Gilas Pilipinas: The Best Damn Pinoy Big Man Today

Photo courtesy of pba-online.net

Junemar Fajardo will have his day. Sonny Thoss is getting it. Asi Taulava is a reminder of what could've been had he chosen to polish his post game and demanded for the ball like he should've. Danny Ildefonso is happy mentoring the young ones. Beau Belga is a creation of everything good about the old school enforcers and today's hybrid forward/centers.

But there is only one who can lay claim to the title of being "The Best Pinoy Big Man Today." That man is no other than 6"5 Talk 'n' Text Tropang Texters and Gilas Pilipinas starting forward Ranidel de Ocampo.

Gilas Pilipinas: The Natural

Photo courtesy of pba-online.net

His name is Marcus Douthit, and at 6"10 he is arguably the biggest yet most underscored storyline in the current renaissance enjoyed by Philippine basketball when it comes to international meets.

Time and again many have gone into detail about how incompetent our big men were down the block as compared to our Asian brethren. That despite being dominant at the local front, they're easily reduced to second-guessing fools who feel that all they have to do is concentrate on one end of the floor and leave the rest to the smaller guys.

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).

Belga knows basketball

Enforcer ba kamo? Watch the "sipit."

Minsan lang tayo mag-Filipino sa blog na ito na alay natin sa ating mga kababayan. Hindi dahil sa galing tayong elitistang iskwelahan na hindi marunong bumigkas ng "R," kundi para maipabot natin sa ibang lahi ung galing at husay ng Pilipinas basketball.

Hindi namin lubos na maisalaysay yung kagalakan namin nung napabalitang isasama sa Gilas Pilipinas tune-up si Rain or Shine 6"6 big man Beau Belga. Matagal na namin itong kinakampanya. Marami nagsasabing barubal at marumi maglaro si Belga, madalas ung mga fangirls/gays na ang mga iniidolo kasi ang tinatamaan ng mala-Brazo de Mercedez BENZ ni Belga.

Pero lingid sa kanilang kaalaman, si Belga ay marunong maglaro ng basketball. Sabi nila, ito daw ang pinakamalaking line-up ng Gilas. Siguro nga. Pero kung sina Japeth Aguilar at Greg Slaughter lang din, aanhin mo ang height kung kulang pa sa diskarte (lalo na kung ung isa e allergic sa poste)?

Powerhouse cast to form Anti-Gilas

If the voting for the PBA All Stars "Anti-Gilas" selection were to end today, then we are looking at a legit, tough opponent for Coach Chot Reyes et. al. that could ultimately decide the fate of Philippine basketball.

See, it's no secret that "The Silent War" is still alive and kicking. And to simply appease some circles, San Miguel gave in and lent their players but not before sticking to the "one player per team" dictum of PBA Commissioner Chito Salud. They lent Junemar Fajardo, Marc Pingris and L.A. Tenorio to the national cause, yes, but they were sure to leave out other stellar names by "hiding" behind that quote from good old Kume.

At the moment, rounding out the starting five are: James Yap, Mark Caguioa, PJ Simon, Arwind Santos  and Calvin Abueva.

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.

SMART Gilas: Drop and give me 20

Pag sumama si Pingris, palitan na ung "Dribble Drive, "
tawaging "Patay kung patay" Pilipinas basketball

Tama na muna ung pagiging maka-"kampihan" natin. Pilipinas muna ulit ang unahin. Wag na natin ipilit ung matatanda na. Yung "mukhang pang NBA" pero puro papogi lang alam. Kunin natin ung talagang magpapakamatay para sa bola. Ung hindi papogi (Hi Alex Cabagnot).

PG L.A. Tenorio/ Jayson Castro/ Ryan Reyes/ JVee Casio
Well duh. Tenorio has proven that he can get just about anywhere on the floor. Castro is as good as they get. Reyes makes shots and plays hellaciously tough D that would make Jaworski proud and Casio is clutch. Wanted to get Sol Mercado, but who'd he bump off? Dribble drive ba kamo? 

