The winning streak of the Pilipinas Smart-Gilas 5 in the FIBA Asia Championship for Men in Wuhan, China ends at 5. The Philippines missed a chance to be in the finals after it crashed against a very experienced Jordanian team. A lot of people had high hopes for a breakthrough for the Pinoy ballers as Jordan eliminated the seemingly unbeatable Iran. Jordan fell to the Gilas in their first meeting in the 2nd round. It was not meant to be.
The Olympic dream might never be over though as they can still qualify for the final Olympic qualifiers if they win the bronze medal in Wuhan. There is still hope but historically, the Gilas do not fare well in 3rd place matches. They also seem to lose to a team that they beat in previous rounds (another example was in the Jones Cup against Iran). I hope that they can get out of the emotional rut and win the battle for 3rd place. The Gilas has shown that they can compete with the best of Asia.
If they lose tomorrow, will there still be a Gilas program? With the core going pro, what happens to the team? Our past performances in Asian level competition has been badly affected by the constant rebuilding of teams. Instead of continuously improving, we prefer to start from scratch often. Once the PBA starts, a lot of basketball leaders forget about the national team. They always say that there are new players waiting on the wings but these players need to develop chemistry and learn the system. The system of coach Toroman somehow works and we got a gem with Marcus Douthit. It is just sad that Lassiter and company will be donning different colors as early as next week.
Is the Olympic dream really over? We will surely find out sooner than later. ;)
May the Gilas win 3rd place so that there will be a flicker of hope for the program to continue.
Related Links:
Gilas stuns Japan (sportsreaktor)
Rebuilding the Gilas (past article)
Related Links:
Gilas stuns Japan (sportsreaktor)
Rebuilding the Gilas (past article)
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