By popular demand, we are reblogging our series on Philippine Basketball. Today, we begin our journey back to the pre-war years, when the Philippines lorded it over the Asian cage world.
Basketball was introduced to the Philippines in the early 1900s by our American colonizers. And for the longest time, the Philippines would be the dominant figure in Asian Basketball.
From the 1st Far Eastern Championship Games (later to be replaced by the Asian Games) in 1913, to its 10th and final Edition in 1934, the Philippines would capture the crown 9 out of 10 times, losing only to China in what was then considered a national disgrace in the 5th edition in 1921 by a score of 30-27. In the next Far Eastern Games in 1923, the Philippine team would come back with vengeance in their eyes. Lou Salvador would establish an all-time record by scoring 116 points (!!!) against a hapless Chinese team on the way to recapturing the gold medal.
In 1936, the Philippines proudly represented Asia in the first-ever Olympic basketball tournament held in then-Nazi Berlin. Unluckily…
View original post 409 more words
Color My World 