Gilas Wins Over Japan But At What Cost?

Photo courtesy of FIBA.com

Was the Gilas vs Japan game important? Of course it was.

But was it a must-win game? As far as second round games, maybe it was. But then again, losing that game would have merely meant a harder road to the finals, but not elimination from the tournament.

Those come later, when we move into the knockout stages. Will we then regret playing Andray Blatche in the third and fourth quarter of this game, rather than letting him rest his ankle so he can recover for the remaining games ahead?

Some thoughts for Gilas vs Japan!

So we lost to Chinese Taipei. So what? Time to move on to the next game.

That means Japan with that big frontline composed Kosuke Takeuchi (where's Joji? Did I miss something?) and JR Sakuragi. But Marcus Douthit, the reenergized Japeth Aguilar and Ranidel de Ocampo should be able to neutralize them.

That being said, there seems to be no other immediately visible threat from the Japanese side. They have nice, solid players in the backcourt but no stars, no game changers.

I fully expect Jimmy Alapag, Jayson Castro, Jeff Chan and Larry Fonacier to be the difference maker. If they can't, then God help us all.

  

Gilas Can Not Lose To Japan!

This is the must-win game of all must win games.

If Gilas beats Japan, all possible win-loss combinations have them safely making the semifinal round.

If Gilas loses to Japan, they would be eliminated in about half of the win-loss combinations, with the top four being composed of Korea (sure) Jordan (win over Gilas), Japan (win over Gilas) Taiwan (superior record with a win over Korea) or Iran (superior record with a win over Jordan).

That being said, the boys should be pumped up and ready to go to battle later.

Go Gilas!