The Anti-Gilas

If you can't join them, beat them.

Now that the Philippine Basketball Association, as a whole, is on board the Gilas Pilipinas men's basketball program and its attempt to crash the medal round of the FIBA Asia 2013 World Qualifiers, hopes are indeed very high. After all, not only is the tournament going to be held in Manila, but because of the surplus of talent that has suddenly been made available to Gilas head coach Chot Reyes et. al.

In helping prepare Gilas Pilipinas for the coming tournament, the PBA will be shelving its annual All Star Game in lieu of a tune-up match pitting the "chosen ones" and players who didn't make the final cut (re: the "other" best players of the league). This is not a jab at the guys who were not chosen for one reason or another. This is a challenge, for them to not treat this as a "friendly" and just go hard. If they can spill blood, then go do so. To send the best, we need everyone on board to give their best.

Here's our list of the Anti-Gilas:

PG
Sol Mercado/ Paul Lee/ Alex Cabagnot
Since Mercado, who was doing work in the 2012 Jones Cup as a power guard spark plug, is ineligible under the new FIBA rules, it's only fitting that he gets first dibs on taking on fellow power guards and Gilas shoo-ins Jayson Castro and Ryan Reyes. Based on the last few months, Mercado is going to attack the rim and should give our prized point guards a run for their money. Lee comes in to spell Mercado to score and orchestrate. Cabagnot, when his head is screwed on straight, is a legit playmaker who is a wizard on offense.

SG
Mark Caguioa/ PJ Simon*/ Ronald Tubid
The reigning PBA MVP is out of Gilas because we already have Gary David in the fold. That, plus the last time Caguioa was wearing PILIPINAS on his chest he was making all sorts of embarrassing, dirty plays on the court. Still, if it's a marksman you want who can score in bunches, there's no one better than Ginebra's heart and soul. Simon comes in as your 6th man scorer off the bench, then Tubid to provide the hustle and swag.
SF
Marcio Lassiter/ Chris Lutz/ Jarred Dillinger/ James Yap*
It's a shame that Lassiter and Lutz have also been deemed ineligible, otherwise they'd be our best bet at the 2/3 spots on the floor for Gilas. Inside, outside, can slash and shoot-- Petron's Fil-Am pair not only brings it on offense, but plays lockdown man-to-man, chest-to-chest, balls-to-balls defense. Yap is in there because he is to the PBA what John Cena is to the WWE (works hard, but is not exactly the best talent out there worthy of the fanfare).

PF
Jay Washington/ Joe DeVance/ Beau Belga*/ Doug Kramer*
If Ranidel de Ocampo and Kelly Williams are to be tested (which they don't really need at this point), then you can't go wrong with the versatile Washington (for Williams) and DeVance (for de Ocampo). Seriously, these guys would be fun to watch on their own 2-on-2, but since we're trying to test our Gilas boys and prepare them for the worst, then these guys should prove worthy adversaries. Belga and Kramer would also help (although one of them might end up on the Gilas roster as an enforcer) since we've always been "soft" inside.

C
Yancy de Ocampo/ Dorian Pena
Make no mistake about it, when motivated, de Ocampo is arguably the best post man in the PBA not named Ranidel (who just so happens to be his younger brother). Since we expect to have naturalized center Marcus Douthit in the paint, we'd like to see how the big man measures up to a full 48-minutes of wayward elbows and what not by way of Yancy and beefy Dorian Pena. Like we said, we are a bit soft inside-- choosing to go with finesse post players like Ranidel, Douthit and even Kelly instead of back to the basket monsters (okay, there's a shortage of those guys at the moment but Junemar Fajardo should change all that in two-three years time)

Head Coach
Yeng Guiao
Since this is going to be a one-and-done deal,  Tim Cone and his complex triangle system will probably not work since it will take time for the players to form a cohesive unit. Ditto with Norman Black who preaches sound, pick and roll, old school basketball. Truly, an All Star team that you want to compete and give out their best deserves a coach like Guiao. And we don't want this Zen Guiao we saw the last conference. We want the old school, PUTANGINAMO BENTA KA NA NAMAN Guiao. Yung tipong nilalagpasan ng player pag babalik ng bench kasi natatakot na mabigyan pag puro kagaguhan lang ginagawa sa court.

* - has the most logical shot at landing on the Gilas Pilipinas roster