Salamat Gilas 3

#PUSO
(Photo credit to the owner)

Mga kababayan ko
Dapat lang malaman niyo
Bilib ako sa kulay ko
Ako ay Pilipino
Kung may itim o may puti 
Mayroon naman kayumanggi
Isipin mo na kaya mong
Abutin ang iyong minimithi 

- Magalona, F.

Tapos na ang FIBA Asia 2015 kung saan naiuwi ng ating Gilas 3 ang pilak habang ang host country na Tsina ang siyang nag uwi ng gintong medalya. Marami tayong pwedeng sabihin tungkol sa nasabing laro na katatapos lang, pero hindi tayo ganong klaseng basketball fans. Hindi tayo casual lang na biglang sumuporta sa koponan natin kasi nakapasok sa Finals. Manalo o matalo, lamyado o hindi, suporta pa din tayo. Kaya sa Tsina, saludo kami sa mga manlalaro niyo na para bang nagbabadya na kayo na muli ang magiging Asian basketball powerhouse sa susunod na mga taon.

Are you not entertained?

EASY! EASY!
(Photo credit to FIBA.com)

After all the drama and hardships leading into the formation of the team, Gilas 3 is back in the semifinals of the FIBA Asia tournament wherein we have a realistic chance of defending our precious "golden" silver or better yet-- winning it all en route to a seat in the 2016 Rio Olympics to do battle with the world's best basketball players.

But first, we need to beat Japan tomorrow before we even entertain thoughts of facing either defending champions and longtime tormentors Iran or the "rebuilt" basketball dynasty that is China.

If the game versus Lebanon is to be of any indication, you could say that we are on the right path though there are some things that we still need to work on if our goal indeed is to not simply enjoy a podium finish but rather facing global basketball superpowers like US, Spain and Argentina, among others. Today, Jayson Castro and Andray Blatche proved that they are arguably the best 1-2 punch in all of Asian basketball, maybe rivalling/ besting Iran's Nikkhah Bahrami and Hamed Haddadi even. Castro was just in a world of his own: finishing with 25 points, blitzing into the lane and besting his young Lebanese counterpart. Blatche? Though he started the tournament out of shape, the 6"11 reinforcement is starting to show flashes of his natural form by dropping 25 points and 17 rebounds on a Lebanese side that just didn't have anyone to match him with.

Blatche is big, quick, strong and finesse but at the same time he doesn't seem to mind getting his hands dirty when called upon.

87 - 73

The Beast, unleashed
(Photo credit FIBA.com)

There are no words at the moment to best describe how our very own Gilas Pilipinas beat the reigning FIBA Asia champions Iran in yesterday's 2nd round match-up of the very same tournament.

On one side, Iran was blowing through the competition by a margin of at least 40 points. They were running their sets, dominating from start to finish, and doing it all despite the relatively subpar efforts from resident stars Nikkhah Bahrami and Hamed Haddadi (Mahdi Kamrani and up-and-coming star power forward Mohammad Hassanzadeh were doing much of the damage early on for German Coach Dirk Bauermann). They were simply that good.

For our Philippine team, well, we started the FIBA Asia tournament by losing a big lead-- and the game to then unranked Palestine. We proceeded to blow out Hong Kong and Kuwait, as was expected, but then struggled against a Japanese side to start the 2nd round-- a team that Iran basically pummelled into submission by a margin of more than 30 points. Oh, and Andray Blatche hurt his ankle in that same game, a night versus this heavyweight match-up with Iran. Also, we have yet to really see Dondon Hontiveros, JC Intal and Terrence Romeo light guys up from beyond the arc.

So yeah, forgive us for not liking our chances against Iran.

A time to believe

"May nag-text, si Junemar."
(Photo credit to FIBA.com)

You'll have to forgive me for being unable to provide post-game, couch potato analysis of Gilas 3's initial three games into the FIBA Asia tournament currently being held in some half-empty gym somewhere in China. This proud OFW was on a much-needed, first-ever annual vacation leave (to Manila) and spent most of his (days and) nights shopping, eating pork and or keeping in step with the #AlDub phenomena.

Rest assured however that we were still able to follow all three matches: the shock loss to Palestine and the expected consecutive drubbing of Hong Kong and Kuwait.

