FIBA OQT: Gilas vs Les Bleus

"Ming Ming Brothers"
(Photo credit: smartgilasbasketball.com)

What. A. Rush.

This, coming from an overseas-based basket-blogger christened by most as a "hater" for simply calling out his (or any) team's short-comings on the basketball court. If you wanted to read about someone endlessly praising your favorite player and or team, then simply look elsewhere. Look to the mainstream reporters and "analysts" who are afraid to call a spade a spade, by virtue of simply not wanting to "bite the hand that feeds them."

If you want to talk about basketball, about what player/team A or X did right or wrong, then please read on. Let the joyful exchange of ideas and light banter, all taken in harmless stride, flow.

Laban Pilipinas!

Laban!

And then there were 12.

Before we proceed, we would kindly like to take this modicum of space to show love to Kelly Williams, Moala Tautuaa, Greg Slaughter, Marcio Lassiter, Paul Lee, L.A. Tenorio and Calvin Abueva. They did not make the final cut for different reasons, but we all know that these men would shed blood, sweat and tears to represent flag and country under different circumstances.

To them, our whole-hearted respect, appreciation and love.

We would also like to show love to our Gilas Cadets, the ones who voluntarily showed up at the PBA big boys’ practices—Kiefer Ravena, Kevin Ferrer, Mike Tolomia, R.R. Pogoy and Mac Belo. They didn’t have to, but they did. They will have their turn (should rumors prove to be correct) sooner rather than later.

So here we are, just a week away from the FIBA Olympic Qualifiers to be held right in our very own backyard. Gilas coach Tab Baldwin has named his Final 12, and there is no point in wondering or fantasizing about who is and isn’t there, how and why.

The Gilas OQT 12 has been named, and it is our duty to support them without waver.

The Final Cut

Two of the best.
(Photo credit: Nuki Sabo, PBA Images)

Or cuts.

Though we are not privy to the Gilas Pilipinas on-goings, it would not be much of a stretch to say that it was probably quite a painful task to cut proven stars, point guard L.A. Tenorio and small forward Calvin Abueva, from the Final 12 that will represent the country in the coming FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament this July.

With all due respect to the Final 12, which we will write about on a separate entry, Tenorio and Abueva are arguably the best players at their natural positions today.

Will you still love me tomorrow

#WhatIf
(Photo credit: spin.ph)

Twenty-four names forming the Gilas Pilipinas pool were given to FIBA by head coach Tab Baldwin early this year. By now, we all know that he has trimmed it to 14 and will most likely cut two more names (or put them on the FIBA OQT reserve list). And, while we do not want to throw shade at any of the 14 men who made the cut, we just wanted to take this opportunity to see where those who did not make it stand.

The Replacement : Moala Tautuaa
Tautuaa has always been considered as “Naturalized Player Plan B” should Andray Blatche not return in game shape for Gilas. Some have reported that Tautuaa was supposed to reinforce the Cadet squad in the a FIBA-sanctioned tournament recently held in Thailand, but opted to go on break instead. As a basketball fan and patriot, that is kind of off-setting. But Tautuaa probably had his reasons, and in his place Troy Rosario basically killed it as the Cadets’ senior, local, reinforcement.

Fourteen Strong

Asia's Best
(Photo credit: gmanetwork.com)

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas finally announced its 14-man Gilas line-up set to represent the country in the coming International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Olympic Qualifying Tournament this July.

Making the final cut for Head Coach Tab Baldwin are: Jayson Castro, Ranidel De Ocampo, Troy Rosario, Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, June Mar Fajardo, Marc Pingris, Calvin Abueva, Japeth Aguilar, LA Tenorio, Ray Parks, Terrence Romeo, Ryan Reyes, and Andray Blatche.

Some of the names that did not make it include: Marcio Lassiter, Paul Lee, Greg Slaughter, Kiefer Ravena, Mike Tolomia, Kevin Ferrer and Mac Belo (read: we will go back to these gentlemen in a later entry).

Gilas OQT preps are in full swing

Who's joining Blatche?
(Photo credit: FIBA.com)

The month of May is almost coming to an end, which leaves Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tab Baldwin less than 50 days to trim down his 24-man pool to about 13-14 players.

From the PBA we have: Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Ranidel de Ocampo, Ryan Reyes, Mo Tautuaa, Jayson Castro, Troy Rosario, L. A. Tenorio, Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar, Marcio Lassiter, June Mar Fajardo, Gabe Norwood, Jeff Chan, Paul Lee, Calvin Abueva, Terrence Romeo, and Marc Pingris.

From the amateur ranks we have Kiefer Ravena, Kevin Ferrer, Mac Belo, R. R. Pogoy, Russell Escoto and, fresh from his stint in the NBA D-League, Bobby Parks, Jr.

Slaughter and Rosser have already formally begged off from Gilas OQT duty owing to injuries, Tautuaa is no longer needed as Blatche is on his way back to serve as our naturalized reinforcement, while most of the amateurs have been sent to secure the SEABA gold medal: Ferrer, Belo, Pogoy and Escoto with PBA rookie Troy Rosario in tow.

