Saturday, September 22, 2012

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.

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