At this point in time, Smart Gilas has effectively gone from a promising team of amateurs, to one that has fallen victim to its own hype, all the way to today's nice mix of young names and PBA veterans who have re-established what Philippine basketball is all about and should be: teamwork.
Truth be told, when the PBA sent the ill-conceived all star selection to represent the country a couple of years back, guys weren't playing their usual roles on the floor. Instead of making sacrifices on the floor, it was quite clear that some of the players we were rooting and pulling for had their own agendas (re: Arwind Santos, Dondon Hontiveros). Be it showing off for international scouts, not wanting to get hurt or just plain settling for wearing the Philippine colors but not representing and fighting for country-- those guys failed simply because they didn't play as a team.