SG Jeffrei Chan/ Jarred Dillinger/ Chris Lutz/ James Yap
Pretty solid if you ask me. Wag na natin ipilit ung mga Gary David at Mark Caguioa. 35+ na yung mga yun. Yap's in if only to please the 26k strong San Mig Coffee Mixers planet. No, seriously, Yap's been doing work under Coach Tim Cone-- the best effort we've seen from him not since his UE days.

SMART Gilas: Is the center position still a problem?

The HOPE of Pilipinas Basketbol

With all due respect to Marcus Douthit and his heroic efforts the last few years in basically carrying Pilipinas Basketbol on his lanky shoulders, let's touch on an interesting idea raised by our friend @akosimayco over at Twitter.

Should we get a player of a different position-- say a small forward, to be naturalized since (God willing) we are bound to have bigs like 7"0 Greg Slaughter, 6"10 June Mar Fajardo and even 6"8 Ian Sangalang in maybe two to three years time? Qatar and Jordan did it/ are doing it, South Korea also fielded in a wing at one point years back so why not the Philippines?

You could argue for the guys that we currently have and play the wing position in Gabe Norwood and Jarred Dillinger, but let it sit for awhile. We don't really need a do-it-all small forward, but probably a big time scorer such as the Anthony Johnsons, Champ Oguchis and so on who can score from just about anywhere on the floor (Gabe Freeman doesn't count since his jumper is streaky wretched at best). This way, we can play Dillinger at the 1, Norwood at 3, Ranidel de Ocampo or whichever power forward you want to throw in there for rebounding purposes and one of the three young studs previously mentioned in the paragraph above.

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.

FIBA Asia: Pilipinas bows to young China

Three early fouls plus China's giants
were too much for Big Daddy 

Everything seemed to be in place: Team Pilipinas coming off a superb Jones Cup championship romp, China opting to send a bunch of wide-eyed kids who haven't grown into their man-bodies yet (most of whom will probably form the core of their 2016 FIBA Asia medal-round squad) and overall team chemistry that has made it to must-see YouTube television.

But instead of staying true to our newly-placed "dribble drive" offense, the team settled for an absurd amount of long balls that did them in 71-68. If you shoot 6/35 from deep, chances are you're just not going to put yourself in a solid enough position to win games. The team's resident gunners-- Jeffrei Chan, Gary David and Larry Fonacier were a combined 4/21 from the three-point line while Ranidel de Ocampo-- who was probably assigned to pull his defenders (a bunch of 6"10 and 7"1-3 Chinese giants) outside, going 0/5.

Why Gilas 2 is better than the 1st

Oppa Gilas Style.

Pilipinas sends Jones Cup core to FIBA Asia

Marked men: Norwood and Chan
(and Tenorio)

After all the drama following the highly successful 34th William Jones Cup campaign where Pilipinas finished with the gold medal, we will be sending the same group of players to the FIBA Asia Cup this September 14 in hopes of better preparing ourselves for the FIBA Asia Championship next year.

The road won't be any easier from here on out, with Pilipinas being put in the same group as China (though they're "only" sending their B team), Lebanon, Macau and Uzbekistan while the other group features Chinese-Taipei, Iran, Japan, Qatar and India FI. Okay, only Lebanon poses a real threat it seems in our group since Macau and Uzbekistan's basketball programs are still developing.

34th Jones Cup: Pusong Palaban

Ginto!

In a game that it had absolutely no business of winning after a tough 0-6 start and falling behind by double digits most of the way, the under-sized, little prepared and odd bunch known to us as the Pilipinas select team snatched the 34th William Jones Cup gold medal win right under the cocky U.S.A. stalwarts 76-75.

Not only were the Americans taking advantage of their superior combination of height, speed and athleticism that we only have Gabe Norwood to match with, but the guys added another facet to their attack-- knocking down jumpers and long bombs and just pretty much rising up over our shorter countrymen. In layman's terms, "ginawang asintahan ung mga puyo natin."

