#ThankYouKuyaMarcus

Gilas I is Douthit
(Photo credit to PhilStar.com)

For all the on and off court success enjoyed by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas' Gilas men's basketball program, we wouldn't fault the casual fan if they thought that it has always been this way form the very start.

Because quite honestly, it wasn't.

It took the addition of 6"11 US NCAA Division 1 standout Marcus Douthit of the Providence College Friars to get the program going from "just another basketball team" to "Asian basketball powerhouse" somewhere around 2009 to 2010.

See, the Gilas program was initially meant to do away with hastily forming a PBA All Star team whenever an international meet would come up. Most of the players who signed up for the program were fresh out of college: Mark Barroca, JVee Casio, Dylan Ababou, Mac Baracael and Chris Tiu. They then added some more names such as Japeth Aguilar, Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz, but overall they were a bunch of snot-nosed college kids being asked to reclaim Asian basketball supremacy for the Philippines-- even if they were coached by Serbian Rajko Toroman.

Quite the tall order, really.

Waiting for Gilas 3

What is head coach Tab Baldwin and everyone else from Gilas Pilipinas waiting for? Where is the pool of available PBA players? Why are we not hearing of any practices, tune-up games and pocket tournaments while the rest of Asia is busy with the very same things? Will Andray Blatche be able to suit up, CBA contract and all?

As we write this piece, we have come to the realization that perhaps the focus of Gilas 3 should be to simply outscore opponents rather than trying to find the right balance between offense and defense. Don't get us wrong, we're not trying to sell you on the idea of abandoning defense altogether, we're just saying that perhaps we should go for broke and maximize our scoring prowess rather than always trying to match-up to our opponents.

Instead of bringing in two way players who are average on offense and defense but acceptable for both, why not bring in prime offensive weapons instead? No matter how you put it, basketball it still decided by the team that is able to score more than his opponent. Fact.

You're on your own

"Where my teammates at?!"
(Photo credits to the owner)

Sound the alarm.

We only have a few weeks left before the FIBA Asia - 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic qualifying tournament opens in China in September 5. That being said, while other Asian teams have already declared their intended pool and rosters (even participating in several tune-up tournaments as of this printing) we Filipinos could only wonder who's going to even be invited to Gilas camp headed by coach Tab Baldwin.

Here are some of the things we've heard so far: there's a concern among non MVP teams regarding the whole "lend us your players or face media backlash" ploy. Which doesn't help that they (the Gilas heads) have already been accused at one point or another of whispering sweet nothings into the ears of the players that were loaned to them (hello, L.A. Tenorio). Which also doesn't help the fact that we're asking teams to lend their employees, who they pay for and take care of, to play elsewhere-- FREE and risk getting hurt and so on.

A new day

#ThankYouGilas

A runner-up finish in the 2012 FIBA Asia championships, a Jones Cup title, a lonesome yet historic victory in the 2014 FIBA World Cup and finally, a seventh-place finish in the SouthEast Asian Games...

... and with that, Gilas Pilipinas-- from head coach Chot Reyes to the defiant and valiant captain Jimmy Alapag, is no more. Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas' (SBP) President Manny V. Pangilinan announced it just recently, that we will no longer see this version of the Philippines' Men's Basketball Team lovingly called "Gilas." Others have gone on to social media to express their thoughts. Some call it a travesty, an over-reaction to the Asiad debacle. Others say that it's been a long time coming and perhaps, another camp (Team San Miguel Corporation) should take charge.

Whatever it may be, know that this is not a dark day in Philippine basketball but rather a bright one.

2014 FIBA World Cup: Puerto Rico (17) vs Philippines (34) IR

FIBA version of #chickensad
Photo courtesy of FIBA.com

Isn't it ironic how we keep on saying that we're one of the smallest (if not the smallest) teams competing in the 2014 FIBA World Cup only to fall, once more, against a team led by a man who is generously and graciously listed as six feet tall?

With last night's 77-73 loss to Puerto Rico, our World Cup Round of 16 dream has finally come to an end. We can only hope that Gilas Pilipinas is able to salvage a victory against the 37th seeded Senegal MBT, but even that team has a far superior win-loss slate than us.

So what did us in versus Puerto Rico? Well, the law of averages finally hit our shooters (which, by now, does not include Jeffrei Chan and Gary David). We took 28 attempts and only hit 6, with Gabe Norwood, either by design or by default, TAKING SIX THREES and hitting NONE. Then there's the turnovers-- forced and unforced. Paul Lee had five to go with Andray Blatche's six (with a crucial one down the stretched which led to J.J. Barrea's heroics).

And for all things Renaldo Balkman, the former and controversial PBA import didn't kill us. No, he was even benched for long stretches. Hell, Puerto Rico was pretty much a one-man team on offense in the final stretch with Barrea, who dropped 30 on our heads, seemingly unstoppable.

2014 FIBA World Cup: Argentina (3) vs Philippines (34) IR

Yes. We. Can.
Photo courtesy of FIBA.com

85-81.

To paraphrase a widely known movie quote: "It doesn't matter if you lose by an inch or a mile, losing is losing."

