Powerhouse cast to form Anti-Gilas

If the voting for the PBA All Stars "Anti-Gilas" selection were to end today, then we are looking at a legit, tough opponent for Coach Chot Reyes et. al. that could ultimately decide the fate of Philippine basketball.

See, it's no secret that "The Silent War" is still alive and kicking. And to simply appease some circles, San Miguel gave in and lent their players but not before sticking to the "one player per team" dictum of PBA Commissioner Chito Salud. They lent Junemar Fajardo, Marc Pingris and L.A. Tenorio to the national cause, yes, but they were sure to leave out other stellar names by "hiding" behind that quote from good old Kume.

At the moment, rounding out the starting five are: James Yap, Mark Caguioa, PJ Simon, Arwind Santos  and Calvin Abueva.

That five alone are legit, cream-of-the-crop competition for our Gilas Pilipinas selection. Not to mention other available players such as Sol Mercado (who was out because of citizenship issues with FIBA's new ruling), Paul Lee, Joe DeVance, Mike Cortez, Cyrus Baguio, Nino Canaleta, Jay Washington, Alex Cabagnot (sige na nga) who could easily form arguably the most All Star cast to go up against a National Team in recent memory.

There's also the high quality imports ready to join the mix with the Alaska Aces' steady big man Rob Dozier and Air21's monstrous Michael Dunigan. These two alone would offer contrasting styles and make life exceptionally hard for Gilas reinforcement Marcus Douthit and the "upgraded" frontline of Ranidel de Ocampo, Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar, JuneMar Fajardo, Marc Pingris (who we expect to play more of the 3-spot as a versatilte defender) and Sonny Thoss.

In all of the previous tournaments we've seen Douthit compete in, he's had a hard time playing against high quality bigs such as those of Iran, Jordan and the like. His finesse brand of basketball gets the job done against Asians (China, Japan, Korea) but not versus the Middle Eastern teams (some of which feature American/European reinforcements).

Dozier will give Douthit a taste of his own medicine, face-up, finesse basketball that's just steady and consistent. Dunnigan will be Douthit's biggest test, as the young brahma bull has proven to be quite the banger in the low post and a lock to win the newly christened Bobby Parks, Sr. Best Import Award (should the Express continue with their winning ways). Aside from these two, there's Rain or Shine's Euro-import Bruno Sundov who can spread the floor with his threes as well so there's a bumper crop of foreign talent to choose from.

Now, while all these talk is getting us local hoop heads antsy and excited, it should be noted that this is NOT just another All Star game and should NOT be treated as one.

We don't want to see players smiling on the court, giving each other hand check fouls and slapping asses afterwards. We want animosity. We want blood.

And not because we're closet violent mofos too.

See, we want Gilas to be ready. This is the biggest FIBA-Asia competition in years simply because 1) we actually have a shot at the Olympics and 2) it's going to be held HERE, in MANILA.

Douthit, ever so generous, even replied on a tweet we sent out on the possible Gilas vs PBA Anti-Gilas All Star Game that "its just a game for the country (not) bragging rights."

Well, for Gilas, that's exactly how they should treat it.

But for the Anti-Gilas?

We want Caguioa, Yap and Simon to fire from all cylinders. We want Mercado to make it tough for the smaller L.A. Tenorio, oft-injured pair of Jayson Castro and Ryan Reyes. We want the bigs to swing and throw those elbows out.

We don't want to watch a friendly. Hell, we could care less if it becomes a boring, grind-it-out, throwback match. We want the best from both teams and we want Gilas to overcome the odds.

Kung hindi tayo-tayo magtutulungan sa paraan ng pisikilan at pagalingan na basketball, paano na lang ung padadala natin sa FIBA-Asia?