Oh, hey, look! We were able to trim down the roster to 15 (16 if you count Blatche who is a lock):

Dare to dream

Bring him in
(Photo credit: Rappler.com)

There is reason to believe in Gilas Pilipinas and its Coach Tab Baldwin other than blind fanaticism or patriotism.

With 65 calendar days left until the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (which opens in Manila from July 5 onwards), Coach Tab has finally submitted a 24-man pool to FIBA headquarters. We already know that 6"11 naturalized center Andray Blatche is a lock, and though we would have wanted maybe a name or two from the PBA to be added, the overall list sure as hell makes as believe that we could, at the very least, salvage even TWO preliminary wins (which in turn would allow us to advance into the next round, possibly even deeper).

Not a moral victory. Not a single win. But two wins. Three. Four. Maybe more.

Rio?

Anything is possible.

Checking on Gilas

We are officially just four months away until we welcome the men's national basketball teams of France, New Zealand, Senegal, Canada and Turkey for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament set to open on the 5th of July.

Which means, if our very own Gilas is even entertaining thoughts of salvaging at least a victory, then the practices need to be increased; and attendance, a must. Unfortunately for head coach Tab Baldwin, that is not the case.

So here is where we are right now:

Paul Lee is still out nursing whatever. Ian Sangalang is most likely going to be taken out of the pool owing to his subpar PBA season play and non-attendance of practices. Jayson Castro's old achilles injury is acting up again. And the Gilas pool, the original one asked for by Coach Tab, have yet to all suit up together for a single, full-on contact practice.

Yikes.

#AskKKS on Gilas 3

Because one of our readers asked/suggested/demanded that we should hear their ideas out and discuss certain issues instead of just picking topics by ourselves, here is the first official instalment of #AskKKS.

@PBALOL asked the following:

Win FIBA Asia Gold.

Seriously, if we are talking about what head coach Tab Baldwin and his Gilas 3 will need to accomplish to surpass Gilas 2... well then, it would have to be this very tall order which is definitely a lot easier said than done.

Take the lead

Jayson Castro the Leader
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

The knock on Talk'n'Text Tropang Texters star combo guard Jayson Castro has always been "he can't do it without Kuya Jimmy (Alapag)." Even when he was hailed as FIBA Asia 2012's "Best Point Guard in ALL of Asia," a lot of people (us included) chose to remain quiet, if only to not draw the ire of the patriotic, instead of celebrating his rare feat.

Because that whole tournament, it was Jimmy Alapag and L.A. Tenorio running the offense. Because Castro was used more like a 6th man, off-the-bench scorer. Because he was the featured piece on offense instead of the guy who makes everything work.

Quite simply, because Jayson Castro, in the FIBA Asia tournament, and the whole TNT run of titles, was the star player yes, but not the "lead" player.

Thank you Chot

#ThankYouChot
(Photo lifted from Twitter)

I was never a fan of Vincent "Chot" Reyes.

Personally, he's just not a guy I think I could hang with-- based on his "TV personality." He is fashionable at a fault, back when he was still coaching in the PBA en route to a 5x PBA Coach of the Year award (that he reminds every person who visits his Twitter page). To me, his loud shirts took away from the game. Not that he is not entitled to wear his bright, colorful, fashionista ensemble to the SMART Araneta Coliseum or MOA Arena or wherever, but it came off as a bit of a distraction really.

Then there's his nonchalant attitude. Maybe it's because I was brought up by a rival school. There's just something about the way he talks I guess.

Is he misunderstood? Probably. Most likely.

When Silver really means Gold

Asia's best big man
meets Asia's best little man
(Photo courtesy of InterAKTV)

Words cannot express how euphoric Gilas Pilipinas’ magical run en route to the FIBA Asia Finals was. The goal was simple and clear: to put Philippine basketball back on the map. To have our Asian brethren recognize that we are, and have always been, a formidable opponent on the hard court if not for a just suspension brought about by local megalomaniacs and sycophants who couldn’t let go.

We lost our stranglehold on Asia’s Top 5 somewhere at the start of the new millennium, the Middle and Western teams rose into power while we were putting up a circus back home. We didn’t know if our players were progressing or not, because we weren’t looking outside. But once the suspension was lifted, our eyes were opened. Asia has closed the gap—Jordan, Lebanon, Iran, teams that we used to dismiss decades ago (or at the very least, not worry about as much as we do China and Korea), hell, they not only closed the gap but they happily kicked us off the Top5- Top 10 even.

But through the unified efforts spearheaded by Manny V. Pangilinan et. al., Pilipinas basketball is back.

Pilipinas to the (FIBA) World

His name is Jean Marc Pingris.
(Photo courtesy of InterAKTV)

Now is not the time for what ifs and showing people up. It's not about who stuck with Gilas Pilipinas right from the start and who didn't. Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes, after our sweet victory over longtime tormentors Korea, went on record to "forgive" all the haters. It is not the time to hate.

It is the time to DREAM.