34th Jones Cup: Top 10 Things We've Learned

Pilipinas' battlecry: ATTACK!

1. The dribble-drive offense is just as effective a zone-breaker as shooting from the outside
This approach opened a lot of eyes in terms of breaking the dreaded zone defense that we Filipino, having learned and patterned the game from the Americans, believe to be indestructible. Of course, for the DD to be effective, a team has to have A) a slasher strong enough to protect the ball and receive contact and B) shooters to kick-out too. We've always had A covered, it was the B part that we never really consistently had until this year. Even Gilas I didn't enjoy such premium-quality shooters led by Jeffrei Chan (who is really Allan Caidic on a Chin Chun Su overdose). The most effective so far are starting guard L.A. Tenorio who does it by his craftiness and exceptional ball-handling plus back-up Sol Mercado who just bulldozes his way inside. They suck in the 2-3 zone and force opponents to regroup/ help, leaving our shooters roaming free and waiting for the ball.

Date kasi ang intindi natin, pagnaka zona ang kalaban, tirahan mo na lang ng tres. Wag ka na mag-effort. Papawisan ka lang. Buti sana kung lahat ng player natin e mala-Caidic na sure-ball. Ngayon, gumagalaw lahat.

34th Jones Cup: Gilas takes down Asian champs

KKS calls a ceasefire
on all "Norwood is soft" jokes
...for now :)

For only the nth time since the Iranians zoomed into the upper echelon of Asian basketball, Pilipinas was able to raise its hands in victory at game's end. It was ugly early; sluggish and brutal-- both teams recognizing what was at stake and not wanting to give any advantage thus milking the shot clock and causing some of the most amateur-ish (and botched) sets before turning the intensity up in the second half.

Like a box office title fight, both teams didn't play their cards outright. Iran was happy with feeding the ball down low and not really looking to work around the center with their guards who are truly Euro-league worthy (Nikkhah Barrami is a beast!) while Pilipinas' dreaded "dribble drive" offense was being held at bay for halfcourt sets. Though the first half ended locked at 33 a piece, the game was physical, competitive and highly entertaining. The referees were doing their part to mess up the game for both teams, calling the quickest three second violations you'll ever see on television and missing some chippy plays inside.

The Dream Match: Gilas I vs II

PG: Jimmy Alapag/ JVee Casio/ Mark Barroca vs L.A. Tenorio/ Sol Mercado/ Gabe Norwood


Advantage goes to Gilas I owing to Alapag and Casio’s marksmanship. They are able to spread the floor more than the current PG rotation who are mostly dribble-drivers by trade (except Tenorio). Of the lot, you’d say that I will have a hard time stopping II’s bigger and stronger guards, but this is a team game and PGs aren’t needed to drive inside in the FIBA games, they’re meant to shoot from deep and play safety on defense. You can argue for Gilas II by saying that Mercado and Norwood are best suited to play alongside Chan and David, but three points per trip is still three points per trip.

Adv. Gilas I

34th Jones Cup: Pilipinas' grades

Stay aggressive Gabe!

Today's 88-84 win over Japan marks yet another come-from-behind win for Team Pilipinas, pulling out all the stops to erase a 4th quarter 11-point deficit. Not only where the Japs shooting the ball with Korean-like precision, but their ball movement was the best this writer has seen from that country in years.

Fortunately for us, Marcus "Big Daddy" Douthit came through with a stellar 26 points, 13 rebounds performance to carry us throughout the game in time for the locals to regroup defensively and wax hot in the 4th. Our top gunners, Gary David and Jeffrei Chan, provided the needed long bombs with Gabe Norwood-- who is having a "Cyrus Baguio-like" series, just playing the best basketball we've seen from him so far.

We have to commend Coach Chot Reyes for his awesome shuffling and also that impressive switching on defense which just about everyone on the floor for Pilipinas appears to have embraced whole-heartedly. Not only were they being active, but screens and picks by the Japs were being taken out of the equation because there was always a guy rotating inside or outside to meet them.

So without further ado, let's move on to the grades so far: