GILAS vs KSA: Some Thoughts

Last night's win over KSA was not as satisfying as it could have been. Still, a win is a win and, as Coach Chot said, the real battle starts today.

Here are three thoughts on what happened in the KSA game and what we can do moving forward.

Lack of scouting. The Gilas staff admitted that they knew next to nothing about the KSA team and thus, were not prepared for the hard pressing, long, athletic, hustling-for-every-loose-ball, driving-at-every-opportunity bunch that played like they had nothing to loose. Gilas had no answers because, until then, they didn't enough know what the exam was about. Moving forward, with the internet in play, our strategic alliances (like with Coach Tab) as well as OFWs in every corner of the globe, I'm sure there was a way to get even just one tape of the Saudis. I mean, they had to play in the qualifying round, right? If we can get tapes of the other Arab teams, we should be able to get our hands on even just one KSA tape.



Overpassing. Sure, I get it, dribble-drive, unselfishness, extra pass etc...But points aren't given out for extra passes, they are only given out for made baskets. Somewhere along the way, someone's got to shoot the damn ball. The most productive sets Gilas had was when someone drove hard and passed to a shooter who shot it or when the driver took the shot and, even when he missed, had Douthit, Pingris, de Ocampo, Aguilar and Fajardo putting it back in (happened a couple of times and those were the easiest baskets we had). The dribble drive is supposed to generate good looks. Those good looks are wasted when the person with the good look opts to pass out.

Inside domination. We could have. And maybe we should have. But I understand why Coach Chot and the others didn't want to force the issue last night. In the third quarter, Big Daddy Douthit went on a rampage, swatting away 2 KSA shots bunched around 2 dunks. Japeth Aguilar and Junmar Fajardo also dominated their matchups in the fourth, with Aguilar coming up with 3 blocks in the first 4 minutes of the quarter. So we really could have. But we didn't. I'm not too bothered by that. I do expect that inside power to be unleashed tonight though.

Now, taking all things into consideration, a win is still a win. Gilas just has to make sure they get better as the tournament goes on.