Gilas Vs Iran: Grades

Photo courtesy of FIBA.com

We're giving out grades for Gilas' 73-81 loss to Iran last night, taking into consideration the player's impact and contribution versus expectations and potential.

Players will be graded from 1-10, 10 bring the highest, 1 being the suckiest, 6 as the passing grade, and incomplete for those who didn't get a fair chance to show their stuff.

The Starters:
Asi Taulava - Incomplete. The Ageless One played 5 minutes and had 3 points on 1/3 shooting from 3. But with Haddadi unexpectedly out, there was really no need for Asi's heft or experience.

Photo courtesy of FIBA.com

Poy Erram - 3. Erram looked lost on defense and didn't do anything on offense. The grade might be a bit harsh but there's a reason he played a mere 3 minutes...it's because it was obvious to everyone he didn't have it that night.

Gabe Norwood - 6. Gabe was good (but not stellar) on defense and didn't really do much on offense. On most nights, a good defensive effort from him is all coaches would ask for. But last night, we needed more.

Marcio Lassiter - 5. Lassiter gets a failing grade as much for his offensive struggles (1-9 from the field, 1-7 from three) as for the expectations on him. As the most successful member of the original Gilas team and a member of the many-time champion San Miguel team, so much was expected from him. While there is no doubt he will live up to those expectations in future games, in last night's game, he didn't.

Alex Cabagnot - 7. Cabagnot would have gotten a much higher grade had he shot better. But shooting an anemic 1-7 from three will pull down your grade by a lot. Cabagnot was really good on defense, really steady running the sets, and really creative as a playmaker. As he plays more with Gilas, I suspect he will be an even bigger headache for our opponents.

The Bench:
Christian Standhardinger - 10. My word, did he have an amazing game last night. Standhardinger was simply outstanding, shooting a high percentage, getting and-one's, crashing the boards, getting steals...there was simply nothing the big man didn't do. Sad to say (or maybe happy to say?) but he's making Andray Blatche totally dispensible.

Paul Lee - 6. The Lee-thal Weapon was sort of a Jekyll and Hyde player all night long, as his play swung from spectacular to disinterested minute by minute. He started off the second half strong by getting to the paint and scoring consecutively only to let his counterpart (Masayekhi, I think) blow by him twice too. And he lost his chance to bump up his grade by the fourth quarter, as he left the game after banging knees on a fastbreak situation.

Scottie Thompson - 7. Thompson definitely proved his worth last night. In just 10 minutes of action, he scored 5 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, dished out 3 assists, had 1 steal and 1 block. So yeah, he pretty much stuffed the stat sheet. Was waiting for him to get more PT (there were stretches when  Lee or Lassiter ran the point) but there's no doubt Thompson made his presence felt.

Ian Sangalang - 5. It was an okay showing for Ian Sangalang but you could see that he needed to adjust to the pace of the international game. He was late in reacting to many situations and his first shot was an airball. I have no doubt he's going to get better as he gets used to seeing men his size move really, really fast but I think his learning curve is going to be quite steep.

Beau Belga - 5. Belga had his moments but also didn't do enough against Iran's smaller-than-expected frontline. 0 rebounds in 18 minutes of play is not a good sign and Belga needs to show Coach Yeng more, else, he will lose his slot for sure. On the other hand, I'm super happy for Big Beau, as he finally got a chance to play in a FIBA competition. Well deserved, given his years of service to the flag.

Allein Malicsi - 6. Malicsi was a minor surprise last night, putting in a really solid performance. He had 5 rebounds (2 of them offensive) made several neat passes, and played good defense on Jamshidi and Kazemi. If he keeps this up, he could be Gilas next 3-and-D guy...but only if he keeps improving on defense.

Raymond Almazan - 5. Is it just me or was Almazan better in the dribble-drive system? Whatever it is, Almazan has not had a lot of success with Gilas lately. His performance in the Asian Games was so-so and last night was a lot of activity but no accomplishment. Maybe it's also a system thing, because Alamazan does not look near the Almazan from last year's Gilas team.