No whipping boys for Gilas

When the Philippine national basketball team crushed a Spanish All-Star selection by 31 points in Vitoria last Sunday, not a few fans wondered if the losing squad was assembled to make Gilas look good.

The game was close only in the early minutes. The Spanish squad raced to a 4-0 lead and still sat in the driver’s seat, 14-13. Then, Gilas detonated a 14-2 bomb to close the first period on top, 23-16, and was never headed again. Naturalized player Andray Blatche hit seven points in a 13-0 run that ballooned Gilas’ edge to 19 at 40-21 in the second quarter. Blatche’s surge consisted of a triple, a coast-to-coast drive from his own defensive rebound and a dunk off a crossover dribble. In the third period, Gilas’ other naturalized player Marcus Douthit capped a 9-0 spurt as the national team zoomed ahead, 67-36. That binge included two free throws by L. A. Tenorio who went to the line after a smack on the face from David Doblas’ elbow.

The margin soared to 34 at 84-50 on Tenorio’s basket before settling the final count, 89-58. In all, Gilas knocked down 12 triples – four from Blatche, two apiece from Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan and one each from de Ocampo, Jared Dillinger, Paul Lee and Beau Belga. Gilas had more assists, 10-7 and rebounds, 27-21. A cause for concern was Gilas’ eight traveling violations among 15 turnovers. FIBA referees are quick to make traveling calls particularly when a player starts his move before putting the ball on the floor. They’re also strict in enforcing the rule prohibiting even an extra half-step in a breakaway drive to the basket.

The Spanish selection was billed as an ACB (Asociacion de Clubs de Baloncesto) All-Star team. The ACB is Spain’s premier basketball league, formed in 1957, and now has 18 teams, including Real Madrid and F. C. Barcelona. However, the lineup listed only one ACB veteran Doblas who has played in the premier league since 1999. Doblas, 33, is a 6-9 veteran who once played for the Spanish U20 national team. Another player, 6-7 Juancho Hernan Gomez, will make his ACB debut next season and is being recruited by at least three clubs after a stellar showing in the LEB (Liga Espanola de Baloncesto) second division. Gomez, 19, played on the Spanish U18 team that took the bronze medal at the European Championships last year and on the Spanish U20 squad that finished second at the European Championships this year. He is considered one of Spain’s rising stars today.

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Most of the players were from the Liga Espanol de Baloncesto Amateur (EBA) which is Spain’s fourth division. The selection’s coach Mikel Garitaonandia learned the game from Jesuit priest and former Spanish national player Juanjo Moreno. He now coaches Zarnotza which was promoted from the EBA to the LEB Plata or third division in 2012-13. Garitaonandia has a solid reputation in Spanish basketball and is known as one of the promising young coaches in the country. He was assisted on the bench by Ivory Coast national coach Nacho Lezcano, a Spaniard who is arranging warm-ups for Gilas in Spain.

Others in the Spanish selection were 6-1 Julian Garrote, 32, 6-6 Alejandro Reyes, 20, 6-3 Aitor Zubizarreta, 19, 6-10 Niger import Seydou Aboubacar, 20, of CB Prat Juventud, 6-6 Uruguayan-Greek Max Sole, 26, 6-4 Ander Garcia, 25, 6-3 Edu Duran, 23 and 6-1 Alex Ramon, 21.

Sole and Duran played on the LEB Plata squad CB Guadalajara. Sole averaged 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds while Duran hit at an 11.9 clip for their team last season. Two players came from the US where they see action in the NCAA Division I. Zubizaretta suits up for the University of Portland which has produced Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and Ukrainian naturalized player Eugene (Pooh) Jeter, formerly of the Sacramento Kings. Ramon plays for Colgate University in New York, the school that produced NBA center Adonal Foyle, and was the leading scorer of the Spanish U18 Championships in 2008-09.

Garrote averaged 17.9 points in 29 games with Club Basquet Granollers in the EBA last season. He played on the Spanish national team at the International Streetball Championships in Moscow in 2010. Reyes was once an EBA All-Spanish honorable mention awardee. The muscular Aboubacar is a project in the minor leagues and expected to develop into an inside force. So if you examine the players’ credentials, you couldn’t say they were set up to be bamboozled by Gilas. While individually they were respectable, their teamwork was spotty. It seemed like the players were formed just for the game.

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Blatche, who turns 28 on Aug. 22, was spectacular in his first warm-up with Gilas on European soil. He was so unstoppable that coach Chot Reyes kept him on the bench for most of the second half. In the second quarter alone, Blatche erupted for 12 points. Once, he tried to sell a charge by falling off a hard shove from Doblas. The Spanish referees didn’t call it and Doblas scored easily in the lane with Blatche on his back. It should’ve been an offensive foul but Blatche wasn’t bothered. He hit a triple on the return play. On another play, Blatche was stripped of the ball but made up for it with his own steal then brought it over the midcourt line with a spin move and issued a nifty bouncer to Marc Pingris. Still on another play, he whipped a pass to Norwood for an open three.

Douthit subbed for Blatche in the opening period and on his first touch, scored. He held his own on defense and off the boards. Reyes shuffled combinations on the floor to test chemistry. He started with Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar, Norwood, Blatche and Gary David. When pressing, the five were Dillinger, Lee, Jayson Castro, Pingris and Douthit. When picking up the pace, the combination was made up of Jimmy Alapag, Castro, Tenorio, Lee and Blatche. When going All-Filipino, on the floor were JunMar Fajardo, Beau Belga, Jay Washington, Alapag and David or Pingris, Fajardo, Jeff Chan, Washington and Tenorio. A combination that clicked was composed of Blatche, Norwood, Lee, Aguilar and Castro. Gilas’ next warm-up game will be with France in Antibes tomorrow. Then, Gilas takes on Australia on Saturday and Ukraine on Sunday, both in Antibes.

The scores:

Gilas 89 – Blatche 18, Lee 10, Dillinger 9, Norwood 6, David 6, Chan 6, Tenorio 6, Aguilar 6, Belga 5, Douthit 4, Washington 4, De Ocampo 3, Fajardo 3, Pingris 2, Castro 1, Alapag 0.

Spanish All-Stars – Gomez 20, Garcia 11, Doblas 9, Ramon 4, Garrote 4, Zubizarreta 3, Reyes 3, Duran 2, Aboubacar 1, Sole 1.