Golden Gilas the Miracle Team

It didn’t look like a championship squad at the onset. Putting a mix-up in recruiting players behind him, Gilas coach Tim Cone re-assembled a cast for a first practice together five days before a scheduled departure for Hangzhou to play in the Asian Games. A single tune-up game against a visiting Korean pro club LG Sakers was squeezed into the calendar and sensing the need for a little more practice time, Cone delayed taking the flight out by a day.

Only four players were brought back from the FIBA World Cup lineup – June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Scottie Thompson and CJ Perez. RR Pogoy went down with a health condition and was replaced by Marcio Lassiter. Original recruits Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, Jason Perkins, Mo Tautuaa and Stanley Pringle had actually started practice with Gilas until Cone was informed they weren’t included in the pool of 37 candidates submitted to the Asian Games organizers. Kevin Alas, Arvin Tolentino and Chris Ross were hastily called in to fill the vacant slots. Cone activated Chris Newsome and Calvin Oftana who were late cuts for the FIBA World Cup. The confusing jumble of players had to be a nightmare for Cone but there was a mission to accomplish and he didn’t back down from the challenge.

Gilas crammed and scrambled. But against Bahrain in its first assignment, Gilas didn’t look like it was a team that just came out of the woodwork. Cone played his entire complement to win by 38. The next game wasn’t easy as Gilas had to withstand some torrid shooting from Tyler Lamb and Fred Lish who combined for 10 triples to beat Thailand by 15. The 25-point loss to Jordan followed but it had to be an aberration because the Gilas team that showed up was a far cry from what Cone had molded. That led to three straight KO wins over Qatar by 39, Iran by one and China by one to arrange a rematch with Jordan in the final.

Justin Brownlee was the Man of the Moment in Gilas’ back-to-back wins over Iran and China, averaging 34.5 points in both cliffhangers. He hit the dagger shots to bail out Gilas twice. But in the final, Brownlee took a backseat to his teammates who stepped up to seal it down the stretch. Brownlee delivered only two free throws in the last quarter where Ange Kouame hit eight of his 14 and four others scored. Jordan’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson gassed out defending Brownlee and missed four of his last five free throws. Newsome, Brownlee, Kouame and Aguilar took turns shadowing Jefferson who eventually wilted under pressure. Jordan’s over-reliance on Jefferson was reflected in its short rotation with relievers scoring only eight points to Gilas’ 21. Gilas’ defense limited Jordan to 26 percent field goal shooting with sharpshooter Sami Bzai held to three points and 6-11 naturalized import John Bohannon to four. What brought the gold medal back to the Philippines after 61 years was total team effort, every player covering each other’s back, trusting, believing and executing.

Jordan led only thrice and after Gilas dropped a 9-0 bomb, countered with an 11-0 surge in the second quarter. Jefferson started the second half with a twinner to push Jordan to its last lead, 33-31. Gilas regained the advantage with Brownlee knocking down three free throws and never relinquished the driver’s seat again. Jefferson and Freddy Ibrahim played nearly without relief, resting only a combined 54 seconds. That took a toll on both as the game went into the twilight zone. Cone was masterful in subbing and brought out the best in his men. The gold had to be a gift from God to the Filipino people who’ve long waited for the Philippines to return to hoop glory. Golden Gilas will forever be known as the Miracle Team of the Hangzhou Asian Games.