National five is back in business

If it were the old way of doing things, Gilas Pilipinas would have already been on a trip to the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

There was a time when the top two Asian finishers in a Fiba Asia tournament just before the Olympics would get slots. Winning the ABC in 1967, the Philippines went to the annual global sportsfest in Mexico in 1968. A runner-up finish to Japan in 1971 earned a ticket to the Munich edition in 1972, the last time the country played in the Olympics.

But that’s not the way things are done now and thus only China, with its 78-67 win over Gilas Saturday, earned a ticket to Rio de Janeiro.

Sure, the Philippines gets invited to a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament next year because of its runner-up finish. However, that’s a harder tournament to win because teams from other regions will participate.

But make no mistake about it. Gilas Pilipinas represented all that we ask for in a national team: A competitive spirit, a sense of teamwork a nationalistic fervor and fighting hearts.

Gilas was in ample supply of heart in spite of all the tribulations it faced going into and while playing in the tournament. Coach Tab Baldwin couldn’t get all the players in his wish list. There wasn’t really that much time to prepare. There was the shocking loss to Palestine.

But there were moments to relish and be rightly proud of. The win against Iran was particularly gratifying after all those years of being unable to handle the size and aggressiveness of the Iranians. The semifinal triumph against Japan was carved out against a pesky, relentless team.

And even in the final game, there were odds to hurdle. China correctly used its size to bring up its halfcourt defense against Gilas.

Jason Castro and Terrence Romeo couldn’t do many of their dazzling moves and kickouts because they were constantly being forced away from their attack zones.  The amount of time trying to find an open man resulted in shorter shot-clock time and hurried shots.

Add to this the horror of being unable to nail shots even when the Philippine gunners were shaken free by patient passing. Dondon Hontiveros couldn’t hit the treys he drained against Japan and Raniel de Ocampo groped for rhythm at his favorite spot at the top of the key.

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The officiating was spotty at best but the team bravely tried to rise above the dilemma by gang-rebounding against the Chinese giants whose average height was six feet eight inches. The Philippine shots just wouldn’t go in and the Chinese were hitting theirs.

In spite of the loss of the gold medal and the trip to Rio de Janeiro, Gilas reaffirmed that the Philippines is back in business slugging it out with Asia’s best. Two runner-up finishes in the last two editions of the Fiba Asia including one trip to the World Championships last year are no easy feats.

In time, and if the country continues to play with fighting hearts as a team inside and out of the court, we should be able to return to the throne of Asian basketball.

We have to keep on playing our opponents because we will be able to find ways to beat them. Iran, Japan and South Korea have already found this out.

And if we can have a few more reliable shooters and big men, maybe we can find the way to finally break down the Great Wall of China.