Golden Gilas

Photo: Rappler.com

The Philippines' men's basketball team finally did it. We brought home the Gold Medal in the 2023 Asian Games, our first since 1962, and our first medal finish in basketball since 1998.

And even before we set foot on the hardcourt, we were already met with the following challenges:

A roster that was constructed and finalized with only days left before the tournament. A coach who took on the job despite having such a short turnaround time (following his predecessor's resignation) and only a handful of players available from the World Cup roster. So-called veteran sports journalists and columnists throwing salt at the team and spreading rumors of a pullout and a 'new coach' in the background.

Once in China, we won two games while losing via a blowout to eventual Gold medal match dance partners, Rondae Hollis Jefferson and the Jordan men's basketball team. There were chemistry issues, some rotation, and offensive sets that looked lacking-- obviously from a lack of preparation and time together. But the team kept pushing forward, kept hustling. There was a blown 20-point lead versus Iran. And there was the huge 20-point comeback versus hosts China.

Oh, that China match was one for the books.

It was so beautiful to watch, that yes, like most, we simply had to watch it over and over and over again.

We climbed back from 20+ points, and it really did look like our Gilas were simply too tired to even mount a comeback with 2 minutes left and facing a 9-point lead. But then, collectively, our guys kept hustling, kept keeping the ball alive, enough for Justin Brownlee to do his thing and take over with 8 points (a floater, a step-back three, and another three over two capable Chinese defenders to give us the 1 point cushion to win it).

Had we lost in the medal match, we wouldn't have cared less. That was our gold medal match right there, that was adrenaline-pumping basketball. Beautiful, ugly, chaotic, mesmerizing. Brownlee further cemented his GOAT status in the eyes of Philippine basketball fans, even turning his haters and those who simply love to pit him against fellow naturalized player Jordan Clarkson into believers.

For the record, Clarkson is in the NBA for a reason. He's also the younger player. The system that was run for him in the World Cup, simply left a bad taste in the mouths and minds of those who know their basketball. Simple as that. We love Clarkson. We hated the iso-Clarkson-centric offense that we put on display for all the world to see, which made the entire Gilas roster look incapable.

Brownlee on the other hand, is a different type of player. He is a system player who fits Coach Tim Cone's offense perfectly. He knows when and where to takeover, and boy did he ever.

But just when we all thought that the win over China was the creme de la creme, the best that we could ever salvage in this tournament, Gilas went to work versus Jordan in the Gold medal match.

It was ugly. The first quarter, I thought that both teams were out of rhythm. Clanking shots. Bungling dribble penetrations. But then I noticed a pattern. That every time Gilas brought the ball down, they would hold on to the ball a bit longer than usual. They would run their offense with 12 seconds on the shot clock or less. This was ugly, grit and grind, slowbreak basketball that would drive today's generation into madness. There were no swooshes, aahs, and oohs, Hollis-Jefferson simply had no space to mimic his idol Kobe Bryant's dance moves on the perimeter.

This was an old Batman facing the leader of the Mutants, scrapping in knee-deep mud to negate whatever advantage the other side had.

Coming into the match, Jordan was the number one offensive force in the tournament. Their point guard, Ibrahim, will be a force at the 1 spot for the next few years. RHJ and their other import, were spectacular in open court, free-flowing, space and pace basketball. They ran and shot teams to the ground.

That wasn't the case in this one. An off night from the outside paired with some rugged, stifling defense from Gilas derailed the Jordanians and forced them out of their comfort zone. Suddenly, Hollis-Jefferson could not create as he was locked up by Chris Newsome and the help defense. The locals were finding it hard to scrap with the more physical Gilas side, which surprisingly benefited from the referees allowing both teams to simply play their games to the hilt as long as it was in a basketball context.

There were elbows, arm locks, handchecks, pushing and shoving from both sides-- but the referees just let them play.

Of the two, Gilas looked more comfortable with the slow and physical pace of the game. Even when Jordan tied it to end the half, the scores were considerably low at 31-31. It felt like we were watching an old 90s NCAA/ UAAP game were there were simply an absence of elite scoring and offensive sets. It was that ugly.

Ugly, by design.

In the second half, the Jordanians looked like they were now waist-deep in filth. They simply could not run. Could not move the ball or swing it outside. Their shooters were off, the shots were rushed-- a natural reaction when you see defenders swarming on the switch. Panicked. Pressured. This is the Gold medal game, after all.

You could also say that they weren't as tested as Gilas. They had the easier games en route to the Gold. We had them, Iran, and China. They had a cakewalk through Chinese Taipei in the semifinals. We had to claw our way back versus China.

So our guys were ready. There was no pressure- not after surviving China. The Gilas team believed that their defense would carry them through. And while we all knew that Jordan would keep an eye on Brownlee, guys like Newsome, Scottie Thompson, the GOAT Junemar Fajardo, and Angelo Kuoame all went to work.

CJ Perez and Kevin Alas came off the bench to provide that spark. Calvin Oftana, the default 3rd option on offense of the first five, delivered enough to keep defenders honest.

And when the buzzer finally sounded, we won. 70-60. This is almost unheard of, unthinkable, unfathomable in today's 3 point shot trigger-happy generation where scores are almost always up to 90 or 100.

70-60.

We've never had this kind of defensive, grit and grind game in recent memory for a Gilas team. It's always about the offense- Dribble Drive Offense, Tab Baldwin's motion Euro offense. The defense has never taken the spotlight.

Until Tim Cone came into the picture.

Accepting that okay, we are still tactically immature as Baldwin puts it when it comes to offense. That we have problems veering away from the American iso-heavy style.

So Cone put Asia on notice with this new Gilas defensive philosophy.

And now, until the next Asian Games, we can proudly say, that we are the Kings of the Asian Games.