Gilas puts Jarvis Hayes, Qatar on Lockdown

Photo courtesy of Philip Sison

So much for Qatar's undefeated FIBA Asia campaign.

Gilas Pilipinas brought the Qataris back to earth with a dominant performance of their own, leading the entire night and just putting on the pressure. Be it points coming from Marcus Douthit, long bombs c/o Jeffrei Chan, Gary David finally deciding to join the fun or Japeth Aguilar turning the game into his personal resource for a future YouTube mix tape, Gilas was not going to be denied.

We needed the win because we can't allow the Group E leaders, Qatar and Japan, to break away. We needed the win to continue to validate the whole Gilas basketball program and show its worth versus top tier competition. We needed the win because hey, this is the Philippines and basketball games mean as much to us as life itself.

And to win, we did it with defense. Douthit and Chan may have started the festivities, but it was our defense that really set the tone. Gabe Norwood on NBAer Jarvis Hayes. Gary David versus the world. Marc Pingris versus anyone who'd dare come into the lane.

Norwood's defense on Hayes is on another level. Hayes is bigger, stronger and smarter than Jordan's Jimmy Baxter which Norwood also locked up. Didn't matter. The Rain or Shine stalwart went to work versus Hayes, always staying in front of him, always fighting for the extra inch and doing it all cleanly. Had it been another defender, say a Pingris, we'd be treated to some fouls, shirt and shorts grabbing and what not. Norwood? He locked that dude up clean.

With Gilas not worrying about Hayes as much, Qatar had to look for offense elsewhere. Fortunately for us, they are not in the same class as South Korea or Chinese Taipei when it comes to three balls.

Another bright spot for us, if not the brightest, is the continued head's up play of Aguilar.

He is no longer just standing outside waiting for the pass to lead to a jumper. He recognizes that he is up there in the whole FIBA Asia when it comes to elite athleticism and jumping prowess. He is playing a lot closer to the rim, but not just waiting inside. No, Aguilar is picking up steam by running from the outside in which gives him enough power to match the opposing team's frontliners (kumbaga, naka buwelo na sya pag aatake).

The rim rattling slams and volleyball spikes are special, but it is Aguilar's activity on defense and on rebounding which has caught our eye.

We often called him out for his soft defense and simple "shot block is everything" mentality. We also called him out for his timid commitment to rebounding in a crowd. Anyone can rebound when there's no one around. But to do it in traffic? That takes dedication, skill and the willingness to get hit (everywhere). 

He isn't looking for the shot block 100% of the time these days. Now, he is also just putting his hands up and challenging, altering shots left and right so much so that the kid who we all thought would make a bigger impact for Gilas, Junemar Fajardo, is currently at the Gilas dog house.

This is why we're hard on guys like Aguilar and Norwood folks, because we see the potential. We recognize greatness. Hopefully, Aguilar keeps going full throttle from here on out.

Our boy Norwood, well, he plays like a different guy altogether back on our team. Lol. We kid. We kid.