Basketball Finance: #GilasPilipinas #Puso

“Winning is like deodorant – when it comes up, a lot of things no longer stink.” - Doc Rivers, New Coach of LA Clippers

#LabanPilipinas!!!  Mabuhay ang Gilas Pilipinas!!!

I am just so happy and proud of our basketball team for winning the 2013 FIBA Asia silver medal and more importantly, for earning a slot to next year's FIBA World Cup.  It is indeed more fun (to play basketball) in the Philippines!

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My first love was really basketball!  I even dared and wrote in our grade school yearbook that I will be a "basketball superstar" when I grow up.  Although that didn't happen, I still have the love and passion for the game.

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Previously, I have published blogs about basketball and how it relates to my current advocacy, which is personal finance (please check them out!).  Now is a great time to resurrect the topic as my own way of paying tribute to our Gilas team.

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MVP, Coach Chot and the coaching staff.  For me, they are like the "pillars" of financial literacy in the Philippines who continue to promote and educate our kababayans about personal finance.  They are like RFP's Henry Ong, Randell Tiongson, and Efren Cruz, Governor Tetangco of BSP, and Francisco Colayco to name a few.

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#Puso.  We all have seen how our team fought bigger and taller teams but we fought back with our "bigger" hearts.  In personal finance, this relates to our "behavior" in terms of handling our finances.  As they say, financial planning is 80% behavior and only 20% skills/knowledge.

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Marcus Douthit and Japeth Aguilar.  These players are like stocks with high risk/high return. Douthit can give us high scores and rebounds but he's got a higher risk of injury, as well.  Japeth provides high-light reels and exciting slam dunks, but his defense (and protecting the paint) needs a little work.

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Marc Pingris and Gabe Norwood.  These guys are our defensive players.  In terms of personal finance, they are like life insurance.  They provide protection and financial security against untimely death (the shooters), disability (the slashers), accident (the uncontested shots) and critical illness (the easy lay-ups or dunks).  Personally, it would have been great to have Beau Belga in our team.

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Jayson Castro, LA Tenorio and Jimmy Alapag.  These point guards are simply all about speed, quickness and 3-point shots.  They are like pooled funds (i.e. mutual funds and UITF)  wherein if you don't know where to invest, just put the ball (your money) in their hands and bahala na sila dumiskarte.

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Ranidel Ocampo.  He can both score (inside and out), and he can defend.  Ranidel is like a Variable-Unit Linked (VUL) plan.  He is a 2-in-1 option, an investment (scorer) and a protection (defender) all in one.

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Jeff Chan, Larry Fonacier and Gary David.  Our 3-point specialists are like real estate or business investments.  They are capable of providing higher scores (higher returns) but you just have to be patient as to when they will explode!

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Jun Mar "The Kracken" Fajardo.  I believe he is the "future" of Gilas Pilipinas as he's got the height we desperately need.  We just need to give him more exposure and more scoring opportunities next time.  He is like our "emergency fund".  When Douthit got injured, "The Kracken" took over in managing Haddadi of Iran. 

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Finally, the whole process of managing and coaching the team with a specific goal of qualifying to the FIBA World Cup is like the "financial planning" process with the objective of achieving life goals to proper management of your finances.

Hope this helps.

Ge

Gerald “Ge” Cantor’s mission is to help Filipinos save and invest for their future while protecting themselves and their families for the present.  Ge is a Financial Adviser of Pru Life UK (www.prulifeuk.com.ph), a Financial Planning Advocate of Personal Finance Advisers Philippines Corporation (www.personalfinance.ph), a Registered Financial Planner graduate (www.rfp.ph), a  Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), a Son of Lourdes (LSM), and a La Sallian (Animo La Salle!).  Ge is proud to be an ex-OFW, a "career-shifter", an entrepreneur, a "frustrated" baller, and most importantly, a "proud" dad of Gia and Clarie. You may e-mail him at geccantor@hotmail.com, or contact him at 09177069333 or visit https://www.facebook.com/iPon.ph for more iPon tips.