Another day, another comeback for PHL

Are we this good?

Do our players, from Marcus Douthit to little used Mark Barroca, believe that they can advance to the medal rounds by continuing this alarming trend of falling behind early before staging a comeback in the second half?

My answer is no and maybe.

Just because we've won five of our last six games doesn't mean squat. Remember, we're still ranked 53 worldwide in men's basketball. Twenty places behind Japan and Qatar. You could argue that they're only ranked higher because of our country's basketball turmoils in the past, but I have a thing about making excuses.

Let's celebrate when we're ranked 33. Or higher. When the votes have been tallied and not while the tournament is still on going.

You can't blame Pilipinas head coach Rajko Toroman for wanting to rest PBA veterans Jimmy Alapag (who is still nursing an injury from the PBA Finals) and Kelly Williams who have carried the fight for us the last two games. But there's no excuse for guys like Mac Baracael, Chris Tiu and the once promising JVee Casio for being lethargic on the court and missing simple lay-ups that they'd normally make.

The first two quarters saw PHL trail Syria 32-23, and I could've sworn that our guys were playing like National teams of old that were hastily assembled and relied on too much isolation sets. To make matters worse, their defensive chops were missing which can't be credited to being exhausted since the guys who've been playing all out (Alapag, Williams, Douthit) were sitting on the bench.

In the second half, the momentum started to swing in favor of PHL through its trapping defense and renewed energy. Credit must go to Alapag for not having any of his younger teammates' weak-ass, half-assed effort on the floor. Ranidel de Ocampo started making shots which in turn rubbed off on his teammates.

I pray that tonight's off-and-on display won't continue in the next round where we're expected to face a beatable Chinese Taipei. As long as we've got Douthit in the paint to control Wen Ten Tsing and our wings make shots from all over the floor, then we should be just fine.

P.S.

I know that it's a brand thing, but can people please refrain from calling this squad SMART Gilas? They're the PHILIPPINE NATIONAL TEAM. End of story.