KKS Gilas 3.0 (Part 3)

The future of Philippine basketball
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

Ladies and gentlemen, our KKS Gilas 3.0 starters:

C Junemar Fajardo
Gilas coach Tab Baldwin didn't have to beat around the bush on Fajardo's inclusion. As it stands, Fajardo is the present and future of Philippine basketball much like Yao Ming was for China and Hamed Haddadi is for Iran. He is the pillar in which the program will be anchored on for the foreseeable future, alongside fellow giant Greg Slaughter. In the instances wherein he played in FIBA World, Fajardo showed that he has the smarts and muscle to hold his own in the paint against legitimate NBA big men.



PF Marc Pingris
Someone will have to take a seat in the event that a naturalized reinforcement comes in. But until that day (and person) comes, Pingris is the best option to pair with a dominant big man in Fajardo as he is a natural weak side helper and rebounder. When teams are focused on the center, Pingris is at his best jockeying for rebounding position, cutting into the lane for gimmes and putbacks and so on. He's undersized and is about as big as any West Asian shooting guard/ small forward, but if we've learned anything about Pingris is that he'll fight for the basketball no matter who is in front of him or how hurt he may be. And for any more arguments, you can just go back and follow Gilas 2.0's adventures and discover that they weren't screaming #Puso not until Pingris got into the mix.

SF Gabe Norwood
Because for some inexplicable reason, Gabe Norwood transforms into an entirely different person when he plays in the PBA and in FIBA competition. We honestly didn't know he could dunk on people's faces like that. With no remorse. He can dunk, sure. But in-your-face? Wow. Where'd that aggression come from? Oh, he can suddenly knock down successive three balls AND throw in a nice mid-range game too. What? Are we still talking about the same Gabe Norwood who plays for Rain or Shine? FIBA Gabe all day.

The "John Cena" of Philippine Basketball

SG James Yap
The first time we saw Yap was when he suited up for the University of the East Red Warriors in the UAAP. There was a lot of hoopla around him, though he has yet to play on national television. After a teammate set a screen for him (not sure if it was Nino Canaleta), the man proceeded to launch a three OVER his own teammate and the two scrambling defenders. Easy swish. Wow. And to this day, his release, his form remains the same. When Yap is on, he is the best out there. He just makes shooting the basketball, over defenders, look so effortless. When he's in a funk, he's still bigger and stockier than the next guy. If we're simply running the dribble drive offense, which is just really, if you break it down, a fancy way of saying "get out of the ball-handler's way and just be ready if he passes or misses" then Yap can readily take over the Jeffrei Chan/ Gary David/ Larry Fonacier "just keep shooting no matter what" role.

PG Jayson Castro
From today, the day that we're writing this, to the start of the FIBA Asia tournament, Castro should be able to grow and mature enough as a point guard after years of playing behind and beside Jimmy Alapag (who will serve as assistant coach to Coach Baldwin). He has the size, speed, strength and skills to be one of Asia's best ever at the point position as more of his competitors are either too small (East Asians) or too slow/ Euro (West Asians).

Castro, Yap, Norwood, Pingris, Fajardo, Lee, Romeo, Rosser, de Ocampo, Slaughter, Abueva and Sangalang.

That's our, KKS, Gilas 3.

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