Gilas Pilipinas: The Specialist

Photo courtesy of interaksyon.com

Name one basketball skill and chances are Larry Fonacier's probably performed it in one of the many stops in his decorated and multi-titled basketball career.

Shoot from the outside? Hit clutch baskets? Jumpshot? Layup left hand? Layup right hand? Use the glass? Stop and pop? Pick and roll? Pick and pop? Teardrop?

Check.

Gilas Pilipinas: The Stopper

Photo courtesy of pbafans.blogspot.com

When was the first time you saw Jean Marc Pingris play basketball?

Was it with the San Mig Coffee Mixers? When he was finally lauded as the league's best defensive player once a more prized basketball peer was moved out? Was it with the BMeg Llamados when he served as the ideal complementary piece to a rising superstar triumvirate? Or was it when he was a highly touted rookie with tons of potential and athleticism rocking corn rows and sporting a huge tattoo on his bicep?

We remember the wild beast with immense swagger back in a Philippine Basketball League All Star Slam Dunk contest. At the time, Pingris had no chance of winning against legit high-flyers and basketball aerial wizards (Nino Canaleta was only good at one thing then, and that was dunking it Dr. J style). How could he? He had an obvious advantage at 6"5 with little to no effort to really dunk the basketball (we're not talking about Michael Jordan here).

KKS final, final, FINAL Gilas Pilipinas’ 12

Break glass in case of emergency.

We're halfway done with June which could only mean that August a.k.a. "FIBA in Manila" season is just around the corner. With that, we present to you our final, final, pinaaaaaaaaaaaka-FINAL (last na to pramis) Gilas Pilipinas 12-man roster:

First Five: PG LA Tenorio/ SG Jeffrei Chan/ SF Gabe Norwood/ PF Sonny Thoss/ C Marcus Douthit

There are a lot of cases in basketball, be it local or foreign, wherein talent is enough to win games. We’ve seen it time and again, when a n actual team with a balanced roster is defeated by a rag-tag selection led by a prodigy (we don’t even have to look that far, with names such as the NBA’s Cleveland days LeBron James, pre-Big Three/ post-Shaq Dwyane Wade and pre-muscle memory injury Derrick Rose and in the Pinoy hoops scene- Meralco/GlobalPort’s Sol Mercado who was going all HAM before a trade, injury and a questionable coach derailed his Most Improved Player 2012 campaign).

Revival

Remember when RDO, today's best Pinoy big man,
was left off the national team years back?
It's because of Kerby. And Kerby's reminding us why.

There's something in the air...

... it stands tall amidst the deafening chants of over 14,000 strong, most of which wear red, black and white proudly as colors. It is enough to rejuvenate tired old bones, wounded and almost forgotten army generals who once stood proud at the forefront of several conquests.

Out of the ashes the forgotten arose, defying the hands of time, ignorant of the way of the basketball. This is a new era, where athletes come in droves taller, bigger, faster and highly trained with new knowledge shared faster and more simpler. The old guards are supposed to stand aside, they're supposed to know their place as they have already paid their dues and paved the way for the next generation as those before them.

But not these soldiers, or at the very least, not yet.

Coach Chot Names Gilas 17

REPRESENT JD and Gabe!

Brace yourselves Gilas Pilipinas fans, head coach Chot Reyes has come out with a 17-man pool for the coming FIBA Asia 2013 World Qualifiers. At first look, we’re loving how the core of the 2012 Jones Cup team was brought back together with a bunch of Coach Chot’s system Talk ‘n’ Text players.

This allows continuity and fluidity of Gilas’ preferred “Dribble Drive Motion Offense” as most of the perimeter players already know the nooks and crannies of it. Tenorio did a masterful job the last time out, able to pick his spots outside and get to just about anywhere he pleases inside.

The Anti-Gilas

If you can't join them, beat them.

Now that the Philippine Basketball Association, as a whole, is on board the Gilas Pilipinas men's basketball program and its attempt to crash the medal round of the FIBA Asia 2013 World Qualifiers, hopes are indeed very high. After all, not only is the tournament going to be held in Manila, but because of the surplus of talent that has suddenly been made available to Gilas head coach Chot Reyes et. al.

In helping prepare Gilas Pilipinas for the coming tournament, the PBA will be shelving its annual All Star Game in lieu of a tune-up match pitting the "chosen ones" and players who didn't make the final cut (re: the "other" best players of the league). This is not a jab at the guys who were not chosen for one reason or another. This is a challenge, for them to not treat this as a "friendly" and just go hard. If they can spill blood, then go do so. To send the best, we need everyone on board to give their best.

Here's our list of the Anti-Gilas:

PG
Sol Mercado/ Paul Lee/ Alex Cabagnot
Since Mercado, who was doing work in the 2012 Jones Cup as a power guard spark plug, is ineligible under the new FIBA rules, it's only fitting that he gets first dibs on taking on fellow power guards and Gilas shoo-ins Jayson Castro and Ryan Reyes. Based on the last few months, Mercado is going to attack the rim and should give our prized point guards a run for their money. Lee comes in to spell Mercado to score and orchestrate. Cabagnot, when his head is screwed on straight, is a legit playmaker who is a wizard on offense.

