Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) Inc.
Truth & Justice
  • Home
  • History
  • BAP Officers
  • Accredited Members & Associations
    • Accredited Associations
    • Int'l Chapter Members
    • National Capital Region (NCR)
    • Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
    • Region 1
    • Region 2
    • Region 3
    • Region 4
    • Region 5
    • Region 6
    • Region 7
    • Region 8
    • Region 9
    • Region 10
    • Region 11
    • Region 12
    • Region 13 CARAGA
    • ARMM Region
  • Bangkok Agreement
  • Calendar of Events
  • Contact
  • News Blog
  • Vision, its Purpose & Mission
  • ISCA
  • Posthumous Recognition

For basketball's sake, Graham Lim should go

11/30/2004

0 Comments

 
Last Shot - Tito Talao Column on November 30, 2004
Manila Bulletin

Graham Lim, the whipping boy, secretary-general of the Basketball Association of the Philippines, has been the recipient of a lot of bashing lately. And he probably deserves the heap of flak being?dumped on him. 

Imagine sending a collegiate squad into a major invitational tournament abroad, clothing the players with national colors, having them called Philippine team, and then letting them loose in a den full of lions? That they got mercilessly devoured in the Stankovic Cup in Taipei was nothing. That they got mercilessly devoured in front of the ESPN camera for the whole world to see was what really made the blood curdle. 

Imagine players who probably ride camels going to the gym, and negotiating vast tracks of sand, burying us under tons of offensive debris. That's why Graham finds himself getting carve up again like some Thanksgiving turkey. If the fellow follows the suggestion that he resigns, maybe he would be doing Philippine basketball a favor. 

But Graham reads the sports pages, finds out he's taken another direct hit, smiles and scratches an imaginary itch from his brow, and proceeds to buy more shares into the BAP. 

The guy simply is impervious to criticism. Someone takes away his passport, Graham immediately flies out to 10 different destinations around the globe. Somebody demands that he gets deported, he at once makes plans for Christmas. And on the day a call for an indignation rally against him was sounded, Graham Lim sat in the same room with the leaders of Philippine sports to hail the election of former congressman Peping Cojuangco as president of the Philippine Olympic Committee. 

Meanwhile, the Philippine Basketball Association practically rolls out the red carpet for him, waiting until Graham approves a memorandum of agreement that would allow the PBA to field a team to the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) men's championships, and probably the Olympic Games, before picking the national coach. Joel Banal, Chot Reyes, Yeng Guiao and Tim Cone, four of the greatest coaching minds in the country, are kept frozen in suspense while Graham scratches his brow and probably say, "Malay ko naman na magkakaroon ng ESPN doon." But then Graham Lim isn't going anywhere. 

At least not until Carl Ching Menky, the FIBA president, has something to say in the affairs of international amateur basketball. Or until somebody of the stature and political persuasion of the newly-installed POC president takes an interest in bringing back the glory days of Philippine basketball. 

You either hate him or you tolerate him. No need to love the guy, really. This, I figured, is what the PBA has finally accepted; the reason the pro league has agreed to waltz with Graham Lim. Is this bad for Philippine basketball? Not for the Japan-bound 2005 RP team that will be shooting for a slot in the World Olympics, if you ask me. Nor the 2007 national squad that will be gunning for an Olympic berth for 2008 in Beijing. 

When the future of Philippine basketball was in a terrible state of confusion, Graham, in shocking statements given us, parted the dark clouds by agreeing, among others, to draw up a new MOA with the BAP, send an all-PBA team to the ABC, and allow the PBA to run the show until the 2008 Olympics. 

I was on the other line when Graham made this promise and I initially thought the guy was running a fever or was into some kind of substance. He wasn't. Somebody probably just got to him first. 

At any rate, I urge people who had a hand in convincing Graham Lim to send that collegiate team - not a pro-reinforced team, not a UAAP or NCAA squad, or a team from the Philippine Basketball League - to the massacre in Taipei to come out and say a few words or make a few calls. 

Not that Graham Lim needs it. But I think doing so would lessen the aggravation felt by those who desperately loves to resurrect Philippine basketball. 

About Johnny Tam, Graham Lim's favorite coach. Now, that would be a tough one to whip a column around.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    AUSC General Assembly 2019

    Author

    BAP writes  something about the Past, Present, 
    & Future News & Events

    Picture
    FIBA World Congress, Indianapolis, USA

    Archives

    December 2020
    July 2020
    April 2020
    March 2019
    June 2017
    October 2016
    May 2016
    September 2015
    February 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    June 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    December 2011
    September 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    April 2010
    January 2010
    September 2009
    July 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    November 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008
    February 2008
    July 2007
    June 2007
    May 2007
    January 2007
    October 2006
    May 2006
    March 2006
    December 2005
    November 2004
    June 2003

    Categories

    All

    Picture

    Submit
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    1st BAP President, Senator Ambrosio Padilla
    Picture
    Philippine national team in Berlin Olympics
    Picture
    Two-time FIBA President, Hon. Gonzalo "Lito" G. Puyat II, and 2nd BAP President started in 1968 and BAP Chairman Emeritus.
    Picture
    FIBA Asia Secretary-General Dato' Yeoh Choo Hock (seated 2nd at left) and BAP President Quintellano "Tiny" Literal (seated at right) in 1998
    Picture
    FIBA President Carl Men Ky Ching with BAP Officials in San Pablo, Laguna
    Picture
    FIBA President, Dr. Carl Men Ky Ching, 2002-2006
    Picture
    BAP President, Senator Joey Lina with China national player, Wang Zhi Zhi who played in the NBA LA Clippers.
    Picture
    Philippine President, Hon. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, with BAP officials led by Graham C. Lim
    Picture
    BAP President, Prof. Robert Milton Calo (right) with FESSAP Executives
    Picture
    In 2002 at FIBA World Congress in Indianapolis-USA, BAP President Tiny Literal and Secretary-General Graham C. Lim met FIBA President, Dr, Carl Men Ky Ching and FIBA Asia Secretary General Dato' Yeoh Choo Hock.
    Picture
    BAP Masbate Chapter
    Picture
    BAP Rizal Chapter
    Picture
    BAP Aklan Chapter
    Picture
    BAP Capiz Chapter
    Picture
    BAP Cebu Chapter
    Picture
    BAP Bohol Chapter
    Picture
    BAP Laguna Chapter
    Picture
    BAP Bicol Chapter
    Picture
    BAP Cordillera Chapter
    Picture
    BAP National Capital Region (NCR) Chapter 2019
    Picture
    BAP Tagum Chapter
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    BAP Incorporated
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.