Gilas Demolishes Hong Kong, 101-50.

Photo courtesy of FIBA.com

Now that is what you call a statement game.

Yesterday’s shock defeat left everyone wondering how Gilas would react today. Sure, there were the expected “we’ll bounce back” declarations, the avowing of ire-venting, but words are cheap and Gilas was called upon to put up or shut up.

Well, they put them up and they never stopped punching until the final siren sounded. By them, they had beaten the overmatched Hong Kong team into submission and were gunning to hit the century mark, as an exclamation point to their dominating performance.

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Why Gilas Lost To Palestine

Yes, we lost. Yes, we were expected to win. Yes, it’s a historic upset. But none of those things matter now. What matters is that Gilas learns from this game and uses those lessons to get better (hopefully, in time for tomorrow’s game).

That being said, here are three things that contributed to our loss to Palestine.

OUTREBOUNDED

Palestine, despite having a 6’8” center, outrebounded the Philippines 58-53. What’s worse is that Palestine totally owned Gilas on the offensive boards, with a 23-17 advantage. Those come out to 12 potential second-chance points. In a two point loss, denying them 2 of those offensive rebounds could have won us the game.

The Gilas big men actually rebounded well, led by Blatche with 12, Abueva collaring 8, Thoss with 6, and de Ocampo with 5. But it’s the box-out system that seems to be broken, with Palestine’s Rebound Brothers, the Sakakinis, getting 6 offensive rebounds each. Their big O-reb numbers were aided by our defensive scheme, something I will get into in the next paragraph.

Gilas Loses to Palestine on Historic Upset, 75-73.

By halftime, all the telltale signs were there. The stagnant offense, the confused defense, the silly mistakes, and the lackluster effort. All bode ill for Gilas and it was a prophecy that would soon come to fruition.

In the first quarter, the enigma that was Palestine drew first blood, holding a tenuous lead until the halfway mark of the quarter, when Gilas tied the score at 7. Andray Blatche and the just-inserted Terence Romeo then took the Palestinean defense apart, scoring in a variety of ways both inside and outside. The quarter ended with the Philippines leading 27-12.

In the second quarter, Palestine showed just how fast they can adjust as a team, as well as how well disciplined they were. Realizing that the Philippines was a more dynamic offensive team with Romeo playing, they went at him on defense, forcing him out of the game in favor of the more systematic-on-offense-and-more-solid-on-defense Jayson Castro. They then went after Andray Blatche, who picked up two quick fouls and had to sit down too. Palestine then took advantage of the suddenly toothless Gilas and whittled down the lead to a mere 5 points, 45-40. 

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Remembering Saudi Arabia: Why Gilas 3.0 Can’t Afford To Look Beyond the First Round

When the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships was held in Manila, the Philippines chose to be in Group A with Chinese-Taipei, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Among the three teams, Chinese-Taipei was considered, hands-down, Gilas’ most dangerous opponent. Jordan was also a cause for concern, especially with naturalized Jimmy Baxter in good form. As for Saudi Arabia? Well, everyone agreed that they would be the whipping boy of the group.

With Gilas playing Saudi Arabia on the first day of competitions, the general consensus was that the Philippine team would be getting a practice game right before the “serious” games.

And then, the game was actually played. Maybe the Gilas staff underestimated the Saudi players. Maybe they didn’t scout them well enough. Maybe the Saudis improved immensely from when they first qualified for the FIBA Asia Championships.

Whatever the reason may be, that first quarter of play put tiny icicles of doubt into the hearts of Gilas supporters everywhere, as Gilas looked shell shocked at the fast-breaking, board-crashing opponents. By the end of the first quarter, Saudi Arabia had a 2point lead, 16-14, and had put a dent in the Philippines’ mystique of invincibility.

Update: Salud's Statement With Regards to Badua Ban

Chito Salud, former PBA commissioner and current PBA CEO, weighs in on the Badua ban.

Photo courtesy of www.spin.ph

Salud's statement

That being said, I certainly miss Chito Salud as PBA commissioner. While it is early goings for the Narvasa tenure, it doesn't look like it will live up to the standards set by Salud.

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The Banning Of A Sports Journalist: The Snow Badua Incident

Last Friday, September 18, PBA commissioner Chito Narvasa (through a letter) banned sports journalist Snow Badua from covering or participating in the league’s games and activities.

This all-encompassing PBA ban seemed to have stemmed from Badua’s articles and tweets that accuse a certain PBA team governor of several inappropriate activities, including allegedly preventing several popular players from playing on the national team, railroading trades and players, and even having an affair with a popular model.

In what seems to be a relevant incident, the PBA beat reporter of Spin.ph, the media entity for which Mr. Badua writes, was denied permission to cover the practice sessions of the involved PBA governor’s team.

(For those who have not read the story, find it here: http://www.spin.ph/basketball/pba/news/pba-commissioner-chito-narvasa-bans-writer-snow-badua-from-pro-league-games-activities)

But this article isn’t about those issues. This article is about the freedom of the press, nay, the right of the press to shed light on issues that fall in the realm of the public interest.