Steady ever since his Gilas Pilipinas debut, Dwight Ramos was held to just five points in the Philippines’ 74-66 conquest of Jordan last Friday, his lowest output throughout his stint with the National Five in the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
But that actually allowed him to display another facet of his game.
“I didn’t play very well, but (my teammates) picked me up. I struggled offensively so I focused defensively,” he said. “Everybody else is capable, so they handled that [scoring] load and won [us] the game, really.”
Struggling to get in a groove early, Ramos instead focused on guarding Dar Tucker, the Falcons’ naturalized player, clipping the hosts’ wings and ultimately allowing Gilas to wrest control in the second half.
“[I]t kind of felt like I was playing against myself, so I just defended him how I wouldn’t want someone to defend me,” the 24-year-old guard said.
Ramos’ stingy effort on defense had Tucker going 6-for-14, his third-worst shooting clip in the tournament while disrupting Jordan’s flow in the second half where the hosts scored only 27 points.
The 24-year-old guard taking a back seat in scoring allowed other Gilas guards to shine, like Scottie Thompson, who brought his all-around brilliance into the international stage; Ray Parks Jr., who shot well from deep; and returning guard CJ Perez, who put the finishing touches on the victory that had the Philippines improving to 4-3.
Despite the dip in his offensive numbers, Ramos feels truly happy with the outcome.
“I feel like it’s honestly better that way, it gives confidence to everybody. Everybody needs their game. These are all professional players, so they’re all capable. And it showed,” said Ramos, who still averages 13.4 points with 6.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.9 steals through seven games.
What truly matters
After all, the end result is what truly matters, especially for the fans of this basketball-crazed nation who expect no less than a repeat of a win over Saudi Arabia, which Gilas battles Sunday night (Monday midnight in Manila).
“The biggest thing is just winning. It doesn’t matter who shines … as long as we win. The fans and everything, they’ll get behind us,” Ramos said.
“We beat Jordan. A lot of people, they were thinking we were not gonna win again. We won. People are starting to believe in us again and I think that’s a good thing,” he said. INQ