2014 FIBA World Cup: Philippines 81–79 Senegal (OT)

Author's note: Watching the USA vs. Ukraine and Croatia vs. Puerto Rico games delayed me from posting this entry by a few hours. But better late than never, as it has always been said.

Yes indeed, you've read it right once more. That's not a typo. The Philippines, a.k.a. Gilas Pilipinas, have indeed finally won in the 2014 FIBA World Cup by getting rid of pesky Senegal in their final game of the tournament, but not before they were pushed to the limit for the umpteenth time...and this time passing the test with flying colors! Led by June Mar "The Kraken" Fajardo and the retiring Jimmy "The Mighty Mouse" Alapag, my two hands down choices for the best players of the game, the Philippines prevented a repeat of the heartbreaking losses they suffered against Croatia, Argentina and Puerto Rico by playing more consistent, solid defense and sinking timely free throws towards the end of the overtime period for the country's first victory in the FIBA World Cup (or Olympics) in 40 years. The victory, although a no-bearing one for both sides, triggered rapturous celebrations across the basketball-mad nation and messages of congratulations online for the team and the country from both foreign and local basketball fans alike. It also made sure that the Philippines maintains its immaculate all time win-loss record against Senegal in both the FIBA World Cup and the Olympics at 3-0 as we've also won against them in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics (the latter being our last Olympic appearance to date). Lastly, it was also a perfect send-off to Alapag, one of the great point guards in Philippine basketball history who is retiring from international basketball at the end of the tournament.

The last time the Philippines won, it was at the then FIBA World Championship on July 12, 1974, when the Philippine national team led by future PBA legends Ramon "El Presidente" Fernandez, Robert "The Big J" Jaworski and Jaime "Jimmy" Mariano won over then first-time participants Central African Republic, 87-86, in what was also a thriller of a game and their final one of the tournament held at the Coliseo Héctor Solá Bezares in Caguas, Puerto Rico. The win, which came during the classification stage, gave the Philippines a 2-6 overall win-loss record and 13th place while dealing the Central Africans their eight loss in as many games and relegating them to 14th and dead last. (Side note: While the Philippines will figure in two more FIBA World Cup/Championship stints, Central African Republic would never see the light of that tournament again to date.)

Those tense moments when the Senegalese were determined to join the likes of the Philippines' Group B group mates (and South Korea in the past) in the Philippine party poopers league by dealing the country another heartbreaking loss were reminiscent of the Croatia game, except that in this case, it was not Jeff Chan but LA Tenorio who missed the last second shot that would've potentially broken a 64-all deadlock and won the game outright for Gilas in regulation. Fortunately, despite Senegal parading an NBA star in center Gorgui Dieng and the loss of naturalized player Andray Blatche due to five personal fouls, Alapag and Fajardo stepped up big time with a little help from the rest of their teammates in making sure the country will not go home winless. I'm thinking right now that this game may have probably made Senegal realize that the team that is hardest to beat is the one that has nothing more to lose.

If it was the curse of Korea that Gilas ended in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, then it was the curse of the lengthy, winless FIBA World Cup/Championship losing streak that they ended with that victory over the 2013 Afrobasket third placers. And they were able to ultimately accomplish both feats without the benefit of a naturalized player in the homestretch. Does it sound like Gilas performs much better and with more heart and cohesion as a team without a naturalized player then? Hmm.

The Kraken has been unleashed, but Coach Chot failed to realize it much earlier. Had he played June Mar even more from the onset, the outcome of Gilas' first four games would've been totally different. That's one of the many lessons he, admittedly the inexperienced coach, should learn from this tournament aside from having his players play aggressively and consistently at their very best all game long to win games: You can never put a great player, an MVP type, the future of Philippine basketball, like June Mar Fajardo down.

