Thailand ended its 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on Sunday afternoon.
Their campaign did not end the way they wanted, though. Instead Thailand suffered a 69-86 loss to Indonesia — a team they were beating just two years ago.
Finishing the Qualifiers with an 0-6 slate, the Basketball Sport Association of Thailand will reassess their program heading into the 31st Southeast Asian Games.
“Well, the BSAT usually picks the players for that. Just like this roster, the roster is given to me for the most part. I don’t have much of a say. I’d like to have more of a say,” said fourth-year Thailand head coach Chris Daleo.
“We have to improve on a lot of areas for our SEA Games roster. I think if we can practice together for a long period of time and bring in some better components, and people are in shape, Thailand basketball has shown that it can compete with the people in this region. We won the silver and played Korea tough the first time. That’s when we moved up to 99 in the rankings. We were chugging along,” he continued.
“Then COVID hit and now we have gone backward. We’ve gone backward.”
It has been a long two years for Daleo and Thailand. For his part, the American head coach does not know whether he is part of Thailand’s future.
“For me, about BSAT, they weren’t really mad about yesterday,” said Daleo, referring to the 53-120 defeat South Korea handed to them.
“They said that they are going to re-evaluate things. I don’t know what that means.”
But Daleo hopes that BSAT patterns its program against its regional neighbors.
The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas has built a four-year program in preparation for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Moreover, program director Tab Baldwin is already plotting for the years beyond that.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what’s going on. People are investing dollars, people are investing time, people are making projections for their team.
“The Philippines is moving along at a very rapid pace. You’re going to see that again against Korea. They set forth a project to build a program, [and] they are doing it. They have a lot of height, they have a lot of heart, [and] they have a projected plan on where they want to go,” said Daleo.
Indonesia, on the other hand, is doing the same. For the past two years, PERBASI hired Rajko Toroman and naturalized two players in Lester Prosper and Marques Bolden.
“Indonesia, come on? We beat them in the SEA Games, but look at how much they’ve done since then.
“They’ve taken that and moved forward. They signed naturalized players, [who] they will have two to choose from. They’ve done a great job with their coaching staff, they have done a great job in preparing, they will host the next window. So, they are investing dollars, time, and effort into their program,” he opined.
But it’s not just the Philippines and Indonesia who are building their programs.
Vietnam, which has Kevin Yurkyus as head coach, is making strides in putting together a formidable team for the SEA Games.
“Vietnam is working. They are putting up a roster that will compete in their VBA league. You saw what happened when we beat them in the SEA Games. So they saw what happened and asked, ‘What are we going to do to be able to compete?’ They also brought in a great point guard in Christian Juzang who has a passport and they will naturalize,” he bared.
“So they are working hard at that.”
Now, it is not late for Thailand. But Daleo is hoping that all of the country’s basketball stakeholders come together for the future of Thai basketball.
“Thailand has to look at those things and do the same things to keep up with these people,” he said.
“But for the SEA Games, everyone has to be on the same page — BSAT, coaches, the teams, they all have to be on the same page possible to put up the best unit possible in order to move forward. If that happens, I feel Thailand can compete.”
