Philippine Basketball, now spearheaded by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), proved that the pains of undertaking a national basketball program were worth all the effort in gaining back the respectability that the basketball-crazed country once commanded. After the recent staging of the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championships, the latest FIBA World rankings has been released anew. RP Men’s Basketball now ranks 53rd in the World and 12th in Asia after climbing up three places in the rankings.

The Philippines were once the basketball kings of Asia. They were merely invincible – untouchable as one would say. The class that past Philippine teams showed during the Pre and Post-World War 2 era was simply at par with the world’s best.

Philippines – once a Basketball Superpower? The Philippines remains to be one of the only top Asian nations to have ever landed in the medal tally of the prestigious history of the World Basketball Championships. This is such a great feat that the Philippines made it in the history of basketball in terms of world basketball competition (as part of the only top ten world medal achieving nations) and in the history of Asia to be the only country to ever make it to such a notable standing.