We dream of Gilas Pilipinas

Best two-way player in the PBA
the last 3 years needs to be
on Gilas Pilipinas

A few days ago PBA Commissioner Chito Salud made it clear that the league is throwing its all-out support to the men's basketball program. With that, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes pretty much has a free hand on building the best team possible in time for the FIBA Asia tournament to be held in Manila this August.

The obvious concession in exchange of getting the right players is of course the "dropping" of the SMART sponsorship from the team name (which shouldn't even be an issue since they are the ones who are bankrolling the damn thing just like San Miguel does for Spain and Visa does for Argentina). Now that that issue has been addressed, we should all focus on the task at hand.

FIBA Asia: Gilas 2 stumbles out of the Finals

There was just nothing
even The Boss could do versus Iran

Following this afternoon's painful 77-60 defeat to the bigger, stronger, highly skilled and cohesive Iranian side, Team Pilipinas will have to make do and salvage third place in the FIBA Asia Cup.

That being said, don't cry for Coach Chot Reyes or any of our proud, fighting patriots who did all they could until they met a team that was just too well-prepared and seasoned to lose on its way to the big stage. There's no shame in losing, definitely not when you're coming off a successful Jones Cup tournament and was able to regain some sense of basketball respectability all across Asia.

In today's match, the outcome was pretty obvious right from the get go. We started slow, lethargic and hesitant. Our vaunted "dribble drive" offense has been exposed as a ploy to increase offensive possessions through hustle plays and rebounding. Iran did an awesome job protecting the ball and getting into their sweet spots on the floor for gimmes. We did an awful job in taking them out of there and played right into their hands.

Bring FIBA back to Manila

The country’s hopes and dreams of enjoying (tremendous) homecourt advantage come the FIBA Asia Championships took a blow when the FIBA Executive Committee opted to hold the 2013 event in Lebanon.

And while most would sit and sulk with the loss (imagine our Team Pilipinas boys playing before adoring, smart Pinoy basketball fans who would surely treat each game—eliminations or knockout, like a game 7 PBA showdown between San Mig Coffee and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel) and even question the FIBA Asia Secretary General  Hagop Khajirian’s integrity (he is Lebanese after all), let’s all just move forward from this temporary setback.

Marcus Douthit: The Big Daddy Difference

Thank You Douthit!

With Team Pilipinas a.k.a. SMART Gilas 2.0 looking stronger by the day, even causing greats such as Ronnie Magsanoc and Vince Hizon to call it the "best ever," we should all take time to thank the one guy who has made the biggest transition of all in the name of overall success.

We're talking about no less than naturalized center Marcus Douthit-- the 6"10 pillar of strength that has seen and led two different Pilipinas basketball selections over the last two to three years. The soft-spoken big man with droopy eyes and fundamentally sound finesse low post moves has not only embraced his new country but has quickly adapted to whatever system is presented him.

Back when then Pilipinas head coach Rajko Toroman brought the New Yorker in, expectations were unfairly high on Douthit. The SMART Gilas program was taking quite a while to develop, and though the system was working and our players were being developed-- we were still a basketball doughnut despite having an import named C.J. Giles (who was more athletic than skilled, not too mention him being skinnier than Gabe Norwood *not a complement for a center*).

FIBA Asia: Rack 'em up

Tenorio's brilliant dribbling forays
sets the tone early for Pilipinas

With this evening's win over defending champions Lebanon, Team Pilipinas should make the crossover round with expected (with all due respect of course) victories over Uzbekistan and Macau (countries that are still developing their basketball programs). Not to say that our guys should go on auto-pilot or even field in their little used players, but we should take advantage of whatever rest we could afford our   top guns.

Marcus Douthit redeemed himself from yesterday's frustrating episode versus the young Chinese giants with a sterling 25 points, 21 rebounds effort despite early foul trouble (this is starting to become a trend now, one we simply cannot afford against elite teams). The locals chipped in big time, taking turns dismantling the disorganized Lebanese defense.

If there's anything to really nitpick on then it is our continued struggles from the outside. Gary David, Jeffrei Chan and Larry Fonacier have yet to burn the hoops with back-to-back triples, Gabe Norwood has gone back to his old, hesitant self and Ranidel de Ocampo is on the Gary David system-- just settling and jacking up (and missing) threes when he's outside the painted area.

Chot Reyes’ Redemption Tour starts NOW

Chot Reyes
SMART Gilas  2 Head Coach 

It’s official.

After months of speculation (media and fans) and preparation (for those directly involved), Chot Reyes has officially been named head coach of the SMART Gilas Men’s Basketball program. Succeeding Serbian Rajko Toroman, this will be Reyes 2nd time at the helm after a disastrous 2007 campaign wherein the country finished 9th in the FIBA-Asia.

Reyes will be vacating his post as multi-titled coach at Talk ‘n’ Text to give way to Norman Black of Ateneo de Manila University after the UAAP season (can’t let anything get in the way of that elusive five-peat now).