There is no denying that in spite of the Philippines’ dominance in BMX cycling and medal hauls in boxing, wushu, and taekwondo in the 2014 Asian Games, no sport catches the attention of Filipino sports fans than basketball especially that the men’s national basketball team returned to the FIBA World Cup last month, showing the world that we belong.

The celebration was short-lived, however, as Gilas Pilipinas, competing in Asia’s biggest sporting event landed at its worst finish—seventh place—in the quadrennial meet since Olympic Council of Asia allowed professional ballers to join the tournament.

Thousands of Filipino fans were dismayed over the lackluster performance of Gilas that despite their undying appreciation and gratitude to the players, popular opinion shows that the team could have won the gold had the head coach, Chot Reyes, played Marcus Douthit versus South Korea and had the team played better in the fourth quarter of their games.

Perhaps the most disappointed fan Chino Trinidad, a veteran sports journalist and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP, the internationally-recognized basketball organization in the Philippines) co-founder, who did not mince words in the debut episode of Fullcourtfresh.com’s Fresh Bites.

Attributing the lackadaisical performance of Gilas to “leadership,” Trinidad shares his perspective this way: “For as long Philippine basketball is a form of entertainment we will never progress sa international competition.”

“If you will stand for the program and say that you are not for profit or earnings, and that you are there because you love Philippine basketball and you want it to progress, that for me is the pre-requisite for leadership,” said the commissioner of the defunct Philippine Basketball League (PBL).

In the interview, Trinidad revealed his version of how the SBP was formed out of the defunct Basketball Association of the Philippines and how that national basketball team was formed after the Philippines’ suspension from international competition in 2007.

According to Trinidad, the basketball program was supposedly anchored on harnessing the best players from the collegiate, developmental league (the PBL during that time), and professional league (Philippine Basketball Association or PBA).

“What I think about getting players from the PBA [alone] is a band-aid solution, a medium-term solution. What Mr. [Manny] Pangilinan (SBP President) did was to gather the best players from all the leagues we have. The training was long and rigid, but is forward-looking,” he said, explaining that PBL compelled its team owners to release their players unconditionally for the national team.

Trinidad however lamented an incident in 2011 when, as he claims, Reyes “usurped” the head coach position held by former Iran coach Rajko Toroman.

“He usurped the position of rajko toroman and that’s a fact. I know for a fact. [In] 2011 in china, we were at fourth place and who was the assistant of Toroman? He [Reyes] and his spin doctors isolated Toroman and pulled Manny Pangilinan to his side, convincing him that this is not the way to go. Hence, we went back to pulot-pulot (picking PBA players before an international competition starts). There was already a semblance of order, a semblance of direction. The path has been set but it was killed because who took over was so good and now, where have we gone?” Trinidad bared.

Trinidad calls for SBP to return to its roots and develop the grassroots for the good of Philippine basketball. Emphasizing the need for cooperation among various basketball leagues, re-education of modern basketball strategies and team management, and a rationalized calendar of basketball wherein all leagues are integrated in the program, Trinidad emphasized that these noble programs could be done under the right leadership.

“We have lots of talents out there that we do not have to import. We Filipinos are so good as individuals but the problem ever since is how to harness our talents as a collective.”

More of Trinidad’s opinion about the Philippine basketball team in the debut Fresh Bites video below.