I have heard some really funny comments of some very sore losers so I couldn’t help myself. Someone said that the purpose of Gilas is not to go qualify for the Olympics but to improve the county’s ranking. I thought the whole purpose of creating Smart Gilas was London 2012??? Here’s a little secret, win a major tournament and RP’s ranking will go up. Btw, if you have time, read this:
http://www.philstar.com/SportsArticle.aspx?articleId=450210&publicationSubCategoryId=69
Then I read that Gilas didn’t go all out in the 2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup so that they could somewhat hide their true potential and surprise their opponents. So what you’re saying is that they purposely lost in front of their home crowd so they could “trick” their opponents later on in Wuhan??? I think you’re the one who’s tricked yourself into believing something as silly as that.
Over the years I have read so many reasons on this forum on why the Gilas can’t win a major tournament. Lack of training, injuries to players during a tournament, no naturalized player, no PBA reinforcement and the list goes on and on and on.
This time around there were no major injuries to key players. Douthit is playing. There are PBA players on the team and they have had enough time to train together with the Gilas players. Gilas has also been coached by a respectable coach for a few years now. Let’s not forget home court advantage as well. Yet 4th place was Gilas’s only consolation.
The list goes back. FIBA Asia Champions Cup 2009, 2010 Jones Cup, FIBA Asia Stanković Cup 2010, Asian Games 2010 and their recent PBA stint. Not one first place finish.
Don’t get me wrong, Gilas has improved over the years but let’s try to live in the real world. Other NTs continue to improve as well. They don't just sit around dream that their getting better. To actually win anything significant, Gilas would have to progress at a much faster rate than other NTs, but obviously they aren’t.
Speaking of NTs. At the 2011 FIBA Asia Champions Cup, Gilas was the only pure NT playing in the tournament. Yes, other teams had “hybrid” club teams, but still, Gilas is a full time NT. Yet they couldn’t even make it to the finals. I wonder how Gilas would match up against the Chinese, Iranian, Lebanese and Korean NT’s???
Individually, Gilas has some good players. JV Casio has evolved into a consistently good player and definitely one of the best on the team. On the other hand, Japeth is seriously over-hyped. The WKU bench warmer plays like an amateur whenever he goes up against quality big men. Then there’s Gilas’s main weapon. Outside shooting. This works against PBA teams filled with small players or foreign teams with mediocre players. But against good players with height, its goodnight Gilas. Putting into consideration that Hontiveros is one of RP’s best shooters and then looking at how poorly he performed against Al Rayyan and Mahram, it obvious that throwing up Hail Marys won’t work all the time.
My point is, support the team and be proud of their accomplishments. Just don’t give pathetic excuses on why Gilas always falls short of expectations. If they stick to their program and continue having the support their getting from all their sponsors, I’d give Gilas 4 or 5 more years before they’re one of the top teams in Asia. One other thing. For all those “believers” and “dreamers,” it’s ok to dream once in awhile. Just don’t end up in your own fantasy world. Gilas is a good team, but it’s far from the team that you would want it to be. Nothing is impossible, but dreams only come true if you first face and accept reality.
Most of the basketball coaches wont agree or they will disapprove a player shooting 3 in a fastbreak..unless its 100% success!
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