It's hard for me to get behind Rafe's argument on the convenience of basketball since a soccer goal is ultimately the cheapest thing to put together. take two tsinelas and set them up as the edges of a goal, find or make a ragged ass ball, and commence play. Basketball entails building some sort of hoop and a ball that ideally bounces some.

As for Pinoys in the NBA I think the type of competition in the US and the kind of mindset it builds is just a little bit more aggressive and (generally) gives US players a kind of mental edge our local players don't seem to have. Aside from, like you mentioned, the convenience of staying at home and being the big man as opposed to challenging yourself to get to the next level. I'd like to see at least a couple of Pinoys take the steps that Chinese basketball players like Wang Zhi Zhi did. he ultimately proved not up to the task, but at least he gave it a shot.

Finally, as for the size issue, I'm interested in seeing how Jeremy Lin does for Golden State. While he's not Pinoy, he's certainly representative of the "small Asian" man, and if he does well in the league it could convince others that they have a shot.