Golden Gilas

Photo: Rappler.com

The Philippines' men's basketball team finally did it. We brought home the Gold Medal in the 2023 Asian Games, our first since 1962, and our first medal finish in basketball since 1998.

And even before we set foot on the hardcourt, we were already met with the following challenges:

A roster that was constructed and finalized with only days left before the tournament. A coach who took on the job despite having such a short turnaround time (following his predecessor's resignation) and only a handful of players available from the World Cup roster. So-called veteran sports journalists and columnists throwing salt at the team and spreading rumors of a pullout and a 'new coach' in the background.

Once in China, we won two games while losing via a blowout to eventual Gold medal match dance partners, Rondae Hollis Jefferson and the Jordan men's basketball team. There were chemistry issues, some rotation, and offensive sets that looked lacking-- obviously from a lack of preparation and time together. But the team kept pushing forward, kept hustling. There was a blown 20-point lead versus Iran. And there was the huge 20-point comeback versus hosts China.

Oh, that China match was one for the books.

PBA Governor's Cup Finals: TNT vs Ginebra

Photo: GMA Network

It was just a matter of time.

With the mighty San Miguel Beermen going through a transition phase with a new head coach and ever-changing roster, Barangay Ginebra has slowly established itself as the San Miguel Corporation's top PBA team under the Tim Cone era. I can't remember the last time Ginebra did not win at least a championship (or made a deep playoff push) under Cone, and now, it truly looks like they have the right roster to cement a new Dynasty in the PBA.

On the other side of the fence, the MVP group's crown jewel has always been the TNT Tropang Giga. They've fallen off the grid for a while, looking for a new coach to succeed Chot Reyes (the dark Bong Ravena years), and it appears that they've found just the man in Jojo Lastimosa. Of course, at his disposal still lies Reyes and his son Josh, and probably the biggest asset of them all, Serbian tactician Lale Guronovic. Together, they have righted the TNT ship, and we have seen a more well-balanced roster that even uses traditional, heavy bigs (which has only sometimes been the case with Reyes' old TNT squads).

[FIBA] Gilas loses to Jordan, Wins over Filipino fans

Photo: GMA News Online

What a second game for the revamped Gilas.

Gilas started off against the visiting Jordanian national team on the wrong foot, missing shots and defensive assignments-- a stark contrast to their impressive debut over a depleted Lebanon side. The visitors kept beating our guards to the rim, leaving 6x PBA MVP Junemar Fajardo all by his lonesome on the receiving end of foul calls.

Things were getting so out of hand, that the home team found itself down by as much as 25 points, Fajardo in foul trouble, and none of our guards able to keep in step with Jordanian stars import Dar Tucker and point guard Freddy Ibrahim. But just when all seemed lost, the rest of the Filipino basketball community that are (surprisingly) not Ginebra fans, all got the 'Justin Brownlee experience' also comically known as 'Asa Kay Brownlee" on social media circles.

[FIBA] Win For All; Gilas 2023 triumphs over Lebanon

Photo: philstar.com

"Win For All."

The new FIBA World Cup tagline couldn't be any more fitting to our very own Gilas men's national basketball team, from having to go through so much off-court drama and uncertainties the last few years to finally appear to have a united front thanks to the 100% buy-in of the San Miguel group.

Because let us all be honest here, there are two basketball powerhouses in the country, be it on the professional or collegiate levels: the mighty San Miguel (SMC) and the MVP squad, which has been funding Gilas for the last decade or so. And though they may not openly say it, they are indeed the fiercest of rivals, so much so that making in-house talent (players and coaches) available wasn't always the easiest of tasks to accomplish.

That is until something magical happened last year. First, more San Miguel contracted players were made available to Gilas. Next, the group's crown jewel of a tactician, Barangay Ginebra's Tim Cone, was allowed to serve as consultant/ strategist for Gilas coach Chot Reyes. This, after the unceremonious exit of Tab Baldwin a few months prior, was nothing short of disastrous in terms of all things Gilas.

The Gold Standard

Photo: Wikipedia.com

Bobby Parks, Norman Black, and Sean Chambers-- just a few of the PBA's more storied American basketball reinforcements who have led their respective teams to multiple championships and glory. They would take over games while earning the oohs and aahs of the PBA faithful. Players that you love to hate, but would also leave you in awe of just how effortless they make the game look be it on television or live in person.

