IN a couple of days, the Philippines will get to celebrate basketball at its purity as the country hosts its biggest cage tournament to date — the FIBA World Cup — where the finest of the sport in the planet are seeing action.
And it is just fitting that a book chronicling some of the most glorious as well as inglorious moments of Philippine basketball was recently launched.
Written by former People’s Journal and Malaya sportswriter Noel Albano and published by Ray Roquero, the book is titled “When We Were Champions” that practically narrates most of the notable achievements by the national basketball teams in the past as well as its decline.
“This book begged to be written to be written for many years when we were sportswriters in the 70s,” said Mr. Albano during yesterday’s PSA Forum at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
“In this book, I go further back to 1911. It covers a period of six decades,” he added.
The book was like a time machine as it will bring the readers back to the country’s storied past when our Nationals won nine of 10 Far Eastern Games, four Asian Games, four of seven ABC Championship, or the precursor of the FIBA-Asia Championship and a bronze medal finish in the 1954 FIBA World Cup in Brazil.
Mr. Albano shares experiences after experiences of basketball greats headed by Caloy Loyzaga, the greatest Filipino basketball player of all time who will be inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in the 2023 class.
It also tells the other side of Philippine basketball history and the start of its decline in the 60s.
“In summary, this book describes the time of greatness, the interlocking factor that made the Filipinos unbeatable for dedcades, and at the same time, described the failings and flaws of the players and team officials of the era as honestly as objectively as could possibly be instructed from our data,” said Mr. Albano.
“What emerges in the end is the magnificent inspiring, uplifting, enraging and heartbreaking picture of the unsurpassed era,” he added.
The book will be circulated soon. — Joey Villar
