The Pilipinas basketball team will face Australia Boomers tomorrow at the Philippine Arena. As a basketball fan, i find this match a game changer for the Filipino side and our basketball history. Australia is currently the #10 ranked team in the world and the Philippines is the underdog. I love to watch an underdog team win or upset a match in any sporting event. The game will be held in our home, the Philippine Arena, with a jampacked passionate crowd, people like me. Also, i want to see my Australian NBA idols like Matthew Dellavedova and Thon Maker. I hope that if ever Philippines might not get the W against them, i expect every Filipino players on court give a good fight at least.
And so i went to SM tickets center earlier because i am sensing that something great will happen tomorrow. Thinking about this game made me reminisce my memorable sporting experience in the past, the crazy, crazy game between Philippines and South Korea last 2013 in a match when Philippines booked their first ticket to the FIBA World Cup in Spain last 2014. I'm thinking maybe tomorrow i will be feeling the same way i felt years ago, and i wanted to feel it again!
This footage is the best illustration how Filipinos express their passion in basketball. I was there.
This was the FIBA Asia 2013 semifinals match that i'm talking about. Unforgettable.
This current FIBA tournament i wanted to watch tomorrow is just a qualifier for the FIBA World Cup in China next year. The top 7 teams in this competition will qualify for the World Cup next year. If the Pilipinas team get a W tomorrow, they will become the current #1 team in the tournament, (Asia and Oceania) and will have the most probable chance of getting into the World Cup because the remaining games won't be as hard as the Australian Boomers. This match isn't as trendy to the rest of the world as the FIFA world cup is currently rolling, but for me and our country, it's so very special. Whatever happens tomorrow, win or lose, my love for the Philippine basketball, and my love for the sport itself will never stop forever.
And that's my very first #ulog. I'll be back after the match! Stay optimistic! Happy Steeming! :-)
"Laban Pilipinas! PUSO!"