Thoughts | That Boss in the Mirror Ginebra episode is kind of messed up (from a Pinoy basketball fan's standpoint)

I think I kind of know how these Korean variety shows work.

I mean… they try to spin video diaries to make it viable for the Korean audience… and don’t get me wrong, I get it.

I just don’t get how they made the Boss in the Mirror episode in which the LG Sakers visited and battled the Barangay Ginebra Kings. This episode has already aired in Korea for over a month now… and unfortunately, I saw a lot of discrepancies in the episode. The program followed around LK Sakers coach Hyun Joo Yup on his trip to Manila where aside from challenging the Kings to a practice match, tried out different restaurants… laying waste on their food in the process.

I mean… just watch these Koreans eat that Lechon.

Anyway, like popular Korean variety personality Seo Jang-Hoon, Coach Hyun is part of Korea’s 1994 Asian Games team, 1998 Asian Games team, and ugh… that infamous Korea team that destroyed the hearts of many Filipinos in the 2002 Busan Asiad.

You know, the one that had Olsen Racela miss a couple of free throws and then Jong Uichico forgot to make a timeout and all of a sudden, you have Lee Sang-Min shooting a triple just in time for the buzzer to sound.

That play still stings my cranium!

Anyway…

Yes, Ginebra is the most popular team in the PBA right now but they picked a weird time to document the practice game. I know they came all the way from Korea with little to no understanding that some of the players cannot participate in the game (adding to Ginebra’s injury woes are Jeff Chan and Jared Dillinger), but filming this in spite of the absentees is just unfair. For starters, the team played without Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter. These two are arguably needed to make the match competitive. When I saw the game, I bet the Sakers didn’t think they were going to play the likes of Prince Caperal starting. Now I am not knocking on the former Arellano Chief but without the twin towers, the team had to rely on just Justin Brownlee, LA Tenorio, Scottie Thompson, and Stanley Pringle.

Yes, let’s have the Kings battle a bunch of large shooters and slashers as well as two Commissioner’s Cup-sized imports who are much bigger than Ginebra’s lone import.

Also, I don’t know the Cody import… but I do know that their other import – Vernon Macklin – once played for the Barangay Ginebra Kings a couple of years ago. In fact, Macklin saw action for the Magnolia Hotshots in the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup. They could have pointed this out in the documentary or at least have Jun Hyunmoo and Kim Sook spiel it as they viewed the piece.

Yes, I know their host’s name without googling it.

Like I said, I like Korean variety.

Lastly, and I guess this is the most important thing they forgot, is the fact that they checked out Tim Cone as if he’s just a typical cranky and foul-mouthed head coach. He’s not. I don’t know if Koreans know what a basketball grand slam is (he has two and one almost in 1998) but I do think they know what “winningest coach of all-time” means and Cone, in fact, is the PBA’s most-titled mentor. I know Boss in the Mirror follow a certain individual with little regard towards the situation they are in but I do think it would have further padded the achievement of Hyun Joo Yup if they placed Cone in a better light.

As far as the officiating is – Pinoys play physical and it’s not like Cone didn’t responded to some of the bad calls. Yes, there’s hometown cooking everywhere in the world but it’s not as if they weren’t given good calls as well.

But yeah, a loss is still a loss and well, LG played better. I like Korean variety to the core but I just hate it when Koreans are involved with basketball… and my country. Let’s face it – Korea is Philippines’ main kryptonite not counting China, Iran and now Australia and New Zealand. For years, Korea has mastered the art of pissing off Pinoy hoop diehards. Maybe some Koreans think that the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship win has a semblance of overacting but well… we are that happy to score a win over Korea. Up until now, they are still claiming important wins at our expense.

Maybe someone could make a docu on how much I hate it whenever Koreans trounce Filipinos in basketball?

But hey, I did get a kick on how Coach Hyun and his two other buddies destroyed the Lechon. I don’t like to eat Lechon because it makes my head spin with all the cholesterol in my neck so the mere fact that three Koreans can do that on that poor pig is just insane.

END