Even hours after that historic win, I'm still on a high, even though the win would still not suffice to see Gilas through to the next round. As such, I would like to stop as soon as possible before serendipity gets the better of me and lengthens this blog entry further. But as a parting shot, I would like to say that I am optimistic that, with the new qualification format to be introduced by FIBA for the 2019 World Cup (hopefully to be held in the Philippines!), Gilas will have stronger chances to consistently qualify for every tournament since, with the future merger of FIBA Asia and FIBA Oceania, a total of seven guaranteed qualifying slots will be allotted to that new confederation. No more wild cards will be awarded with the new format, so two of those four slots have been directly awarded to the future FIBA Asia Oceania confederation.

Finally, I would like to send my congratulations to Gilas Pilipinas. You saved your best for last. From mission impossible, it became mission accomplished as you ended your campaign with a bang. For sure, the world has not yet seen the last and the best of the Philippine men's basketball team. This is only the beginning. To Senegal, thank you for being such worthy opponents by pushing us to the limit.

Maraming salamat, Kuya Jimmy, sa lahat ng naiambag mo sa muling pag-usbong ng bansang Pilipinas bilang isa sa mga pinakamagagaling na bansa sa larong basketbol. Nawa'y gabayan ka ng Poong Maykapal sa landas na iyong tatahakin sa iyong pagretiro. At sa Gilas Pilipinas, mabuhay kayong lahat at nawa'y lalo niyo pang galingan ang inyong laro sa inyong mga susunod na laban sa hinaharap!

P. S. To Gilas Pilipinas, my next missions for you, should you choose to accept them, are: First, win the Philippines' first Asian Games basketball gold medal in 52 years. Second, win the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship to qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where you will also perform even better than in the 2014 FIBA World Cup. And third, assist the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP; Basketball Federation of the Philippines) in lending support to our Philippine women's national basketball team so they could also at least reach the level of excellence you have already achieved.

2014 FIBA World Cup: Puerto Rico 77–73 Philippines

You've read it right. Gilas Pilipinas has sadly bowed out of contention for the knockout stage after losing yet another heartbreaker of a game to Puerto Rico after leading in the first two quarters. No matter what the result of their game tomorrow against Senegal and all the remaining Group B games will be, the Philippines will still have no more chance of advancing as two wins are needed to do so. LA Tenorio's breakout game of the tournament (18 points, which is more than his total score during the first three games combined) thus went for naught. Had Gilas won, he would've probably won the best player of the game award.

On my own analysis, I saw that Gilas already has what it takes to compete with their opponents at the world stage. Their only weakness is they don't have yet the character, the experience and perhaps the physical and mental conditioning to win games. In short, inconsistency became their own worst enemy. This is one thing they definitely have to work real hard on if they want to recapture for the country a fifth Asian Games gold medal, which we last won in 1962 during the Carlos Loyzaga era. Two lessons should be learned here by Gilas: One, play consistently and aggressively at your very best all game long, for there is no such thing as a safe lead in international basketball. Second, straight from the legendary Muhammad Ali, "Don't ever quit. Suffer now and be a champion for life." Simply put, play every game as if it were your last.

As much as I would like to blame the Gilas players and the coaching staff for the debacle that is the 2014 FIBA World Cup, it dawned on me however that in this competition, two teams had to go from each group at the end of the group stage. Unfortunately, one of them had to be the Philippines. And a 36-year absence from the world stage can really undo even the best team in the world.

As for Jimmy Alapag, Gary David and perhaps Marc Pingris, this could very well be the end of the line for them as far as their international careers are concerned. By the time the next FIBA World Cup in 2019 (hopefully to be successfully hosted by the Philippines like the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship!) commences, most if not all of them would've already hung up their jerseys. They'll be leaving huge shoes to fill, and here's hoping and praying they will be filled up by those who are talented, courageous and deserving enough to not only pick up from where these current stalwarts will be leaving off but also become even way better than them overall.

