They played and lost fighting

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s top sports officials hailed members of Gilas Pilipinas for their gallant stand under the circumstances presented to them even before the opening tip.

“It’s hard to win if they (hosts) did what MVP (Manny V. Pangilinan) said,” said Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia yesterday.

Garcia was referring to what every Filipino supporter saw as dirty tricks used by the hosts in making sure their team enjoyed the upperhand.

Hours before the match, the president of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas tweeted from Changsha and gave Gilas fans back home an idea of what they were going through.

“Our Gilas electric bus delayed. Failed to charge daw. Gilas arrival at stadium delayed. Less time for warm-up,” said Pangilinan.

When they got to the venue, the problems continued because Gilas couldn’t secure game tickets even for some of the assistant coaches. 

“Gggrrrr,” Pangilinan tweeted to his 124,000-plus followers.

When they stepped onto the court, maintenance people had to tighten some screws on the Gilas goal while the Chinese warmed up on their side.

Even before the game started, Gilas was on the losing end.

Still, the Filipino players, the oldest in the league, fought the Chinese, the tallest squad in this year’s FIBA Asia Championship, tooth and nail.

“They played and lost fighting for our country. I’m proud of our national team’s fighting heart,” said Garcia.

During the game, the bullying continued as Chinese fans seated behind the Gilas bench provided all forms of distraction.

“Mapapaaway kami dito (We could get into a fight here),” Pangilinan also said.

The PSC chief celebrated his 70th birthday last Thursday, saying that if given three wishes, one would be for Gilas to win the title in Changsha.

The others, he said, was for the country to win the gold in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and for Pacquiao to continue winning.

“We should thank all the members of the Gilas team,” said the PSC chief.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco said Pinoy basketball fans should understand the kind of pressure the Gilas players went through.

“We must remember that every game we played our players were under tremendous pressure,” said Cojuangco.

He tipped his hat on the Filipino basketball players.

“I think the Philippine team played well added to the fact that they were playing against players a lot bigger than them,” he said.

In the end, it all worked for China.