A modest proposal

I'm not a basketball expert, but given the lack of success Philippine national teams have had in many years, I would hazard that it's time to seriously consider adopting an unorthodox playing style anchored on two things: full court press defense, and  spread offense (a.k.a. Phoenix Suns' "seven-seconds-or-less," circa 2004-2006). Such a system, of course, presents its own set of challenges, but when mastered, I believe, should make the RP teams a frequent dark horse--or "favored underdog," if there is such a word--in international tournaments.

The most compelling argument for choosing to play this way, I think, is the RP teams' very obvious height disadvantage compared to just about every other national squad (except Sri Lanka(?)). There's a basketball truism stating that "you can't teach height (or length or wingspan, depending on the variation you've heard)--which is exactly the case with the Philippine squads. The tallest player fielded in the 2009 Asian Championships, for example, stood at just 6'9" or 210 cm (Mick Pennisi). That team's average height was, in turn, just  6'4" (194 cm). (The average NBA player stands at 6'6" / 201 cm.) In basketball, that translates to giving up more shots, blocks, and rebounds to opposing squads. I'm not able to find more statistics to support this point at the moment, but I'm confident that there likely is a strong correlation between a team's offensive and defensive strength (percentage of shots made and opponents' corresponding field goal percentage) and the presence of taller players.

On the other hand, the relative smallness of our players means that we have more point guards and wingmen, and therefore:

1. Are suited to playing uptempo basketball;

2. And can potentially defend inbounds, passing lanes, and half courts better than most other teams. 

The second proposition was explored in depth by Malcolm Gladwell. While Gladwell's story is more of an extreme example that seems to advocate shortcuts in place of proper skills coaching, there is no denying the potential effectivity that frequent, well-executed half court stops can have on teams built like RP's.  On the offensive side, we already have the right personnel-- mainly, quick and athletic players who can run persistently and shoot from anywhere. The question, of course, is if the players will be disciplined and strong enough to constantly pressure opponents into passing turnovers while pushing the tempo of games.