Is the loss to Puerto Rico a painful one? If you would ask me, it's both a yes and a no. Yes because inconsistency killed Gilas for the umpteenth time, and no because I haven't set really high expectations for them to begin with. Even before the World Cup started, I've already told myself that, no matter what happens, I will still be proud of Gilas as making the World Cup stage alone is already a huge accomplishment in itself. This despite the fact that Gilas benefactor Manny Pangilinan gave them marching orders to finish 16th or higher in the competiton, which is obviously no longer possible by this time. Surely, you can't win them all as they say, but you can definitely learn from your lessons from your losses and improve on your weaknesses while maintaining your strengths. Weaknesses aside, I'm still liking the way Gilas has developed through the years. All the team's hard work with Mr. Pangilinan's generous assistance is finally bearing fruit. With the way they have improved their game up to and past respectability, there is no way for them to go but up.

So to Gilas, let's go for the next highest position instead, which is 17th. My mission for you now, should you choose to accept it, is to go out with a big bang by beating Senegal tomorrow. Kaya huwag kayong masiraan ng loob, Gilas Pilipinas! Batid naming ibinigay niyo ang lahat ng inyong makakaya, bagama't kulang kayo sa karanasang manalo. Hindi pa tapos ang laban. Tatagan niyo ang inyong loob at ipanalo ang huli niyong laban bukas. Go for broke and give the Filipino nation something to smile about in the end!

P. S. At almost the same time Gilas lost to Puerto Rico, the Philippine Azkals somehow gave a wounded nation something to cheer about by winning big over Chinese Taipei to the tune of 5-1 in the 2014 Philippine Peace Cup. The win was made possible with two goals from Mark Hartmann and one each from Rob Gier and James Younghusband plus an own goal from Chen Yi Wei. They will go for a third straight crown for the country this Saturday night against Myanmar. I'll be there as the action happens!

2014 FIBA World Cup: Argentina 85–81 Philippines

So near yet so far. Like their first game against Croatia, that's what best describes Gilas Pilipinas' heartbreaking loss against Argentina, who came just moments away from suffering from the mother of all upsets against a team ranked 31 huge places below them in the FIBA world rankings. Gilas led by three points after the first quarter, only to lose it in the end due to their inability to defend the three-point shot and execute the correct plays. In spite of that though, never-say-die Gilas still incredibly kept the game close courtesy of Jimmy Alapag's own version of the three-point barrage. The game-turning point though came in the final seconds of the game with Argentina leading by only two when Jayson Castro, instead of penetrating the open lane or passing to an open teammate, made an uncharacteristically bone-headed play by taking an ill-advised three-pointer right in front of Marcos Mata, who is nearly two heads taller than him. Understandably, that shot was easily blocked by Mata and also led to a travelling violation called on Castro. What Castro was able to do against 6'11" Giannis Antetekounmpo versus Greece, he wasn't able to this time against the more mobile and tough defending Mata, who was merely inches away from the Filipino point guard when the latter took the shot that probably made Coach Chot Reyes' blood pressure shoot up the roof that very moment. Former NBA player Andres Nocioni got fouled and capped the Philippine heartbreak by calmly sinking both free-throws for the final count.

So stunned was I by the loss that it took me several minutes before it finally dawned on me that the miracle that never was had just taken place right before my eyes. Even if while I was writing this I'm already able to come to terms with the loss, I still couldn't find the resolve to write a longer, more detailed blog entry about this game. To summarize my thoughts, though, I realized this game was not yet time for us to beat a higher-ranked team. Puerto Rico is up next this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Philippine time, and this is the best chance for Gilas to finally be able to score an upset.

As I was also writing this, I found out that Group B got even more interesting as Senegal just scored a miracle by beating Croatia, 77-75, thus forging a three-way logjam with the latter and the Argentines at two wins and one loss each. This could add even more pressure for our boys to win their last two games by the biggest margin possible to have any hope of advancing to the Round of 16. But with the grace of God, I know and I believe that anything is still possible. As a famous Filipino basketball saying goes, bilog ang bola (The ball is round). Here's hoping and praying now that Argentina and the Philippines both beat Senegal for both teams to have a very real chance of advancing.

Gilas still has absolutely nothing to be ashamed though of as they have earned the admiration and praise of Argentina coach Julio Lamas, who said after the game that his team's game against Gilas was "the most difficult game I had to coach in my life." And Mark Jones of ESPN said, "[The] Phillipines plays with more heart and relentlessness than any other team in the FIBA World Cup." That's the Filipino basketball player for you, dear Sirs. With a never-say-die attitude, they are often outmatched but never outfought!

I would like to end this entry right now by saying that the Argentina game has become a great learning experience for Gilas that they hope to pass on to our present and future basketball players who wish to follow in their footsteps. What I only wish is for them to play better, more consistent man-to-man defense and pass the ball around more efficiently and necessarily until finding the open man for the entire duration of any given international game. All hope is not yet lost for them, and I believe they will finally learn to win by nailing those two all-important wins and advance to the knockout stage. Hold your head up high still, Gilas Pilipinas! You have proven yet again that not only does the diminutive Filipino cager truly belongs to the league of the world's best, but also that this age is the renaissance of Philippine international basketball. Mabuhay po sa inyo at tuloy lang po ang laban!

2014 FIBA World Cup: Greece 82–70 Philippines

Just finished watching Greece vs. Philippines (Gilas Pilipinas), and the latter played another great game, especially June Mar Fajardo who is finally starting to fulfill his great promise as a dominant big man locally and internationally. And Giannis "The Greek Freak" Antetokounmpo was held to only three points after scoring 11 against Senegal. But the Greeks were simply put a much better, bigger, mobile team overall than Croatia, so much so that the former could eat the latter alive and whole when they face each other next. The only bad things however were the poor sportsmanship displayed by Greece's Ioannis Bourousis when he shoved Jimmy Alapag right after the game and Andray Blatche hurting his right knee, although it doesn't seem to be that serious and am confident that he can still play through the rest of the team's schedule.

Even way before the game started, I could already feel, even in the middle of my niece Gabby's second birthday celebration, that Gilas has a slim chance of winning against the Greeks. This given the fact that the latter walloped Senegal by 23 points the day before. Nevertheless, I still hoped against hope that Gilas can finally pull off the mother of all miracles by shaming the Hellenic warriors right on the basketball world's biggest stage. As it turned out, it seems like our brothers from the Mediterranean scouted us well, especially Jeff Chan, who they limited to just a single conversion from the three-point arc. They however still failed to dampen the never-say-die attitude of Gilas and fought them hard right up to the final buzzer. The Greek coach even at one point yelled at his players after calling a timeout for failing to put away the supposedly more inferior Gilas team early on. They also failed to contain Andray Blatche, who still got away with 21 points and 14 rebounds before being replaced towards the end of the game to prevent any possibility of aggravating his already hurting right knee. And the biggest revelation for Gilas in the tournament so far has been Fajardo, whose international game has improved by leaps and bounds since he started representing the country a year ago. He proved to be a huge thorn on the side of the Hellenics, whose lineup included three seven-footers, and even registered respectable numbers consisting of 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and no fouls, all in just an embarrassing 10 minutes of action (that's one point per minute!). How could you, Coach Chot? You should've given this kid at least 20 more minutes of action and could've succeeded in turning the tide in our favor!

Despite the loss, however, I am still very optimistic of our beloved national team's chances as I've learned a little later that Argentina just dropped an 85-90 decision against our first-game tormentors, Croatia. This only means that we have a very good chance of finally upsetting one of basketball's superpowers. That game will commence tonight at 11:30 p.m. Philippine time, so I'll definitely be there once again as it happens!

You may have lost to Greece, but the Filipino nation is still mighty proud of you, Gilas Pilipinas! Just keep on fighting, you're almost there! We are now starting to gain the respect of the world as we have shown that the diminutive Filipino basketball player is not to be underestimated. Patuloy lang ang laban, mga kababayan! Makakamtan rin natin ang minimithing tagumpay!