While we didn't end up as the Group Leader, we are still fortunate enough to make it into the next round which is the start of the knockout stage. Don't expect Gilas 3 to take opponents lightly from here on out, now that they had their pants pulled from under them their first game into the tournament. No, we fully expect Coach Tab Baldwin to keep pressing our guys to play at a high level since we firmly believe that his job is also on the line.

You do not get the services of Andray Blatche, and whoever this mystery US scout is that was added to the team just recently, to lose to an unranked Palestine basketball team that only had 3 legitimate, top-notch basketball players.

In the next round, we're grouped with Gold medalists Iran, followed by Japan, India, Palestine and Hong Kong. Of the teams, Iran is most likely to secure top seed while Japan, Palestine and India are possible sleepers (with Palestine already owning a victory on us).

Still, there's a lot of hope for Gilas 3 to make it into the next round should we continue to play heads' up basketball.

Calvin Abueva has been a true revelation here; when he wasn't even considered by Coach Tab Baldwin for the team. The man known as "The Beast" has cut down on his theatrics and simplified his game back to when he was playing college ball at San Sebastian-- attack the rim basketball on offense, tenacious and intense on defense.

This has allowed Coach Tab to relegate former Gilas defensive/ energy guy Gabe Norwood to the bench (keeping him fresh for the next round/s), with newbies Matt Rosser and JC Intal also looking for minutes behind Abueva. Speaking of which, Rosser has provided Gilas with a defensive spark as an awesome weakside/ help shotblocker while Intal has proven himself worthy of his spot by hitting the occasional jumpshot/ three pointer when presented him. Sure, he still makes some bone headed plays here and there owing to his hesitant style of play, but it's not like he's a complete dud when he's on the court.

Andray Blatche's conditioning is still a concern, since he seems to be good for only 20-25 minutes of solid play. Versus Palestine, he started off hot and went cold in the 2nd half-- while others would argue that it was because Palestine went exclusively to playing zone defense, Blatche made it easier for them since he was hardly moving without the ball. In the next two matches against Hong Kong and Kuwait, Blatche picked his spots and sizzled more in the 2nd half but not after making some silly fouls which were obviously meant to get him subbed out of the game for a breather.

Make no mistake about it, Gilas needs Blatche to win versus Iran. And Korea. And China. And those souped up Middle Eastern teams that we might run into if we are to make it to the next round.

As for our bigs: Sonny Thoss, Ranidel de Ocampo, Asi Taulava and Marc Pingris-- they are all proving that there is life for Philippine basketball sans 2x PBA MVP Junemar Fajardo. Sure, Fajardo's the definite future of the game, but don't count out the old standard bearers just yet. Thoss has been moving his feet quite well in this tournament while proving to be a heavy force in the paint on both offense and defense, de Ocampo has embraced his new role as the resident enforcer, Pingris has been on and off due to foul trouble while Taulava continues to shine in limited bursts. With Blatche at the helm, we don't really need any of our local bigs to dominate the ball or call for isolations, so we don't really miss Fajardo as much as most of his fans would care to argue for.

Now about our guards... we're stuck with Dondon Hontiveros. He's been okay, some vintage streaks here and there, but well... it was either him or Gary David. And we've had enough of David when he suited up for Gilas 2.

As for Jayson Castro, he's currently our top scorer with 15.7 ppg (Blatche is second with 15.3 ppg). What's nice about Castro is he's doing it in a very controlled manner-- he's no longer just barrelling into the lane for kamikaze drives and or the occasional kickout pass/ turnover. He's taking confident threes, driving when the opponent is sleeping and just bullying guys here and there when he feels like it. Basically, Castro has evolved into the point guard that we've all prayed he'd be (Jimmy Alapag's feel for the game and IQ plus Mark Caguioa's explosive scoring ability).

Then there's Golden Boy Terrence Romeo, who will probably see an out-of-this-world surge in popularity once his Gilas 3 campaign is said and done (if he hasn't already). Despite playing behind Castro and continuing to figure out his spots versus complex, "one-on-one forays unfriendly" zone defenses, Romeo still managed to be the team's 3rd best scorer with 13.7 ppg while not alienating any of his seniors.

Moving forward, Gilas needs to stay focused and not let up. This team is still not there cohesion-wise. The system that they're running... they often drop it in favor of one on one plays. Against a well-disciplined team like Iran and Korea, who basically run the same things from start to finish, this could spell our defeat. As far as breaking zone defenses... our shooters need to make shots. OR, Blatche, Abueva and Castro need to break it with elite-level plays.

What we love about Gilas 3 however, as compared to Gilas 1 and 2, is its consistency in terms of defense and effort. While we can't always score, we can count on Abueva, Rosser, Norwood, Pingris and Castro to come up with stops and lock guys up. We'll see how our defenders fare from here on out with the level of competition going up in the coming days.

Gold, silver or bronze.

Laban Pilipinas!

All In

There is more to these two words than just being a new marketing campaign for a local mobile network just so happens to be footing the bill for Gilas 3. These words, though short and straight to the point, reflect how every living Filipino basketball fan- regardless of PBA allegiance, should feel about the Gilas 3 team that is on its way to China for the coming FIBA Asia tournament.

Can the media do us all a big favor and stop featuring outsiders? Can they please stop quoting those who chose not to play for flag and country owing to whatever? We do not care about them, they will not be playing this September 23. They are nuisances, collectively, since they chose not to be part of the task at hand. They chose not to speak up, they chose to sit this one out, and even if we have every right to crucify and chastise them, the mere fact that we aren't, should be enough. So please, we do not care if Junemar Fajardo wants to visit the team in their final practices. Or if L.A. Tenorio, Marcio Lassiter and even Paul Lee get the green light.

The focus should be on Gilas 3.

The Learning Curve

"Yo Jim, who's the kid with the blonde hair?"
(Photo credit to the owner)

First and foremost, it would be very wise indeed to temper expectations.

If you've been following both this blog and our Twitter page @kilikilishot, you'd probably crucify us for asking Gilas 3 to try and win big now in the ongoing 2015 William Jones Cup (and continue to do so en route to FIBA Asia). But, since this is the blog behind the Twitter account and here we are allowed to put more thought in what he type on the keyboard, we should all take a step back and belive in the process-- even if it means losing more games from here until September 23, when the FIBA Asia tournament commences.

Terrence Romeo, Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Gary David, Dondon Hontiveros, Calvin Abueva, JC Intal, Gabe Norwood, Matt Rosser, Aldrech Ramos, Marc Pingris, Ranidel de Ocampo, Moala Tautuaa, Troy Rosario, Sonny Thoss and Asi Taulava.

Those are the guys that we brought to Chinese Taipei for the Jones Cup, with naturalized center Andray Blatche attending to some personal issues back in the United States. Head coach Tab Baldwin has been tinkering with his line-up so far, Yeng Guiao-style, in hopes of developing on-court chemistry among certain players who you would otherwise not expect to even look one another in the eye.

Against all odds

Talk about having to earn your keep
(Photo credit to the owner)

The late Richard Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, was once quoted for saying that "the strongest steel goes through the hottest fire." While we're not entirely sure that Gilas 3 has gone through the "hottest" of ordeals (yet, or maybe they're in the middle of it), they sure as hell aren't enjoying the cool breeze as they prepare for the FIBA Asia tournament this coming September 23.

Consider the following "challenges" that Gilas 3 has endured/ is enduring: the continued SMC player drama; Andray Blatche being overweight, losing an uncle and needing to tend to his ailing mother; Kelly Williams, on the very first official practice day for Gilas 3, tearing his MCL; JC Intal losing his father-in-law; expected injuries/ player-maintenance and the team's overall inability to practice as one, complete (and healthy) unit.

It would be very wise to temper all expectations, folks.

An uphill climb

The Beast, unleashed.
(Photo credit to the owner)

Here's a simple challenge for the everyday white collar, suit-wearing employee:

The most common and widely accepted way of tying a necktie is the everyday man's four-in-hand knot. You know it as your "go to" move when you're late for a meeting and don't really mind an uneven knot for as long as it looks like a God damn necktie tied around your neck. Did you know that there are 17 more ways (probably even more) to tie it? One of the more complicated ones is called the Christensen knot.

