In what is rapidly turning into a worrisome affair, Gilas is barely hanging on to a 7 point lead at halftime, after a spirited display by the supposedly weak Saudis.
Everyone from the media, the players and even the coaching staff (who really should have known better) were one in looking past the Saudis (even if they said they weren't).
Come on. We were all already thinking about Jordan and Chinese Taipei. Let's be honest about that, if nothing else.
But now we have to face the fact that we need to look at the opponent in front of us. The Saudis have length, shooting, desire and surprisingly high basketball IQs. They've repeatedly baited the Filipinos into senseless fouls (really, Jeff Chan? Foul a shooter 5 feet behind the 3 point line with .7 seconds remaining? Really?), torn offensive rebounds away from them, forced several turnovers from usually reliable ballhandlers like LA Tenorio and Jimmy Alapag and turned the Pinoys gunshy.
For Gilas to recover, they need to address 4 things.
Ballhandling. Right now, they suck big time. They keep turning the ball over and have fallen into the bad habit of overpassing.
Defensive intensity. Fouling a player in the act of shooting is not good defense. Move your feet, people.
Fastbreaks. Turnovers and rebounds lead to outlet passes and fastbreak opportunities. Those are good things. Get them if you can.
Shoot to your potential. Douthit, Tenorio, Fonacier, David and Castro are not shooting well. Find a way to score.
Now let's go do this okay?
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