Four Is Still Better Than Two.

When your soon-to-be-MVP star scores 41 points on 14-24 shooting and above 50% in 3 pointers, you should win.

When your soon-to-be-HOFer All Star guard scores 23 points and grabs 11 rebounds, you should win.

Except the Houston Rockets didn't.

The Boston Celtics Are For Real, So Deal With It.

So, let's talk about the elephant in the room.

Lebron James is still the best player in the planet (sorry, Kevin Durant).

Still, as the Indiana Pacers and, just this morning, the Boston Celtics have proven, basketball is a team game, and the better team has a better chance of going through.

How do we know the Boston Celtics are the better team (versus the Cavs, the Raptors, the Pacers and the Bucks)?

Because they've lost 2 franchise-level players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward and yet, here they are, not just in the Eastern Conference Finals but in the Eastern Conference Finals and dominating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1.

Three Wins and a Loss

The Jones Cup record of this version of Gilas now stands at 3-1. After a tough opening day loss to Canada, the Gilas boys have notched wins over Chinese-Taipei’s A-Team and B-Team as well as Japan’s Under-24 Team.

None of their victories came easy, which have led to a lot of negative reactions online. So now we ask the question, should we be worried?

My answer is no, primarily because of these three things:

PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

The likes of Kiefer Ravena and Jio Jalalon would never make it to court, we had the likes of Jason Castro and Terence Romeo on the team. Neither would Christian Standhardinger, the revelation of the tournament, had Blatche, Fajardo, or Aguilar been on the team.

Giving these players a chance to play significant minutes allows us to build a strong reserves system, which hopefully minimizes the drop off in skill, talent, and chemistry when our current Gilas stars are unavailable to play.

It also allows us to create some kind of continuity between Gilas teams. Remember when Alapag was the senior guy and Castro the understudy? That worked out pretty well. And then there was Castro as the maestro and Romeo as his student. Soon, Romeo will be our main guy, with Jalalon or Ravena primed to take over. This tournament will go a long way to getting them ready for that day.

My Gilas Twelve

In a couple of hours, Gilas coach Chot Reyes will unveil his final roster who will do battle for the lone sport reserved for the SEABA champion. I’m anticipating that the lineup will be fodder for every basketball conversation for the next 6 weeks.

That being said, why wait? I’m starting the debate with my picks for the Gilas Twelve.

THE SURE-BALLS

Andray Blatche. Junemar Fajardo. Jayson Castro. Terence Romeo. Calvin Abueva.

Every time Blatche is in our lineup, he automatically becomes Gilas’ best player  (even out-of-shape Blatche). There is no local player who comes close to what the Kraken can do on the court while The Beast has become the team’s heart and soul. The Blur is still the best point guard in Asia and Romeo, his heir apparent, is already making waves internationally.

Three Thoughts Midway Through The First Round

We’re halfway through the first round of the NBA Playoffs and some things aren’t exactly what we thought they would be while some were exactly what we thought they’d be.

That being said, here are three thoughts as we go into the backend of the first round:

THOUGHT #1: Can anyone beat the Cavs?

Right now, it’s looking like no one can. Lebron James and his cohorts have been able to find ways to win, even though it hasn’t been pretty. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love have their moments but the Cavs are fueled by the will of King James and right now, no one can match him.

Extra thought: Kyle Korver was supposed to be the piece that would make the Cavs near invincible. So far, he’s been outplayed by the likes of Richard Jefferson and Iman Shumpert.

First Round Predictions

Here we go!

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Boston Celtics vs Chicago Bulls - Celtics win, 4-1.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Indiana Pacers - Cavs win, 4-1.
Toronto Raptors vs Milwaukee Bucks - Raptors win 4-2
Washington Wizards vs Atlanta Hawks - Hawks wins 4-2

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Golden State Warriors vs Portland Trailblazers - Warriors win 4-1
San Antonio Spurs vs Memphis Grizzlies - Spurs win 4-0
Houston Rockets vs Oklahoma City Thunder - Rockets win 4-3
 LA Clippers vs Utah Jazz - Clippers win 4-2

Let the games begin!