Now imagine entering a necktie-tying speed contest, versus natural Christensen knot users, while you only learned the blasted thing about a week ago.

The above scenario pretty much captures Gilas 3's current predicament, losing 2 games to unranked FIBA teams over in a pocket tournament in Estonia, somewhere in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. The first loss was to the Netherlands, 62-89, wherein Gilas 3 was pretty much made to look like a bunch of amateurs that have never organized correct basketball. The second was against host Estonia, 80-90, wherein Gilas 3 looked like they were able to adjust to some of the things that were going on but in reality it was more of the host country opting to sit their stars in the 4th quarter and take their "foot off the gas" so to speak.

This is going to be a process.

For flag and country

Against all odds
(Photo credit to the owner)

While we do not condone the actions of those who begged off from being part of the Gilas 3 men's basketball team, we cannot and will not crucify them for it either

As we have previously mentioned, we will just keep moving forward with the names that we have. From top to bottom, "PBA wish list" aside, we are looking at Jayson Castro, Terrence Romeo, Gary David, Dondon Hontiveros, Matt Rosser, Calvin Abueva, Gabe Norwood, JC Intal, Ranidel de Ocampo, Troy Rosario, Moala Tautuaa, Aldrech Ramos, Sonny Thoss, Asi Taulava and Andray Blatche.

You could throw in retired/unretired Jimmy Alapag, and you are looking at 16 proud and willing basketball players who should be celebrated rather than questioned.

Gilas 3

No Kraken? No problem!
(Photo credits to the owner)

The Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) has finally sent an official request to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for the following players to be part of head coach Tab Baldwin's Gilas 3 men's basketball team:

Jayson Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Gary David, Gabe Norwood, Aldrech Ramos, Matt Ganuelas-Rosser, Kelly Williams, Asi Taulava, Terrence Romeo, JC Intal, Sonny Thoss, Dondon Hontiveros, Calvin Abueva, June Mar Fajardo* (injured/recuperating), Marc Pingris* (on official leave-family matters), LA Tenorio* (health reasons)

* - already begged off

Ladies and gentlemen, your Gilas 3 (more or less) for the coming FIBA Asia tournament this September 23 in China.

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.

Please call again later

Did Captain Jimmy retire a bit too early?
(Photo courtesy of Sports5)

So winning a (single) championship DOES take a toll on a team when asked to do it all over again the very next conference.

No one bought it in the PBA Commissioner's Cup with the sudden drop in performance of the San Miguel Beermen but now we see that the same conference's title-winners, Talk'n'Text Tropang Texters, are suffering the same slow-start fate as the PBA Philippine Cup champions. On a side note we'd like to half-heartedly apologize to the San Miguel Beermen (we still think they could've and should've done better, given their overall roster), on another, we'd like to think that if a team like the Purefoods Star Hotshots could manage to rattle off four straight, then so should the other souped up teams like SMB and TNT (at least two consecutive titles, yes?)

So here is where the Texters are, currently:

Three wins and four losses.

Dear Beau

(Photo courtesy of Sports5.ph)

Idol, kamusta ka na?

Sana mabuti ang kalagayan mo matapos yung matinding bugbugan nung nakaraang PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals. May dinadaing ka ba na injury? Nagiba kasi yung laro mo matapos yung Ginebra SMASH game. Parang lumugar ka lang bigla ulit, nawala yung idol namin. Papitik pitik, pasundot sundot, pero halos hindi naramdaman. Sa Finals? Habang naghahari yung pagkalaki laking import ng TNT at minamama yung mga kakampi mo, ikaw yung inaasahan ng Bayan ng RoS na reresbak para sa amin.

Pero asaan ka ba nun?

#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.

A Cut Above

God Mode.
(Photo credits to the owner)

In life, there is always an instance wherein you encounter someone who is just better than you are on a certain field of expertise. It could be in school, at home, in the office or even among friends-- no matter how good you think you are on a certain skill, there is almost, always someone who is better than you.

Even if you put in the same (if not more) of work.

That is the fate of one Rain or Shine Elastopainters, which lost a heated Best-of-Seven series and ultimately the PBA Commissioner's Cup crown, to the Talk'n'Text Tropang Texters.

