Honor in Smart Gilas loss

There are times when a team loses a game but earns the unstinted respect of its opponent and the admiration of the fans.
This was the case when the Smart Gilas Pilipinas team battled Mahram of Iran—the much heftier, back-to-back champions who were reinforced by two outstanding imports—and lost, 80-77, in the semifinals of the Fiba Asia Champions Cup on Saturday.
It was a game that we could have won with a little bit of luck. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the breaks and, to be honest, the referees did us no favors, which is what we always wish to see. While the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas played host, Filipinos, as a people, never look kindly on referees who favor us. Just like our fight fans, who abhor hometown decisions in boxing.
Without a doubt,  Filipinos are probably the most knowledgeable fans in the world when it comes to basketball and boxing.
While some of our players may have been gutted by the missed opportunity to play Lebanon for the gold medal, they earned the unmistakable right to hold their heads up high after one of the most courageous displays by a gallant band of little men against a star-studded roster of comparative giants.
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SBP vice chair Ricky Vargas said it simply but eloquently in the dugout after the game. He told the players that this was probably the first time that he congratulated a team that lost a game.
This bunch of young men made us proud. Even though they lost, they were winners in the hearts of millions of Filipinos who saluted their indomitable courage against almost overwhelming odds.
For all our passionate support for the Smart Gilas team, not too many of us believed that we could even come close to beating Iran, a giant of Asian basketball. Yet we almost did, and one wonders what would have happened if point guard extraordinaire JV Casio, who must surely be considered the find of the tournament and the best point guard for sure, hadn’t fouled out.
Naturalized player Marcus Douthit proved beyond doubt that Congress did right in granting him Philippine citizenship. Longtime friend and basketball lover congressman Robbie Puno has a right to feel vindicated for his efforts in leading the campaign to get Douthit naturalized.
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The support given Smart Gilas by SBP president Manny Pangilinan, the esteemed businessman-sportsman whose love for the game is matched by his unflinching faith in the ability of the Filipino to achieve against all odds, is clearly bearing fruit.
The Smart Gilas team has, by its performance, put into serious question the insistence of some pundits that height is might in basketball and we are wasting time and resources in a hopeless pursuit.
Smart Gilas proved that small men with skill, courage, fighting hearts and a sound system have the capacity to overcome alongside a coach who himself is a believer and whose credentials speak for themselves.
As we walked out of the Philsport Arena long after the game, a member of the Iranian management staff approached us, shook us warmly by the hand and said “you have a fantastic team.”
He added: “That was a great game. They played so well. Congratulations.”
We could sense the relief among the Iranians.
Ricky Vargas was perfectly right—sometimes there is more honor in defeat than you could ever dream of.