. Catherines. They had two six-footers against one in our team. We were pumped up and played extremely well to beat St. Catherines. From thereon, our games went downhill. I couldn’t recall if we ever won another game after that. But the irony of it all was that St. Catherines became the eventual winner of that year’s tournament.
We had a new sponsor and were called the Green K.C. We were scheduled to play against the White Knights. This was around April 1981. A reporter from Atin Ito covered our match. Following was how he reported the game in Atin Ito Newsfeature page with the headline: Green K.C. upsets White Knights.
“It takes a good game to beat a good team and though some say that a ‘dull play leads to disaster,’ Green K.C. couldn’t have beaten the White Knights if they played just as dull. So, the Green K.C.s played their best that day.
On April 29 at the Etobicoke Olympium, the ‘green giant,’ Dante San Jose, had his day in the hardcourt. Basketing a high 14 points, Dante led his teammates to a first upset victory in the Fil-Act League. In the first quarter, Dante combined with Billy Bercasio for a total of 9 points to lead over the Whites, even with Raffy Tablada’s conversion of 4, Tino Armoreda’s and Cesar Cuyugan’s 2. With this burst of inspiration in the first quarter, the K.C.’s Machado, Ibarra, Angeles and Montillano joined in the fracas during the second quarter supplementing Dante’s swelling 11 pointers to wind the first half on top of the Knights, 23-18.
At the moment, while the adrenalin was still running high, Chito Navarro, in the 3rd quarter, responded with 4 points and a free throw while his brother Atoy and Tablada added 2-for-2s, in an attempt to reverse the lead. But, Rey Moreno (bold mine) answered back with 6 and Chico with 2 that made the Knights’ face futility in the 3rd quarter drive.
In the last quarter, Chito continued gunning basket after basket with Raffy and Tony Pan supporting, but again the efforts were easily quashed by an even stronger firepower from Billy, Dante, Rey (bold mine) and Chico. The battle ended with the Knights bowing to the Green K.C.s 37-44.”
I cut the page for posterity. That’s why I was able to quote verbatim the news item. I played several more games with the team but our losing ways were catching up with me. Because the team’s primary need was scoring, the “buwayas” mostly dominated the playing time. Soon my non-shooting-and-doing-the-dirty-work style was regarded negligible. I then spent more time in the bench. But I just couldn’t waste my Saturdays as a cheerleader anymore. And so I quit the team and the league. Then my passion for basketball abated when my skill dwindled as I aged. My regret was I should have attempted more shots when I was on the floor, to be more “buwaya” and to light up the scoreboard and buy myself more playing time.
But I follow the NBA and the NCAA tournaments religiously. On my first year in Canada, the Washington Bullets team, led by Wes Unseld, was my favourite team. Then I became a Lakers fan when Magic Johnson was running the team. But when he retired in 1992, my allegiance to a team varied. I went from Houston Rockets to San Antonio Spurs one time or another. But I never got to like the Boston Celtics with the skill of Larry Bird, or Chicago Bulls with the talent as great as Michael Jordan’s. The only time I was rooting for Jordan was when he was a freshman with the North Carolina Tar Heels and they won the NCAA championship. I never became a Lakers fan again even with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal teaming up to win three consecutive NBA championships. When the Raptors were formed in 1995, I couldn’t be a fan of any other team anymore. I have to be a Raptors fan forever, even in their years of mediocrity.
Then the Raptors started becoming a playoff team. Vince Carter was a highlight reel, dunking machine. Vinsanity crazed the nation. Perhaps, a championship crown was possible. Being a Raptors fan was paying off.
But the players had other visions. Tracy McGrady left; Vince Carter left; Chris Bosh left. That hope for a championship ring vanished into thin air. It was good DeMar DeRozan stayed. Kyle Lowry came along and matured. Raptors continued to be in the playoffs year after year with new players cementing the team to get better. Then Masai Ujiri, in a ruthless move, traded DeRozan with Kawhi Leonard, and Marc Gasol was brought in to solidify the centre position. It culminated the Raptors winning it all and brought the entire country in wild celebration never seen before and may never be surpassed.
What I call the big moment, though, is when Kawhi makes what’s referred to as The Shot in game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia Sixers. He shoots…he scores. So if you’re in a basketball competition and you’re on the floor, take my well-meaning advice: Just shoot that darn ball, will ‘ya.
7 April 2022
