A prominent "0" stands under the Win column of the Philippines' standings in the 2014 FIBA World Cup of Basketball. As the group stages come to a close, however, it's prominence is overshadowed by something else. The Philippine Men's Basketball Team, Gilas Pilipinas, has captured the world's attention.
Oftentimes, we are warned that letting our hearts decide over our heads is a prescription for disaster. Being too emotional leads to poor decision-making; it clouds judgement. The head is stable; it protects you from being hurt by telling you to avoid any possible pain. To live with your heart on your sleeve is to open yourself to tremendous hurt. Yes, following your heart to pursue your passions, your childhood dream, your one great love, is a recipe for incomparable heartache.
On paper, building a basketball team with an average height of 6'4" is a poor decision. Sending a team to play in their first World Cup in 37 years barely 5 years into the establishment a basketball program is a horrendous decision. A heady decision would've been to shy away and save ourselves the heartache, but our hearts, filled with true love and passion for basketball, overruled this.
Now that they had, our hearts, passionate and open for the world to see, is bleeding with 4 consecutive losses. It is hurt from 4 losses, each of which could easily have been a win.
But our hearts are also full. They are bursting with pride in how the world's 3rd and 5th best teams had to dig deep to barely beat us. They are proud of how international writers have come to appreciate our relentlessness, of how a respected coach felt most uncomfortable coaching against us, of how an NBA player called us "fun to watch," and of how international commentators have vowed to watch any game wherein we play and let slip their desire to see us win a game.
Most importantly, though, our hearts are filled with marvel. We marvel at how our team came one shot away from beating Croatia and Argentina. We are in awe of how Jimmy Alapag, at a ripe age of 37, sinks 5 triples in the 2nd half to almost single-handedly beat Argentina. We give our thumbs up as Jeff Chan, an almost forgotten PBA second round pick, strikes fear in the hearts of Croatians. We almost shed a tear as naturalized American Andray Blatche, all too often written off as a basket case, plays through a painful knee injury. We shout in unison as Gabe Norwood, who some complained lacked fire on offense, dunks on not one but two Argentinians in spectacular fashion. We clench our fists as Marc Pingris, listed at a generous 6'4", boxes out and outrebounds 3 Greek 7 footers. We chuckle as Ranidel de Ocampo, who was never accused of being the Flash, drives and scores on the inside. We smirk as Chot Reyes' modified dribble drive offense and ever changing defensive patterns have stumped the most experienced of international coaches.
As Gilas Pilipinas plays its final game in the 2014 World Cup, the head is threatening to come back with a vengeance for being overruled. On paper, coaching rotations will be attacked. The wisdom of inserting Blatche late into the process will be questioned. Blame will begin to passed around by suddenly emerging basketball experts who hide behind the anonymity of the internet. People will insist that the head is a better alternative to the heart.
Let's not let them. History is littered with men and women who have forsaken safety to pursue their hearts' passions. Many of them have suffered; died even, but many have also achieved, from the admirable to the jaw-dropping. Humans, especially Filipinos, are not built to have the head rule the heart. It is our hearts, our passions, that lead us to great things, to great love.
Gilas Pilipinas was built on passion, not on paper. Gilas Pilipinas was built on PUSO and ours should be proud and grateful.
They all played and coached with nothing but hearts, and we should love and support them unconditionally with ours.
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