And anyone here could understand, considering the splendid performance dished out by Team Philippines with stars Ranidel de Ocampo, Ervin Sotto, James Yap, Gary David and Rich Alvarez.
"Kung itong team na ito ang dala ko sa China, baka lumaban tayo sa top four," said Del Rosario. Minus collegiate players De Ocampo, Sotto, Yap, Alvarez, Wesley Gonzales and PBL standouts David and Allan Salangsang, the Nationals fell easy prey to the oppositions in the China joust, finishing 15th in a 16-team field. It was the country’s worst showing ever in the regional meet, serving as qualifier to the Olympics and the World Basketball Championships.
Team Philippines poured the frustrations and heartaches of that ABC debacle on Thailand Sunday night, delivering a strong message to the opposition that it’s determined to hold on to the only remaining title in its possession.
The team beat Thailand by only 15 points in the SEABA tournament in Malaysia.
"Malaki talaga ang inilakas ng team pagdating ng mga big players na sila De Ocampo, Sotto, Alvarez at shooters David, Gonzales at Salangsang. Lumalim ang bench at tumibay kahit saang posisyon," said Del Rosario.
That’s bad news to the host team, which will be Team Philippines’ next opponent at 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. in Manila) today.
The Nationals are expected to make an even better showing against the Vietnamese, perennial SEAG cellar-dwellers whose only ace here is their rowdy crowd.
Del Rosario said they don’t intend to relax versus the Vietnamese as they will seek to fine tune further their game in preparation for their contests against Indonesia Thursday and Malaysia Saturday.
With four days of practice, the Nationals have show class against the Thais, fashioning out the easy romp.
The cagers, with De Ocampo and Yap leading in scoring with 18 and 13, took the half at 49-29 and dominated the third quarter, 24-6.
Del Rosario fielded in all his players, including Gonzales in the closing minutes. Gonzales is back after a bout with allergy.
The Thais, who have always been a contender for the silver in the games, were in the fight only in the first few minutes, forcing four deadlocks.