Gilas 3.0: Undersize in height, oversize in heart

CEBU, Philippines - As the timeless adage goes, don’t judge the book by its cover. That holds true for the Philippine basketball team. At first look at this Gilas 3.0 team looks different. It has a smaller lineup and lots of unknown players as far as I am concerned Terrence Romeo, JC Intal and Matt Ganuelas, who are these guys? Count the two aged veterans in Asi Taulava and Dondon Hontiveros. And then there is this annoying  Alaska player in Calvin Abueva, whose antics has gotten my nerves during their final duel against the San Miguel Beermen. Then after that stunning loss to Palestine during their first assignment, a lot of people were quick to unleash sharp comments that “yes, this is one of lousiest Gilas team ever assembled”.  But that setback turned out to be a good wake-up call or shall I say, a slap in the face. It was already a won ballgame for Gilas and suddenly the ball turned to a hot potato that nobody wanted to take the shot.  But for me in the FIBA format, it is better to lose at the start of a tournament because it gives the team a surge of urgency to play better and not flirt with complacency.

You may be undefeated the entire tournament but if you lose one in knock out stage, it’s bye-bye time and no more second chance.

That  game made  people judge them. Some not even giving them the chance. But as I watched their past  four games, this team is not bad at all.  It all starts when Abueva checks in the game. He carries some sort of an Energizer battery which keeps on going and going. The biggest factor is defense. For the last four games, Gilas 3.0 has been averaging 11 steals and 2.5 blocks per game. 5 block coming from the game against Iran.

What factors should we focus for Gilas 3.0 to make it the finals or even grab slot to next year’s Rio Olympics.?

Defense. Best offense is defense. Because Gilas is undersized, their defense starts from the front court with our guards doubling, fighting screens and clogging the passing lane, while our undersize power forwards uses their speed for defense. It is a matter of who wants to basketball more.

Outside sniping. 3-points is our main weapon. To be successful against the zone defense, one must be accurate in outside shots as  this will open up the middle and gives us more option inside out. During the game against Lebanon, Gilas made only 30 percent from 3 points with Castro making 5/10.  So far, Dondon Hontiveros haven’t got on fire in this tournament so I do hope that he hits his targets when it matter most.

Turnover.  Romeo maybe a good one-on-one player but sometimes he forgets to pass and dribbles too much. But he is learning it the hard way. He had some miscues against Lebanon, but he made up for it in defense and offense.

Andre Blatche.  When Andre Blatche skipped the Jones Cup to attend to some personal matters, he came back overweight and not in tip-top shape but Blatche is just peaking in form just in time. He played great defense against Iran, showing some nifty moves driving in to the basket. He’s picking up fouls from their opponents like he was picking fruits of a tree. Andre Blatche gives us the ceiling and height Gilas so lacked.  He rebounds, blocks, steals and intimidates opponent. And if ever we need offense, he is on call at all times. He silenced the Chinese cheering squad after every free throw.  We need Blatche to be healthy and he should avoid early foul trouble.

The BLUR. We owe the success of Gilas to Jason Castro. He is the reigning best point guard of Asia and against Lebanon he showed his superior speed, accuracy and even played hard nose defense.

As of this writing, Gilas is still slugging it out with Japan for a final seat. The winner will then meet either Iran or China for the championship and a trip to the 2016 Rio Olympics. Win or lose, Gilas 3.0 already proved that “Hard work beats talent, when Talent fails to work hard.”