34th Jones Cup: Pusong Palaban

Ginto!

In a game that it had absolutely no business of winning after a tough 0-6 start and falling behind by double digits most of the way, the under-sized, little prepared and odd bunch known to us as the Pilipinas select team snatched the 34th William Jones Cup gold medal win right under the cocky U.S.A. stalwarts 76-75.

Not only were the Americans taking advantage of their superior combination of height, speed and athleticism that we only have Gabe Norwood to match with, but the guys added another facet to their attack-- knocking down jumpers and long bombs and just pretty much rising up over our shorter countrymen. In layman's terms, "ginawang asintahan ung mga puyo natin."

34th Jones Cup: Top 10 Things We've Learned

Pilipinas' battlecry: ATTACK!

1. The dribble-drive offense is just as effective a zone-breaker as shooting from the outside
This approach opened a lot of eyes in terms of breaking the dreaded zone defense that we Filipino, having learned and patterned the game from the Americans, believe to be indestructible. Of course, for the DD to be effective, a team has to have A) a slasher strong enough to protect the ball and receive contact and B) shooters to kick-out too. We've always had A covered, it was the B part that we never really consistently had until this year. Even Gilas I didn't enjoy such premium-quality shooters led by Jeffrei Chan (who is really Allan Caidic on a Chin Chun Su overdose). The most effective so far are starting guard L.A. Tenorio who does it by his craftiness and exceptional ball-handling plus back-up Sol Mercado who just bulldozes his way inside. They suck in the 2-3 zone and force opponents to regroup/ help, leaving our shooters roaming free and waiting for the ball.

Date kasi ang intindi natin, pagnaka zona ang kalaban, tirahan mo na lang ng tres. Wag ka na mag-effort. Papawisan ka lang. Buti sana kung lahat ng player natin e mala-Caidic na sure-ball. Ngayon, gumagalaw lahat.

34th Jones Cup: Gilas survives Taiwanese shootout

It's Showtime!

UNBERIBABURRRRYAAAAH! (read: Unbelievable!)

Pilipinas, known for its one-on-one forays and dribbling exploits, survived yet another shootout this time against Chinese Taipei which all but guarantees our team a medal-finish in the 34th William Jones Cup. Tonight, the team did it in a "my turn, your turn" fashion by hacking out a 76-72 win over Chinese Taipei who were playing in front of their home crowd.

Quite funny how the Taiwanese came in full force to cheer the home team and heckle ours--most likely unaware that this select team has heard worse from Ginebra fans (them being all non-SMC guys). That being said, it was a great game with back and forth action. Jeffrei Chan carried us early, drilling in threes that would make Allan Caidic proud.

34th Jones Cup: Gilas takes down Asian champs

KKS calls a ceasefire
on all "Norwood is soft" jokes
...for now :)

For only the nth time since the Iranians zoomed into the upper echelon of Asian basketball, Pilipinas was able to raise its hands in victory at game's end. It was ugly early; sluggish and brutal-- both teams recognizing what was at stake and not wanting to give any advantage thus milking the shot clock and causing some of the most amateur-ish (and botched) sets before turning the intensity up in the second half.

Like a box office title fight, both teams didn't play their cards outright. Iran was happy with feeding the ball down low and not really looking to work around the center with their guards who are truly Euro-league worthy (Nikkhah Barrami is a beast!) while Pilipinas' dreaded "dribble drive" offense was being held at bay for halfcourt sets. Though the first half ended locked at 33 a piece, the game was physical, competitive and highly entertaining. The referees were doing their part to mess up the game for both teams, calling the quickest three second violations you'll ever see on television and missing some chippy plays inside.

34th Jones Cup: Pilipinas' grades

Stay aggressive Gabe!

Today's 88-84 win over Japan marks yet another come-from-behind win for Team Pilipinas, pulling out all the stops to erase a 4th quarter 11-point deficit. Not only where the Japs shooting the ball with Korean-like precision, but their ball movement was the best this writer has seen from that country in years.

Fortunately for us, Marcus "Big Daddy" Douthit came through with a stellar 26 points, 13 rebounds performance to carry us throughout the game in time for the locals to regroup defensively and wax hot in the 4th. Our top gunners, Gary David and Jeffrei Chan, provided the needed long bombs with Gabe Norwood-- who is having a "Cyrus Baguio-like" series, just playing the best basketball we've seen from him so far.

We have to commend Coach Chot Reyes for his awesome shuffling and also that impressive switching on defense which just about everyone on the floor for Pilipinas appears to have embraced whole-heartedly. Not only were they being active, but screens and picks by the Japs were being taken out of the equation because there was always a guy rotating inside or outside to meet them.

So without further ado, let's move on to the grades so far: