No More Bad Games?

It disgusts me when I hear of stuff like Far Eastern University's star guard Andy Barroca being accused of game-fixing. I'm disgusted not only because the concept is so reprehensible to me, but also because it spits in the face of the integrity of basketball. For the Tamaraws basketball program to pick on one of their own and leave him out to dry, let's just say it smacks of people refusing to take responsibility for why their team couldn't win a game and looking for a scapegoat instead.

Since time immemorial, basketball in the Philippines has been marred by rumors of players throwing games or shaving points in order to satisfy some unscrupulous people. Whether it be professionals in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), or amateurs in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) or National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), when a particular player doesn't play like he's expected to, people start saying that "he's on the take" or colloquially speaking, "nagbenta siya".

In simplest terms, "benta" literally means selling games. That could refer to a player only scoring this number of points as agreed upon. It could also refer to a team not scoring more than a certain number for a quarter or for the entire game. These are, of course, supposedly agreed upon between the player and certain shady individuals.

Taking all of these into consideration, FEU has accused Barroca of the time-honored tradition of game-fixing, particularly in their game against Ateneo de Manila on September 12, 2009. Barroca burned Ateneo and smaller point guard Jai Reyes for 8 first quarter points, but never scored again after that. The Tamaraws led the Blue Eagles by 18 big points late in the third quarter, yet were bombarded by a 22-4 run in the fourth that they never recovered from. Ateneo won the game 74-73, and within days, Barroca was accused of game-fixing.

In recent years, FEU has been embroiled in controversies similar to this. Just two years ago, swingman JR Gerilla was among the Tamaraws accused of game-fixing as FEU dropped most of their Team A roster. Last year, team captain Mac Baracael was even shot (!) outside the Morayta campus because he either fixed a game, or refused to fix a game (depending on who you ask). That case has yet to be resolved and, happily for Mac, he's actually okay now. University of the East's Bonbon Custodio was also called a game-fixer some seasons ago when his play would dip after exploding on offense in other games. A lot of De La Salle University alumni still claim that their superstar point guard Mike "Cool Cat" Cortez received a huge payment in order to throw Game 3 of the UAAP Finals against Ateneo.

It's like nowadays, in the UAAP particularly, if you're a proven big time performer and you suddenly have a bad game, "eh di malamang nagbenta 'yan!" One is not allowed to have any sub-par games anymore. Every player is held to such unbelievably high standards that any slippage is deemed due to shady dealings. Again, history tells us that this kind of stuff has happened in the Philippines in the past. But should every circumstance of poor on-court performance be given the nefarious game-fixing label? Now, Barroca has supposedly chosen to get out of the FEU team altogether. In the midst of a playoff run and 30 units away from completing his degree, he is leaving the basketball team because his integrity has come into question.

My question is: what happens the next time a supposedly "reliable" scoring option on FEU falters at a crucial moment? Will the team hang him out to dry as well? Will he also be accused of game-fixing and lacking the integrity to play college basketball?