For flag and country

Against all odds
(Photo credit to the owner)

While we do not condone the actions of those who begged off from being part of the Gilas 3 men's basketball team, we cannot and will not crucify them for it either

As we have previously mentioned, we will just keep moving forward with the names that we have. From top to bottom, "PBA wish list" aside, we are looking at Jayson Castro, Terrence Romeo, Gary David, Dondon Hontiveros, Matt Rosser, Calvin Abueva, Gabe Norwood, JC Intal, Ranidel de Ocampo, Troy Rosario, Moala Tautuaa, Aldrech Ramos, Sonny Thoss, Asi Taulava and Andray Blatche.

You could throw in retired/unretired Jimmy Alapag, and you are looking at 16 proud and willing basketball players who should be celebrated rather than questioned.

Yes, even JC Intal and Aldrech Ramos will get love from us in spite of our ongoing "dislike" for their "soft" approach to the hardcourt.

Trim this 16-man pool to fit the FIBA Asia tournament's required 12, and we're going to take our chances on Alapag, Intal, Tautuaa and Ramos not making the final cut. Take a look at who's left. Not too shabby if you ask us.

Ball-handling? Romeo, Castro, Norwood, Rosser can all take turns at the point.

Scoring? Blatche. Romeo. Castro. De Ocampo. Hontiveros. David.

Rebounding? Thoss. Taulava. De Ocampo. Blatche. Abueva.

Hustle? Grit? Abueva, by himself, has you covered on this one.

Attack-first, take no prisoners mentality? Romeo. Abueva.

So let the guys who begged off be. They did it for themselves at the end of the day. To keep their livelihood and above all, to show loyalty.

Case closed.

There is no point in wanting, ranting, wishing and hoping that player A or B would come walking into the Gilas 3's practice facility. We are entering the third week of August, which leaves us about five weeks until the FIBA Asia Cup to be held in China on September 23. There is no point in asking for more players.

What Filipino basketball fans should be doing IMHO is to cheer for the 16 man pool that we have right now. Kudos to Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario for answering the call, even if it subjects them to injuries and more mileage (just take a look at Kelly Williams, who suffered an unfortunate incident to open Gilas 3 training camp) just a few days away from being drafted into the PBA.

Can we defend our "golden" silver won in 2013?

With this line-up? We firmly believe that we can win Gold.

#Tiwala