Pilipinas to the (FIBA) World

His name is Jean Marc Pingris.
(Photo courtesy of InterAKTV)

Now is not the time for what ifs and showing people up. It's not about who stuck with Gilas Pilipinas right from the start and who didn't. Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes, after our sweet victory over longtime tormentors Korea, went on record to "forgive" all the haters. It is not the time to hate.

It is the time to DREAM.

When Korea came storming back in the 4th quarter, there was a sudden hush heard all throughout the SM Mall of Asia Arena. It was 2011 all over again. Or the FIBA Asia before that. Or the one prior. All the way back to 1986 and maybe even longer. Forget trying to get over the "Great Wall," it's Korea that has seemingly broken our hearts over and over again with booming triples and their drive and kick game which is arguably on some sort of ninja mastery passed through generations.

But then the crowd started cheering, egging our Gilas players who were already without Marcus Douthit to keep on pushing. They believed. We believed. They were up one. But Jimmy Alapag was on the floor. He of the many Gilas heartbreaks the last decade or so. He was with friends. He was before family. There was no way he'd go down without a fight.

Not Alapag, not Jean Marc Pingris, Ranidel de Ocampo, Gabe Norwood, Jayson Castro-William, L.A. Tenorio, Larry Fonacier, Gary David, Jeffrei Chan, Japeth Aguilar, Junmar Fajardo and definitely not the one-legged yet still ready to battle Douthit. 

Not the guys on the floor, not the guys on the bench, not the crowd watching live or those of us screaming our lungs out and hurling trusted nouns and adjectives on our poor television sets.

The game was tight, blink and you die basketball was what it came down to. Korea was bent on winning if only to uphold their basketball greatness, we were fueled by dreams.

It became a game of inches, and when it all comes down to it, trust in Filipino basketball to find ways. Kili kili shot by RdO. Putbacks by Pingris. Alapag's dagger triples. On defense, there was plenty of shirt and shorts grabbing, there were elbows and well placed hands and feet. This was Filipino basketball on Filipino soil, "kung ayaw mo masaktan, mag chess ka na lang!"

Get to Spain or die trying.

But the Koreans obliged, hell, they threw counters for every punch we threw. But they were running low on stops. It became obvious down the stretch. We were winning. They were losing on plays. Alapag made a key body check to stop a Korean gunner from a fastbreak. It was one of the many plays that saved the game.

The Korean who got fouled was having the game of his life from down town. After that half court foul, he was crumpled on the floor. He was winded. He got hit hard. Nothing dirty, just a good old school foul.

Then there was Norwood's highlight reel worthy block of a Korean three pointer that you just know, had the wiry George Mason U standout not been there, would go in and turn the tides.

Every Pingris putback was like our FU version of the Korea teams of old's long bombs. We did it. We won. Pilpinas basketball is back on the map. Pilipinas basketball has been exorcised of its Korean demons. We are going to the FIBA World 2014 as one of three Asian representatives.

Now we have a 50-50 chance to actually win FIBA Asia GOLD. Gold, ladies and gentlemen.

To borrow an old battle cry of one of our favorite local teams, "We dare to dream."