They ruled the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Other names have come and gone, leaving impressionable marks in the league, such as Lamont Strothers, John Best, and Denzel Bowles, and for a time, we would almost always see teams trying to get imports of a certain mold to match whoever was dominating the league the reinforced conference/ season before.

This era, we have Barangay Ginebra San Miguel's Justin Brownlee.

PBA GovCup Finals: Ginebra v Meralco

Act III
(Photo credit: ABS CBN Sports)

Our apologies for being a game late with our preview, though we are admittedly not as bothered because somehow, someway, this "trilogy" between the Meralco Bolts and their continued tormentors, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel feels as though it will go the distance.

Call it a gut feel.

Fine, for those who have been following our blog and Twitter accounts, we're currently at an abysmal 2 and 4 with our predictions. But hey, like the band Journey: "don't stop. Believing."

Hold on to that feeling.

*apir kung kinanta mo din*

Much has changed since these two teams first met in the PBA Finals. Meralco made sure to check all the boxes and dot all their i's by adding gunner Allein Maliksi, rim protector Raymond Almazan and bruiser Raymar Jose. There were a lot of times in the first two encounters wherein they really felt the absence of a perimeter gunner (Chris Newsome was all by his lonesome), a reliable big who is agile enough to keep in step with Ginebra's towering giants Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter, and a young enforcer to help spell their throng of veteran power forwards.


Because really, Meralco has a knack for bringing in 35+ year old power forwards into the fold no? Reynel Hugnatan's still there. Ranidel de Ocampo came in. Just a bunch of old stars, and when they do get young blood, it's mostly the bit players that other teams discarded.

So really, it was their hulking import Allen Durham, Newsome, and backup guard Anjo Caram. Yes. No Baser Amer. He was flat out getting cooked by L.A. Tenorio out there. And if Game 1 of this Finals series has shown, Amer still can't guard Tenorio to save his life. And we're talking about an OLD Tenorio here, not the ultra quick Ateneo/ Harbour Center/ Alaska one.

Hopefully, the additions pan out. They have a great young forward in Bong Quinto, who had a terrible Game 1 but will most likely bounce back for the rest of the series.

On the other side of the fence, Ginebra's peaking at the right time. They started the conference a bit slow only to finish 3rd after the eliminations. Once in, they dismantled the distracted San Miguel Beermen before ending Northport's Cinderella story in the semis. All that despite going through some injuries here and there to their rotation guys, still having to incorporate Stanley Pringle into the mix and achieving a balance between him and super import Justin Brownlee.

Seriously, is there anything that Brownlee cannot do? Because by now, three or four years into his PBA career, he's obviously the measuring stick when it comes to imports right?

Brownlee as the do-it-all, high scoring, perimeter oriented barometer, Durham being the low post one.

Here are the match-ups:

LA Tenorio vs Baser Amer/ Anjo Caram
Here's the thing, Amer is Meralco's lead guy. They go where he goes. Unfortunately, he simply cannot stay in front of Tenorio. Which is odd considering his youth. He's just outgunned, outsmarted, outwitted at every turn. Caram makes up for it with his energy. Maybe the bigger Nard Pinto should be sent to check Tenorio and rough the vet up a bit. I mean, if they really want to win and all.

Stanley Pringle/ Scottie Thompson vs Chris Newsome
Sucks to be Newsome. This is his breakout party-- 3rd time's the charm right? He was great the first time around, he was good the last time... now he's stuck trying to keep in step with Pringle. Who is pretty much the best guard out there today. Bar none. And if that wasn't enough, there's the energetic Thompson, who is really Ginebra's X-factor as he is their primary 2nd ball-mover after Tenorio or Brownlee. The gaps in Ginebra's offense, when the ball needs to move from one side to the other, that's where Thompson comes in with the hockey assists. Low key, but disruptive if you're trying to stop Ginebra. And he rebounds like a mofo too.

Justin Brownlee vs Bong Quinto/ Allein Maliksi
I don't get the Magic Brownlee tag. Just call him Ginebra's Michael Jordan. Maliksi's practically useless when his shooting is off target.

Japeth Aguilar vs Raymond Almazan
Yay for Meralco, they got a rim protector who can spread the floor. But Aguilar's been on a different level since Coach Tim Cone arrived at Ginebra. Sure, he still bites on fakes, but he appears to be a bit tougher. Less erratic. More confident in attacking the rim (and simply jamming it in). Also, Japeth seems to play with more aggression whenever he faces off against Almazan. Even when Rakenrol was still with RoS.