This is starting to become a new norm nowadays, celebrating moral victories and being happy or content with our Gilas Pilipinas losing by no more than 10 points to recognized World basketball powerhouses. It's almost too good to be true, when we're supposed to be "lacking in ceiling" and a true blue "Cinderella" story for the ages.

Then you take a look at the other team in our bracket and find Senegal, ranked 3 spots lower than us, enjoying a 2-1 win loss slate compared to our 0-3.

So yeah, let's all move on from the euphoria of making it to the 2014 FIBA World Cup and going toe to toe with some of the world's best. It's time to win. It's time to make a statement. Our players can do it, we're already there. No more excuses, no more drama. Either we're good enough to win or we're not. 

2014 FIBA World Cup: Greece (5) vs Philippines (34) IR

Release. The Kraken.
(Photo courtesy of FIBA.com)

If one were to look at the final score of 82-70 alone and not be familiar with all things 2014 FIBA World Cup, you'd think that the teams that were duking it out weren't ranked far from one another internationally.

Well Greece is currently ranked 5th in the whole basketball world while the Philippines, our team, is ranked 34th. Yet we managed to lose by "only" 12 points to one of the recognized European basketball powerhouses despite having to deal with height disadvantages and in-game injuries. As with the game against Croatia, here are a few things that we've picked up on which we hope Gilas could either build on or shy away from in their next three matches.

Positive:
- Andray Blatche hobbled his way to finish with 21 points, 14 rebounds and 3 rebounds and shied away from playing iso-Blatche early. This allowed the team to get comfortable on the floor and take responsibility on both offense and defense.

2014 FIBA World Cup: Croatia (16) vs Philippines (34) IR

First and foremost, MABUHAY ANG PILIPINAS!

What. A. Game.

After trailing by as much as 15 points in the 1st quarter and a half, Gilas made a game off their debut against one of Europe's finest in Croatia thanks to the efforts of naturalised centre Andray Blatche and the (surprisingly) 4th point guard in the rotation, captain Jimmy Alapag. True enough, Gilas found itself flat-footed early, unable to make shots versus the taller Croatians and pretty much jittery on the floor. Blatche was left to go isolation, much like he did the entire pre-FIBA tune-up campaign for Gilas, which wasn't bad since he was the only guy who could get buckets for us, but wasn't good either because it was messing up our spacing and dribble drive game plan.

If anything, this game can be summed up as Croatia probably taking us for granted early, and the proud men of Gilas just playing with all heart and effort. We caught them off-guard, being one of the virtual unknowns in the tournament and were fortunate enough to have been able to make shots in the end to force over time and salvage a respectable 81-78 loss.

Here's an amateur's take on the positives and negatives that we can learn from the game against Croatia:

Positive:
- Andray Blatche is versatile. He's clearly a walking mismatch at 6"11, with the hybrid forwards of Croatia unable to keep in step owing to Blatche's speed and ball handling skills (which is quite exceptional really and something we never saw in the NBA). Though Blatche is not a force in the paint, he makes up for his big man shortcomings by playing like a little man on the court. He helps spread the floor for our shooters, can drive to the hoop when he wants and has no problems whatsoever in taking (and making treys). Truth be told, Blatche helps our cause in making the game faster-- which gives us more attempts down the floor.

Laban Pilipinas

Mamaya lamang ay magsisimula na ang pinakamalaking kampanya ng ating Pilipinas men's basketball team sa 2014 FIBA World Cup. Bagamat tanggap na ng sambayanan na halos saling pusa lang tayo sa torneyo at makikigulo lang sa unang bahagi ng kompetisyon, dapat natin tandaan na sa basketball, walang imposible. Ung mga paborito at dehado, minsan, nagkakabaligtaran ng nilalarong posisyon. Minsan, ung dehado, nakakanakaw. Nakakabulag. Sa basketball, ang sarap mangarap. Ang sakit matalo, pero ang sarap mangarap.

Jimmy Alapag. LA Tenorio. Paul Lee. Jayson Castro. Gary David. Jeffrei Chan. Gabe Norwood. Marc Pingris. Ranidel de Ocampo. Japeth Aguilar. Junemar Fajardo. Andray Blatche. Chot Reyes.

Larry Fonacier, Marcus Douthit at ang mga iba pang naging bahagi ng kampanyang ito.

The Unknown

Will he play with PUSO?
(Photo courtesy of SolarSportsDesk.Ph)

"The boys may not be afraid yet, but we're getting a bad feeling. This passage, with its "decaying coconuts" and forest "darkness" hints that nasty things are on the way. No wonder the littluns start freaking out." - excerpt from "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding

The unknown and our fear of it is the "darkness" that we speak of, of the "nasty things" being on its way.

As Gilas Pilipinas flies out West to Miami, Florida to train for the coming FIBA World Cup tournament to be held in Spain, there's a lingering sense of doubt among fans. Realistically speaking, no one is expecting a podium finish this time around. Logic dictates that our team can win a game or two at best, but overcoming the powerhouse European teams and America might be a little out of the question.

The sense of the unknown or doubt, comes by way of one Andray Blatche. The man who is being touted as our new hero, to replace the one that has spent the last four or five years bringing us back to Asian basketball contention-- Marcus Douthit.