Quit was never Gilas option

Gilas lead assistant coach Richard del Rosario disclosed the other day that with the uncertainty of which players would be allowed to suit up in the recent Hangzhou Asian Games less than a week before departure, the option of withdrawing was brought to the table. Note that Lebanon backed out of the competition so if the Philippines followed suit, it wouldn’t have been unprecedented.

But Del Rosario said nobody wanted to give up and the first to step to the line of battle was June Mar Fajardo. “The guys wouldn’t quit,” said Del Rosario. “We knew that if we went to play, we would risk getting bashed and embarrassed. But the players decided it would be more of an embarrassment to quit. That’s not the spirit of sportsmanship.”

Del Rosario said the team that brought home the gold had to be the most unexpected to win the Asian Games championship. “Daming uncertainty, daming hiccups at pagdating namin sa Hangzhou, ibang players walang accreditation,” he said during a SEAG Live show. “The organizers made it difficult for us. But we were there to fight, no matter what.”

At halftime of the semifinal game against China, Gilas trailed by 18 but head coach Tim Cone wasn’t ready to raise the white flag. “Coach Tim wanted us to bring down the lead to a manageable level by the start of the fourth quarter and the gap dropped to 12,” continued Del Rosario. “Coach Tim reminded us whom we were playing for, not for a team in the PBA but for the country. We were feeling down at the half but we weren’t discouraged. When the fourth quarter started, we had hope and never gave up.”

The snafu that nearly bowled over Gilas was a mystery to Del Rosario who said to this day, nobody knows the author of the infamous pools of 60 and 37 that failed to list Calvin Abueva and Jason Perkins. “We were told there was a chance to include Calvin and Jason then we found out about the pool of 37 that didn’t include them and others who already started practicing with us like Terrence (Romeo) and Mo (Tautuaa),” said Del Rosario. “But we were determined to play with whomever we were allowed to line up even if we would be down to seven or eight men.”

Del Rosario said Justin Brownlee’s attitude was exemplary. “Justin doesn’t demand the ball and if he doesn’t get it, ‘di siya naiinis,” he said. “He’s familiar with the guys and he trusts his teammates. We knew in the final, Jordan would come up with a way to slow down Justin so we made sure everyone was ready to contribute like Chris (Newsome), Ange (Kouame), Calvin (Oftana) and the rest. The one guy who played beyond expectations was Kevin Alas. He got into the paint, hit the three and did his part. Honestly, before the final, I knew we would beat Jordan. We lost in the elims but we like playing in a series where if we lose one, we’ll adjust to win the next. We were quietly confident. We limited their outside shooters (Freddy) Ibrahim and (Sami) Bzai, we gave Rondae (Hollis-Jefferson) his outside shots and he shot poorly. Depth was a big factor for us. Throughout the tournament, we were focused on our goal. We did it for the country under the most challenging circumstances and that’s why this was a special team.”