Joe DeVance/ Greg Slaughter vs Allen Durham

That's about as one-sided of an affair as you can get. Which is tough on paper, but execution-wise, Meralco is running their sets more fluidly than Ginebra. Ginebra's players gets away with a lot because of their superb 1-on-1 talent, but you can see during their dry spells that they do have instances wherein they just don't know what set to run or who to go to. Well, save for iso-Brownlee or iso-Pringle.

But that's just us nitpicking really.

BUT, if you're Meralco, they were pretty much in control of Game 1 up until the 4th quarter when their starters obviously started to tire out as opposed to Ginebra who kept putting in fresh legs-- specially on Durham (DeVance and Slaughter kept taking turns in guarding him down low). So that's one, Meralco simply can't afford to have their key guys playing 33 minutes and up. Not when the name of the game is to try and stop Ginebra from busting open the gates.

X-factor: Joe DeVance, his high IQ and big bum on defense for Ginebra; Bong Quinto for Meralco

Prediction: Ginebra.

PBA GovCup SF: Ginebra vs Northport

At this point, I'm just surprised that The Dean
hasn't given him a moniker yet.
(Photo credit: Sports.inquirer.net)

Talk about Never-say-die.

On one hand we've got the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, a powerhouse team on paper that continues to live up (or down, depending on which Kabarangay you're asking) to its glorious reputation. The team finished the PBA Governor's Cup as the 4th seed, starting a bit slow before turning it up in its last few games. On the other, you've got the Northport Batang Pier which was arguably on its way to packing its bags this conference following the injury to prized rookie point guard Robert Bolick before somehow landing national skipper Christian Standhinger (and prior to that, the trade that sent its other star guard-- Stanley Pringle to, well, Ginebra).

So we know what we're going to get with Ginebra. The offense runs through super import Justin Brownlee, and whenever he's around (like Meralco and Allen Durham), every thing just falls into place. Only, it was pretty obvious that they had a bit of a rough patch in trying to balance out the offense between Brownlee and Pringle. After those two guys, there's Japeth Aguilar, L.A. Tenorio, and a bit of Scottie Thompson.



Which brings our attention to the 8th seeded North Port. They recently made waves for that gruelling triple overtime upset of the 1st seed NLEX Road Warriors. Standhardinger is turning a lot of heads and making his case for Best Player of the Conference despite the fact that he was only recently traded to North Port by San Miguel. Their import, Michael Qualls, can do a little bit of everything and has the speed, length and athleticism to cover positions 3-5 in the PBA setting. Then there's the energizer bunny known as Sean Anthony, who, IMHO, is a modern day Rudy Hatfield.

This is going to be fun. The onus will be on who can dictate tempo from the get go. Also, if Ginebra can use its size to the hilt to really put the pressure on North Port with their height in the paint. The problem here is, North Port has the bigs, the bruising, elbows-out kind, that their Ginebra counterparts' are "allergic" to.

L.A. Tenorio vs. Nico Elorde
The pressure will be on Tenorio to once again lead Ginebra to victory. But it won't be easy versus Elorde, who is proving to be quite the tough defender who wears opponents down by simply sticking to them like a shadow.

Stanley Pringle vs Kevin Ferrer
Ferrer will get on Pringle's nerves in one of these games. But Pringle will need to make his presence felt enough for Brownlee and the rest to be able to operate freely and not be doubled. On paper, North Port has a few other big/ long guys like Sol Mercado and Paolo Taha to throw at Pringle just to give him different looks.

Scottie Thompson vs Sean Anthony
As good as Thompson has been for Ginebra as a relentless junkyard dog type, he's going to probably find himself matched-up against a mirror image in Anthony (if Coach Pido doesn't waste Anthony on Brownlee). Anthony can do just about everything Thompson does for Ginebra, only, he's bigger and has better range.

Justin Brownlee vs Michael Qualls
The thing about Brownlee that we've always found impressive is that, and maybe it's because he's been wearing the red, white and yellow for so long, he's no longer just a "scorer."

Japeth Aguilar vs Christian Standhardinger
We love Aguilar like the next guy, and have grown to appreciate what he brings to the Ginebra cause. But Standhardinger is cut from an old school, no excuses, no b.s. kind of cloth that every single Ginebra fan has been wanting to see from their own collection of bigs (everyone from Aguilar to Joe DeVance to Greg Slaughter). The kind of player who, as we say in Filipino, "nakikipagpalitan ng mukha" just to score a basket/ grab a rebound/ make a play. Sure, CSH flops and flails, but he also plays with a lot of passion and purpose. This isn't as simple as when Ginebra guards the 5x PBA MVP Junemar Fajardo with Slaughter (bigger) or Aguilar (longer) as he tries to back them up. CSH forces the issue and often gets those guarding him in foul trouble by simply bulldozing his way inside. Major problem.