When Korea came storming back in the 4th quarter, there was a sudden hush heard all throughout the SM Mall of Asia Arena. It was 2011 all over again. Or the FIBA Asia before that. Or the one prior. All the way back to 1986 and maybe even longer. Forget trying to get over the "Great Wall," it's Korea that has seemingly broken our hearts over and over again with booming triples and their drive and kick game which is arguably on some sort of ninja mastery passed through generations.

But then the crowd started cheering, egging our Gilas players who were already without Marcus Douthit to keep on pushing. They believed. We believed. They were up one. But Jimmy Alapag was on the floor. He of the many Gilas heartbreaks the last decade or so. He was with friends. He was before family. There was no way he'd go down without a fight.

Gilas is No Iran

Someone finally caught up with The Blur
(photo courtesy of Interaksyon.com)

With the FIBA Asia Group E top seed already secured (thanks to manna from heaven a.k.a. Qatar winning over Chinese Taipei, 71-68), Gilas Pilipinas only had to play up to its standards to dispose of an outmatched Hong Kong team that is already on its way out of the tournament.

Only it didn't.

True, Gilas still won 67-55, but not in the manner that everyone thought, hell, KNEW, they would. Here's a team (HK) that's being constantly blown out by their opponents since the start of the tournament. Now, we see them hauling down rebounds (Duncan Reid with 12 points and a game best 19 rebounds) and knocking uncontested three pointers to take early leads. To say that it was mind-boggling would be an understatement.

Gilas puts Jarvis Hayes, Qatar on Lockdown

Photo courtesy of Philip Sison

So much for Qatar's undefeated FIBA Asia campaign.

Gilas Pilipinas brought the Qataris back to earth with a dominant performance of their own, leading the entire night and just putting on the pressure. Be it points coming from Marcus Douthit, long bombs c/o Jeffrei Chan, Gary David finally deciding to join the fun or Japeth Aguilar turning the game into his personal resource for a future YouTube mix tape, Gilas was not going to be denied.

We needed the win because we can't allow the Group E leaders, Qatar and Japan, to break away. We needed the win to continue to validate the whole Gilas basketball program and show its worth versus top tier competition. We needed the win because hey, this is the Philippines and basketball games mean as much to us as life itself.

Where's Our Daddy?

Photo courtesy of The Philippine Star

Big Daddy Marcus Eugene Douthit that is.

Three games into the FIBA Asia 2013 and it seems clear that we are not looking at the same Marcus Douthit of Gilas Pilipinas past. Averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds, Douthit needs to be more assertive in the paint if we are to make it through the next rounds and even win over top tier competition.

Gilas wins over KSA; fails to impress

A win's a win for Gilas Pilipinas

Debuting before a lazy yet good-sized drizzly Thursday FIBA Asia crowd, Gilas Pilipinas managed to salvage a 78-66 win over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This, after powerhouse Iran flexed its muscles with a dominant 90-point win earlier in the day.

So we didn't blow the Arabs out of the murky Manila Bay waters. Hell, we could barely make enough shots to ensure that we save face and not lose the support of the home crowd which were expecting a Manny Pacquiao vs Ricky Hatton style blowout. But as team captain and spiritual leader Jimmy Alapag said in one of his post-game interviews, "a win's a win."

Gilas Pilipinas: A matter of self-confidence

Photo courtesy of Interaksyon.com

Which Gabe Norwood will show up at the FIBA Asia tournament this August?

The one who constantly second guesses and or over analyzes every move on the hardcourt to the point of self-destruction, or the skinny St Vincent St Mary LeBron James clone we saw but glimpses of in last year's Jones Cup title run?

It's time to man up, Norwood is a skilled ball handler with an iffy jumpshot but arms the length of a pteredactyl. There are a lot of flaws in his game, but when he doesn't over think it, he is arguably just as effective as say, Calvin Abueva in Alaska's title run last Commissioner's Cup- minus the theatricality of course.

Gilas Pilipinas: Take the lead

Photo courtesy of Interaksyon.com

Following in the footsteps of all the great Filipino point guards before him, Lewis Alfred Tenorio will spearhead Gilas Pilipinas’ medal-finish dreams in the coming FIBA Asia tournament this August.

Tenorio has earned the mantle from Gilas teammate Jimmy Alapag the last two years. He is the top Filipino playmaker today given his ability to play different styles. He can play uptempo like Alapag and Alex Cabagnot, he can slow it down in the halfcourt a la Wynne Arboleda and Mike Cortez or he can even call his own number and score at will like Paul Lee and Jayjay Helterbrand.

Gilas Pilipinas: Hired gun

Photo courtesy of interaksyon.com

There's an unwritten doctrine among basketball players; of how athleticism and aerial forays are fads more than anything while shooting is one of the sports' truest art forms.

How can it not be? While flashy reverse lay-ups and rim-rattling dunks are a sight to behold, it registers just about the same amount of points as a regular jumpshot. There's a reason why the three point shot is well, worth three points. Shooting is an art form, and three points will always be better than two. Having a designated shooter is a plus for any basketball team and not having one is a curse (hello last NBA season's Philadelphia 76ers). It is the quickest way to either get back into a game or blow it wide open.