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EASY! EASY!
(Photo credit to FIBA.com)

After all the drama and hardships leading into the formation of the team, Gilas 3 is back in the semifinals of the FIBA Asia tournament wherein we have a realistic chance of defending our precious "golden" silver or better yet-- winning it all en route to a seat in the 2016 Rio Olympics to do battle with the world's best basketball players.

But first, we need to beat Japan tomorrow before we even entertain thoughts of facing either defending champions and longtime tormentors Iran or the "rebuilt" basketball dynasty that is China.

If the game versus Lebanon is to be of any indication, you could say that we are on the right path though there are some things that we still need to work on if our goal indeed is to not simply enjoy a podium finish but rather facing global basketball superpowers like US, Spain and Argentina, among others. Today, Jayson Castro and Andray Blatche proved that they are arguably the best 1-2 punch in all of Asian basketball, maybe rivalling/ besting Iran's Nikkhah Bahrami and Hamed Haddadi even. Castro was just in a world of his own: finishing with 25 points, blitzing into the lane and besting his young Lebanese counterpart. Blatche? Though he started the tournament out of shape, the 6"11 reinforcement is starting to show flashes of his natural form by dropping 25 points and 17 rebounds on a Lebanese side that just didn't have anyone to match him with.

Blatche is big, quick, strong and finesse but at the same time he doesn't seem to mind getting his hands dirty when called upon.


Still, the Lebanese squad was able to keep the game close thanks to the exceptional coaching efforts of the much-maligned Veselin Matic who was quoted as saying that facing the Philippines was "easy, easy" as compared to facing Iran.

It became bulletin board material for Gilas Coach Tab Baldwin and our guys, but Matic probably meant that he'd rather take his chances with the 2013 silver medalists than the multiple time Asian gold medalists. There's nothing insulting about it, you'd much rather face a "lower" opponent-- which we are until we unseat Iran.

Then came the energy guys.

If there is one thing that we have learned from this tournament about Gilas 3 is that it is BETTER than Gilas 2. Sure, its predecessor had the shooters and that now 2x PBA MVP in tow, but that team was notorious for long dry spells. Gilas 3? This team has hustle guys who can turn garbage into gold quite literally with Marc Pingris AND Calvin Abueva who has endeared himself not only to the Philippine nation (not just the Alaska and San Sebastian fans) but also to the Asian commentators.

With those two and spitfire Terrence Romeo, Gilas 3 is able to sustain (if not exceed) the energy of the team whenever Castro and Blatche are on the bench. The game is suddenly played in a more frenetic pace, things get chippy and testy inside and teams are wary of Romeo dancing around their point guards that they can't help but bring someone over up top which opens the paint for Pingris and Abueva.

The lack of shooters has become a blessing in disguise of sorts, since we no longer rely on the three ball to bail us out. No, our guys are attacking the rim and playing closer to the basket which is something you'd almost always want from your team.

Against Japan, we have an obvious advantage with Blatche (Joji Takeuchi is skilled, but not NBA starting five skilled like Blatche) and even Castro (would've been nice if Yuta Tabuse were a couple of years younger). Abueva can also go crazy in this game if Coach Tab lets him. Wonder if we'll see JC Intal in this one, since he didn't play a single minute versus Lebanon.

Laban Pilipinas!