No celebration for Nationals

MANILA, Philippines — SBP president Al Panlilio witnessed history unfold before his eyes in Riga as Gilas stunned host Latvia, 89-80, in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament last Wednesday night to book the Philippines’ first win over a European team since scoring an 84-82 decision over Spain in the 1960 Olympics.

But Panlilio was quick to thumb down any celebration.  In 17 hours, Gilas would be back on the court to face Georgia and attempt to clinch a semifinals berth.  The game was played last night and the result wasn’t available at presstime.

“We’re so proud we won but we aren’t here to win one game,” said Panlilio.  “No celebrations.  Mindset is to get everyone ready for the next game.  Heal up and play again in 17 hours.”  Gilas could afford to lose by 18 to Georgia and still make it to the semis via the quotient system.  A loss by 18 would settle Gilas’ plus-minus to -nine and Georgia’s to minus-10.  A win over Georgia would clinch pole position for Gilas in the group stage and set the stage for a semis showdown with Montenegro, No. 2 in the other bracket.

Meralco active coaching consultant Nenad Vucinic, who watched the Gilas-Latvia game on TV while visiting his mother in Montenegro, cited coach Tim Cone for an “amazing job.”  He described Latvia’s Italian coach Luca Banchi as “one of the best tacticians in the world (yet) coach Tim dominated him.”  Vucinic also applauded Chris Newsome.  “Our guy New led the team extremely well,” he said.  “Great courage and poise.  It was really a team effort and great tactics by coach Tim and the staff.  All the players brought something to the table.  JB (Justin Brownlee) scoring, Kai (Sotto), JMF (JuneMar Fajardo) and Japeth (Aguilar) inside presence, crucial set-up by Dwight (Ramos), also off the bench, CJ (Perez) and KQ (Kevin Quiambao) made some contributions as well as Calvin (Oftana) and Carl (Tamayo).  They kept scoring under pressure and gave open shots to players who didn’t play well for Latvia.”

EASL CEO Henry Kerins, watching the game live in Hong Kong at midnight, called it “the best performance I’ve seen as a team.”  He said, “I was almost crying … JuneMar, Ramos, Perez, Newsome, JB played their best and with class … Kai really showed power and leadership, too----first time I saw that.”  Former NBA scout and finance whiz Joe Betancourt said, “I called it for Gilas (and) I’m now paraphrasing the Wizard of Westwood (John Wooden) … avoid peaks and valleys, stay unimpressed and maintain same poise.”