FIBA is an international basketball federation – one of the major basketball leagues in the world aside from the National Basketball Association, the Philippine Basketball Association, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Later this month, CNMI will be sending its basketball team contingents for boys and girls division to the Oceania games.
Currently, BANMI is planning to launch the CNMI Masters caging sometime this year to prepare players for the FIBA-sanctioned Oceania and World Masters basketball tournament.
Cagers who will participate in the CNMI Masters basketball games need to learn how to set a play and to know FIBA rules and regulations that govern the World Masters so that when they compete in the bigger caging event they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge of the game, Mesa pointed out.
“This is what’s happening in the CNMI – they [players] lack the fundamentals [of basketball],” he said. “They think that just because you can shoot three points you’re a good athlete.”
The World Masters medalist said he will conduct a basketball clinic on island to teach local players three major lessons: setting picks, containment, trap, and deflections.
Deflections, he stated, is the act of stealing the ball without committing a foul.
“Sometimes, we allow so many deflections to happen… so there’s no [continuous flow of the game],” Mesa said. “Kids are not learning because there’s no flow. It seems like we’re running a game that go to the free throw every time.”
Containment, he said, is another area that he will teach in the clinic, saying that this form of defense basically involves close defensive stance by one player over an opponent without recourse to any foul.
The basketball clinic will be facilitated by Mesa himself before the BANMI tournament starts.
The clinic, he explained, will center on the following principle: “The more I learn new things, the more I discover that there is still a lot of things I don’t know.”
Mesa also underscored the need for the local players to “understand that we are going to use FIBA regulations only [in the upcoming Oceania and BANMI Masters caging] and not the NBA, not the PBA [rules].”
Right now, Mesa said that he is still trying to draw three more teams for the BANMI Masters caging this year so he can begin the clinic right away.
So far there are seven teams that have indicated their interest to join in the tournament, he noted.
Teams that are registered to participate in the BANMI caging tournament and have paid their due of $25-annual membership fee are eligible for the clinic.
Mesa has been conducting basketball clinic since 1991. He has received one gold medal, three silver medals, and one bronze in past World Masters tournaments.
