GILAS PROVES FILIPINOS TRULY BELONG IN THE WORLD STAGE
SEVILLE, Spain – As envisioned by Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes, the way to the playground where the big boys of the FIBA Basketball World Cup will romp – the Round of 16, is through Croatia and Senegal, the Nationals’ first and last preliminary assignments.
“On analysis of the competition we felt our best shot was against those two teams,” Reyes said during a thanksgiving dinner tendered by Gilas Pilipinas benefactor Manny V. Pangilinan Thursday night here.
“Croatia, we thought, won’t be prepared for us; baka makagulat tayo, and Senegal because we felt we had the game to beat them. True enough, both games ended in overtime. We were one shot away from going to the second round.”
Reyes felt everything “went according to plan” except for one unexpected phenomenon.
“Masama ang loob natin kasi di naman natin alam na madidikitan natin yung apat na kalaban natin,” he said. ”But we did and it raised the expectations of everyone, from the team, management, the fans and the media. From the start, however, our thinking was our best shot would be against Croatia and Senegal, and that’s exactly what happened.”
The game against world No. 3 Argentina, where Gabe Norwood posterized the Indiana Pacers’ Luis Scola and Jimmy Alapag torched the Latin American team in the fourth quarter, was treated, more or less, as an experiment.
“We sacrificed defense for offense, that’s why I started Ranidel de Ocampo,” Reyes said. “We made some in-tournament adjustments and it almost worked. We were just unable to convert and a couple of turnovers hurt us in the end.”
The heartbreaker against the Argentines, as well as the down-the-wire defeats to the Croatians and Puerto Rico, with JJ Barea and former PBA import Renaldo Balkman, were the result of the Nationals’ “freezing” in the cold waters of international play, Reyes said.
“That is our main problem – inexperience,” said Reyes. “We just froze in our end games. It’s not choking, these are PBA veterans. But this is a completely new tournament. Parang di tayo makapaniwala na kaya nating manalo. Even Andray [Blatche]. He’s an NBA player but he’s a rookie at FIBA and it showed. Look at our last plays; once he gets the ball, he passed it.”
Reyes said that as frustrating as not making it to the next round is, the 1-4 win-loss record, capped by the country’s first win in world basketball in 40 years, was a testament to what Gilas Pilipinas has achieved in the short period of time it was put together.
“The best way to describe it is that while we’re happy with the win, we regret not getting to the second round,” Reyes. “But now we know we deserved to be there. Before it was 50-50, not anymore.”
Throwing different looks at Gilas’ Group B opponents was the big secret to the Nationals’ success at being able to be there till the end against world class rivals.
“We stayed unpredictable, hard to scout, unconventional and were just completely willing to take risks,” Reyes said. “We didn’t play the precision game of the Europeans or the scientific game of the Americans. We didn’t even call out plays. That’s how we were able to compete the way we did.”
Reyes plans to do the same later this month when they fly to Incheon, South Korea for the Asian Games.
Under one presumption, though.
“As long as Andray is there and we stay healthy, we could go all the way,” Reyes said, shifting his focus to Gilas’ forthcoming battles with the region’s basketball powers – Iran, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Japan, host South Korea and, of course, powerhouse China.
“Ang problema, I don’t even know what kind of team we’ll have,” he said. “Nakakahinayang kasi if we’re not able to bring this whole team to the Asian Games.”
Reyes said questions made by the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee on the eligibility of Blatche could hurt the team’s chances.
“Even if we’re allowed to to change Andray with Marcus [Douthit], the dynamics will be completely different,” Reyes said. “Maiiba talaga. Look, the reason June Mar [Fajardo] is playing so well is because of Andray. He can play with Andray but won’t be as effective with Marcus because parehong position e. Andray got so much attention, it freed June Mar to do a lot of things.”
Gilas’s first practice for the Asiad is set at Sept. 12, with the team departing for Incheon on Sept. 19.
“We even have to evaluate pa our injuries, like yung ke [Marc] Pingris (plantar fasciaitis), Paul Lee (back and shoulder) and Jayson Castro (knee),” Reyes said. “So right now, everything is up in the air. Even if we’ve submitted our 12-man lineup, we can always change if it’s due to injuries. E kita naman nila, di na nga natin ginamit si Jayson nitong huli.”
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