They play defense first, they run the floor, they share the wealth, they use all of the guys on the roster and just about anyone can hit the three with consistency.

Only, the Texters do (and did) it better (in four of the seven games, at least).

PBACC The Finals: Game 7

Walang atrasan.
(Photo credits to Mr Paul Ryan Tan)

First thing's first.

I'm the realest.

No, cross that one out.

What I am, is a proud Rain or Shine fan. I started as a Ginebra fan, thanks to the greatness of Robert Jaworski, Sr., and when he moved on to politics, stayed to the very last of the Marlou Aquino-Bal David-Noli Locsin era (Vince Hizon, always the smartest of the group, flew the coup first, moving over to the MBA via the Iloilo MegaVoltz). After that, I chose to follow Aquino, which I considered as the best of the three, over at Santa Lucia. My decision to switch allegiances was made easier thanks to the presence of fundamentally sound power forward Dennis Espino, and later on the inclusion of PBA MVP Kenneth Duremdes.

When that team folded, I was lost. A basketball fan without a home. Until Yeng Guiao took over the RoS franchise. That's when I started loving the team. Then Paul Lee came into the picture. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now that I've made all of that clear (if I haven't already on other social pages, come on now), let's move on to the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals between the Elastopainters and Talk'n'Text Tropang Texters.

PBACC The Finals So Far

Angas ng Tondo
(Photo credits to the owner)

The PBA Commissioner's Cup Best-of-Seven Finals between the Rain or Shine Elastopainters and the Talk'n'Text Tropang Textes has been highly physical thus far in three games, but surprisingly much of the action (and brutality) has come from the once "cookie-cutter" Texters' side of things.

Up two games to one, the Elastopainters have been on the receiving end of some unfortunate hits from Texters' import Ivan Johnson. In Game 1, which they lost 92-99, spitfire backup guard Jonathan Uyloan suffered an injury when he took a hit from Johnson. Last night, it was Paul Lee's turn when he was inadvertently hit by a wayward Johnson elbow right smack on the mouth-- resulting in him losing a tooth and 3 more  that's been pushed back into his gums.

Ouch.

When was the last time we ever heard news of the Texters dishing out pain and physicality towards their opponents? Isn't that the Elastopainters' calling card? Their bread-and-butter? Their actual, field of concentration?

It's going to get ugly from here on out.

KKS Gilas 26 man pool

The Face of the PBA but not of Gilas? Why?
(Photo credits to the owner)

Word is out that Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin has already listed 26 PBA superstars and will start courting their respective mother teams in an effort to do an anti-Chot and establish good will.

We love this low-key approach, since it doesn't put any pressure on the already strained relationship between Team MVP and Team SMC (and even the other "independent" teams). It should be remembered that Coach Chot went to the media to air his side: on how hard it was for him to attain the services of some Team SMC players which put those under that umbrella in a bad light. Sometimes airing your dirty laundry out works, sometimes it doesn't.

It is what it is.

Here, we try to name the 26 active PBA players who we feel are being eyed by the well-traveled head coach.

PBACC The Finals: Rain or Shine vs Talk'n'Text

The Blur vs Angas ng Tondo
(Photo credits to the owner)

It was but only a matter of time before the Rain or Shine Elastopainters and Talk'n'Text Tropang Texters met anew in a stage as big as the PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals.

And we are not saying that simply because they finished one (RoS) and two (TNT) at the end of the conference's Elimination round. No, we are saying that because of the simple fact that both teams feature the most number of players that were loaned to the Gilas Pilipinas basketball program: Ranidel de Ocampo, Jayson Castro, Larry Fonacier, now team manager Jimmy Alapag and (at one point) Kelly Williams for TNT and Paul Lee, Gabe Norwood, Jeffrei Chan and Beau Belga for RoS.

Which basically means that we will get to see how far the above-mentioned players have come, thanks to the extended, rigorous and taxing international training and exposure that they have all enjoyed. Though TNT enjoys a slight advantage of course, since their brain thrust (coaching staff, managers, scouts, etc.) ARE Gilas Pilipinas.

And though we are proud RoS fans, we will try our very best to breakdown the series and come up with a logical and reasonable fearless forecast.

Let's go: