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!
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