But on Wednesday night, Oct. 4, it was payback time as the Filipinos were able to close the book on that Asian Games debacle 33 years ago, and will move on to yet another chapter in their Asiad saga in the gold medal match against Jordan.
Just as the buzzer sounded off on Wednesday night, Oct. 4, in the game between the Philippines and China in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, not a few Filipinos may have stopped rejoicing for a moment to call to mind the storied campaign of the country’s first-ever, all professional basketball team in the 11th Asiad that China also hosted in Beijing 33 years ago.
The cagers from Asia’s first professional basketball league were regarded as superstars in the Games with even fellow athletes visiting their quarters in the Athletes Village just to get a glimpse of them, and a Chinese camera crew shadowing the team wherever it went. In the next round, the Filipinos encountered their first serious challenge from a North Korean team that was bannered by a 7-foot-5 behemoth. But Jaworski had a master plan on how to deal with the North Korean.
But just as the Filipinos back home, as well as the handful of Filipino expatriates working in the Chinese capital, were starting to get their fill of national basketball euphoria, all that was shattered – terribly – when the Philippines ran into the Great Wall of China.
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