FIBA Asia 2015

Will they win the gold and qualify for the Rio Olympics in 2016? Is Gilas Pilipinas 3 really any good? Is Coach Tab Baldwin for real? Isn’t the team too old? These are just few of the never ending questions and doubts about the Philippine men’s national basketball team that is currently playing at the FIBA Asia Championships 2015 in Shangsa, China, the Asia qualifier for the 2016 Olympics. Only the champion will get a slot in the Olympics and it’s going to be one tough climb to the top for the Pinoys, won’t it?

 The doubts and skeptics had their field day when unranked Palestine nipped Gilas, 75-73, on opening day of the tournament. After the loss, basketball fans ripped the team apart for a host of weaknesses such as poor defense, overconfidence, no June Mar Fajardo and more (including those below the belt). Fortunately, the team bounced back with big wins over Hong Kong (101-50) and Kuwait (110-64). Meanwhile, Palestine topped Group B as they also won over Kuwait (90-69) and Hong Kong (85-79). Gilas was #2 while Hong Kong is #3. The three teams move on to the next round where they play against the top three teams of Group A: Iran, Japan and India. At the end of the next round, the top four teams of the new Group E will qualify for the quarterfinal round where they face off against the top four teams of Group F in a sudden death playoff-type format. The teams in Group F are China, Qatar, Lebanon, Korea, Kazakhstan and Jordan. And so we ask again, “Can Gilas Pilipinas win the gold?” Hmm. At this point, the odds are very much slim but let’s see how they can make it all the way. After all, didn’t we win the silver medal at the FIBA Asia 2013, the ticket that brought us to the FIBA World Cup last year?

 The first step is to sweep their Group F games. While a win against Iran is a very tall order, India and Japan are teams that Gilas should overcome, unless they play the way did against Palestine. And depending on how Palestine fares against the teams from Group A, Gilas may end up in third place or second at best in the Group E standings. If Palestine loses two of its three games and Gilas wins two of its three games, they could end up tied with 3-2 records. And neither can we count out Japan. But why is this important? The team standings will now determine who they face from the other group in the quarterfinals or playoffs stage. China, Qatar, Lebanon and Korea are all strong teams and it’s going to be too close to call as to who will be comprising the top four of their group. China is a cinch for the top seed but it’s anybody’s game for #2 to #4. The crucial first step for Gilas is to avoid falling to fourth place in Group E so as to avoid Group F #1 seed China. A Gilas match-up against Korea and Qatar will be next on the difficulty scale with Lebanon slightly behind. And should Gilas get past this stage, we’re looking at a possible semifinals round against Iran (again) or China. Talk about a tall order (literally and figuratively). The final four could be among Gilas, Iran, China and Korea, with Qatar having an outside chance of gate-crashing the party. Palestine’s winning streak will most likely be stopped before the semis.

And so we wish and pray for the truly tough task up ahead for Gilas. Gone today is the homecourt edge which practically rode on the battle cry “Puso” that brought Gilas to the FIBA World Cup for the first time since 1978. Gone, too are some of the key players of that team such as Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Jeff Chan, Paul Lee and the now-retired Jimmy Alapag. In their place are the young upstarts in Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, Sonny Thoss, Matt Ganuelas, JC Intal and the ageless pair of Dondon Hontiveros and Asi Taulava. Back for another call of duty are Jayson Castro (William in the FIBA), Marc Pingris, Ranidel de Ocampo, Gabe Norwood and Andray Blatche. Castro leads the offense with 15.7 points a game while Blatche (who reported to camp out of shape) is good for 15.3 points a game. Romeo has been a pleasant surprise with his 13.7 points a game.

 The team has adapted to Coach Tab Baldwin’s system but the question still remains if the team can win it all. Can the team match up against the likes of Iran and China which enjoy tremendous a unique edge in height, size and experience? The guessing game is looking at Gilas making it to the semifinals, but falling short of another FIBA Asia finals appearance. Iran and China have levelled up even more while the rest of Asia has caught up with the traditional powerhouses. For now, Pinoy basketball fans should continue to support the team by praying and cheering for the team. We should also accept whatever final finish the team achieves and thank them for their generosity and sacrifice (even if there will be tons of garbage thrown their way). And then we move on again as we’ve done in the past.

 Laban Pilipinas! Puso!