JAKARTA– With all due respect to the Durham, Lawrence, Lexington, Louisville and Chapel Hill, the most passionate fans on the planet come from the republic of the Philippines.
This sovereign Southeast Asian island country located in the Western Pacific, with its population of 98 million, has been gaga for the sport ever since the 1930’s.
“I would say basketball here, and particularly the NBA is more popular than the NFL and major league baseball combined,” said Anthony Macri , an American from North Jersey who is the executive director of the the ASEAN Basketball League, a fledging regional professional league that consists of franchises from the Philippines, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and was set up to grow the sport in the region. “Soccer is the dominant sport in the region, but there, it only fourth behind basketball, badminton and boxing, because of Many Pacquiao.”
It is not hard to see you are in a basketball paradise as soon as you arrive in the Philippine Airport and realize NBA TV is the only channel playing.
“In most of the countries of the region, it’s hard to watch an NBA game on television,” Macri said. “But over there, it’s hard to avoid them. They’re on all the time. They have multiple channels that will show NBA games. They have free TV and a burgeoning cable market.”
There are sandlot hoops hanging everywhere from the parks to the alleys off main boulevard and hanging off lamp posts they are always occupied with kids playing bare foot on the street or in flip flops. Abandoned American military jeeps called jeepneys now used for public transportation are branded with NBA logos and pictures of famous coaches and players.
When Kobe Bryant, the most popular player in Asia, visited the country in 2011, fans began lining up at 5 in the morning for a 3 p.m. appearance. Bryant has been to the country four times, once bring along a group of NBA stars like Chris Paul and Kevin Durant for an Nike sponsored exhibition game.
“In most of the countries of the region, it’s hard to watch an NBA game on television,” Marci said. “But over there, it’s hard to avoid them. They’re on all the time. They have multiple channels that will show NBA games. They have free TV and a burgeoning cable market.”
A week from now, on Oct. 10, the Houston Rockets and the Indiana Pacers will play an exhibition game in Manila, a city of close to 12 million. When tickets went on sale– and it was before Dwight Howard signed with the Rockets as a free agent– the game at a 20,000 seat international class arena at the Mall of Asia sold out in just five days and some fans were willing to fork over upwards to $600 for a ticket. The biggest arena in the country is Aranata Coliseum, a 22,000-seat arena known as “The Big Dome” in nearby Quezon City, which the the equivalent to any stadium in the United States that is older than seven or eight years. There are 15 arenas in the Manila metropolitan arena that have close to 10,000 seat or more capacity.
There is an excellent book called, “Pacific Rims” that is devoted solely to this phenomenon.
“There is one story in the book that refers to political campaigning,” Macri said. “If a mayor or a political official wants to get elected, he doesn’t the voters a new hospital or school, he promised to build a new arena.”
“In most of the countries of the region, it’s hard to watch an NBA game on television,” Marsci said. “But over there, it’s hard to avoid them. They’re on all the time. They have multiple channels that will show NBA games. They have free TV and a burgeoning cable market.”
Macri, who received his undergraduate degree in philosophy at Loyola of Baltimore and his masters in theology at Fordham in 2003, has been here for a year and a half, serving in a senior executive capacity for his league, getting this job after making a strong connection with Eric Thorhir, the President of SEABA (the Southeast Basketball Association), an Indonesian graduate of USC and a one time minority owner of the Philadelphia 76ers who was the driving force behind bringing the FIBA U18 men’s and women’s world championship in 3×3 to this bustling city of 11 million.
“I worked for IMG Academy and helped Eric with negotiations with the Sixers when he asked me if I’d have any interest in working for the league he helped found. He is very serious about growing the sport over here and giving kids something to aspire for, the way American kids aspire to play in the NBA.”
All this NBA mania appears to have rubbed off on the 100s of thousands of locals who participate the game on some level. This year, for the first time in 38 years, the Philippines qualified for the World Cup in Spain, finishing second to Iran in the All Asian tournament which was held in Manila and ahead of China, which finished fourth. The Philippines qualified by beating South Korea, 86-79, in a breath taking game played before an overflow crowd of 20,000. The Philippines won despite the fact its 6-11 star Marcus Douthit, a Filipino-American naturalized citizen who was born in Syracuse, played at Providence and became a naturalized citizen in 2010, was injured most of the game. The Koreans charged back from a nine-point deficit to take the lead in the final term, but Ranidel de Ocampo (11 points, 6 rebounds), Jason “Castro” William (17 points) and Jean Marc Pingris (16 points, 10 rebounds) made big plays to keep the host nation’s hopes alive.
Pingris overcame a hamstring to score eight points in the final 3:30 and then crowd favorite Jim Alapag buried two enormous three-pointers in the final minute to seal a defining victory and send. The Philippines dominated many of the statistical categories, shooting 50 percent overall, winning the rebounding battle by 11 and outscoring Korea by 16 in the paint.
It is a definite sign this country is making every effort to re-establish themselves as a regional power and perhaps even qualify for the upcoming 2016 Olympics in Rio.
Right now, there are three flourishing professional leagues in the country that play their seasons, known as conferences, every three months. That’s nine months a year Filipinos are exposed to life competition with professional athletes. Each conference have its own personality and eligibility standards. “Currently we are in the middle of the Governors’ Cup, — 10 corporate sponsored teams from the Philippine Basketball League — the PBL– that compete with a single import who is 6-5 or under and the rest of the team is local.
“They’re take a break after the playoffs, then have their draft, which is in October where all the locals are drafted. It is very similar to the NBA. Then, they play another conference season all locals and finally there is an unrestricted height league with one import, unrestricted height, so you could have 6-9, seven-footers.”
There are very few Filipinos grow taller than 6-5, so there are ceilings. But 6-9, wiry 23-year-old Japeth Aguilar, who was a rookie in the PBA this year, is a high level player who would not be out of place in an NBA training camp and 6-5 Bobby Ray Parks, an American-Filipino who is the son of former Memphis State star Bobby Parks Jr., is a 20-year old sophomore in college equivalent of the NCAA here and another rising star. The best mixed Filipino player playing in the NCAA right now is 6-8 senior Christian Standhardinger of Hawaii, who is part German and was an all league player in the Big West,
“There may be a number of young players who might have a shot down the road,” Macri said. “The first one who makes it will have the similar impact in that country to Yao Ming of China. His popularity will go through the roof.”
The most popular franchise here is Ginebra San Miguel, who has won eight PBL championships and even had songs written about it. When they play, they will easily draw 10,000 plus fans and for fans will pack the big arenas for important games. When Ginebra played Talk and Text last year in the first game of the semi-finals unrestricted league, the game was packed. .
The average professional player in the Philippines can command $1,500 US a month. A legend like Asi Taulava, a 6-9, 245-pound center who is still playing at 40 years old, can make upwards of $12-$15,000 a month and and play in all three conferences. Taulava, who is of Filipino-Tongan descent, is generally considered the most dominant center in the history of the PBL. He entered the PBL in 1999, won the 2003 MVP, two all Star game MVP awards and was the MVP in the ASEAN League in 2012 when he played for the San Miguel Beerman. After a year away, He has since returned to the PBL to finish up his career with Air Express, bringing his penchant for dying his hair or shaving his head bald with him.
Like Lithuania, a Eastern European country where basketball is also the No. 1, there such a huge upside for the sport in this part of the world. And there is no reason to think the Philippines can’t help lead the way.