Prediction: Ginebra is going to be in a lot of trouble. A team that doesn't always appear to be playing at 100%, going up against a team that is hungry and has a lot of burning desire to prove their critics wrong. Should Ginebra go big? They have the tools for it, but chances are North Port steps on the gas and leaves Slaughter et. al. behind. Also, it takes away Thompson who does a lot of things for Ginebra.

X-factor: Pick any one of the ex-Ginebra guys who are all going into this match-up with huge chips on their shoulders. Kevin Ferrer might sink a few treys. Jervy Cruz is going to throw some elbows.

Gut feel? North Port. But my brain says Ginebra.

Your thoughts? @kilikilishot on Twitter

Playing catch-up

Author's note: It's been months since I posted on KKS2, I actually have a bunch of rough drafts in the oven but due to lack of time/ interest/ research, opted not to have you guys read it (and lose whatever modicum of admiration you have for this mediocre writer).

Who runs the GovCup?
(Photo credit: ABS CBN Sports)

KKS is a blog that I kept primarily to keep myself sane while overseas. While I was with my family, I needed something from home to keep my mind sharp and more importantly, my wits about. When we came back home after three years in the Middle East, the new job has kind of kept me away from the keyboard and television. I still tweet about the games, but as I've always said, writing is an art form that needs to be respected and honored with enough research. I don't just write random hot takes here, like I do when I tweet, I actually take time and watch film, break down plays, check out stats and so on. So we have something nice to talk about (hit me up on Twitter @kilikilishot). I'd like to think that as a writer, I've matured a bit, as with in real life. But basketball will always be a love of mine, it is a great source of entertainment/ joy/ pain/ anger. And I hope that you guys are able to drop by this blog every now and then to check on my latest works, short or long format, good or bad.

Many thanks for the continued trust and support!




So where were we?

Ginebra is in the semifinals after knocking out the grandslam-seeking San Miguel Beermen (who, from the outside looking in, looks like they need to consider a few player changes following that ugly fight during one of their practices). Justin Brownlee continues to stand tall as the barometer for imports, and it seems that he's a lock for yet another Best Import award should Ginebra continue to go deeper into the Governor's Cup.

TNT also managed to escape and unseat the defending Governor's Cup champions, Magnolia, with clutch free throws by new recruit Ray Ray Parks. It was a great match to say the least, and the game could've gone either way. It's just unfortunate that Magnolia appeared to have run out of gas in the end.

Just like the last two (or is it three) seasons, Meralco's doing quite well whenever Allen Durham is around. It's almost like the Ginebra puzzle, except that Durham plays in the paint while Brownlee plays outside. Basically, both teams seem to look average without those two super imports. The Bolts looked very impressive in dismantling the gritty Alaska Aces, and newcomers Raymond Almazan (rim protector) and Allein Maliksi (token scorer) brought the goods.

The TNT-Meralco sister team affair should be fun going into the next round.

Which leaves us with NLEX and Northport. Elbows, flops, ninja hood punches galore. I have no idea what happened or why NLEX approached the game with the intent to play physical to try and rattle Christian Standhardinger and co. Well, it didn't work. CSH flopped his way around the physicality, got the calls, and, well, NLEX' import failed to show up, which basically sealed their fate.

Who do you think will advance to the next round to face Ginebra? Will it be NLEX, the 1st seed, or Northport, which got a new lease on life despite the exit of super rookie Robert Bolick?

F8 rewarded

It's been a long day...
(Photo credit: inq.net)

It took eight years and what now seems like a platoon of coaches before Barangay Ginebra San Miguel won another PBA championship, but last night everything just fell into place.

Coach Tim Cone was outsmarting his counterpart on every turn; the team held a 3-2 series lead; the other team’s (Meralco) most defiant soldier—Jimmy Alapag, was hurting; Ginebra’s aging duo of Mark Caguioa and Jayjay Helterbrand were rallying the "kids";  and no less than the Ginebra beloved Robert Jaworski, Sr. was in attendance. 

The near buzzer-beating triple by import Justin Brownlee, to break an 88-all lock, was icing on the cake.