2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament

[Giannis34GOD2]

As expected, so many are panicking again calling for this and that, blaming this and that.

Big picture...rewind to that time when preparation games hasn't even began. Was anyone expecting us to compete and almost win against Poland and Turkey? Win against Latvia? Eliminate Georgia? Before all of this, everyone was just hoping for us not to get blown out in all of those games.

Now that the team over-achieved and made expectations high again, people are micro-analyzing everything again.

Cone and the team proved that we can compete at this level...and that's all we can hope for, compete meaning we give ourselves a chance of winning. And we did in each and every game.

I like the system, the coach, the team identity and the direction. Obviously, we're missing guys who can help. But big picture, trust the process. It's not going to be overnight.

Gilas have to play more tune up games vs Euro and Latino teams.. I think despite Europeans are tougher than Latinos, we are struggling more against Latinos because they are more athletic than Euro teams... We have some physicality and some athletic ability advantage over some European teams (except France, Spain or Germany), while we are all disadvantage against any of Latino teams... They have the length, athleticism and agility in the world that makes Asian teams difficult to match.. in last 24 years, only 2 Asian teams manage to beat Latinos and all both beating Venezuela (2006 vs Lebanon and 2023 vs Japan), the weakest of all Latino contenders..

 

[Metta2]

Gilas have to play more tune up games vs Euro and Latino teams.. I think despite Europeans are tougher than Latinos, we are struggling more against Latinos because they are more athletic than Euro teams... We have some physicality and some athletic ability advantage over some European teams (except France, Spain or Germany), while we are all disadvantage against any of Latino teams... They have the length, athleticism and agility in the world that makes Asian teams difficult to match.. in last 24 years, only 2 Asian teams manage to beat Latinos and all both beating Venezuela (2006 vs Lebanon and 2023 vs Japan), the weakest of all Latino contenders..

This is something I said before all of this...

In this high-tier basketball level...we are not loaded enough where we can put out a team that can go against every type of team. We can only hope to put out a team that can beat certain teams and then consistently compete against some. In time, with more experience at this higher level, we can inch up our overall quality. But it won't be overnight.

At the end of the day...does it look like we have peaked? Hell no, there's so much room for improvement. And to think that we came up with these results and that we still have so much room for improvement is a welcome thing.

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

Definitely not Tamayo,he's a good combo forward and he plays hard and physical,they could start with guards,like Heading over Perez,gotta have consistent bombing power,Bolick if Scottie is still hurt or coaching consensus that at the big dance level skill wise not up to it.Junmar is aging,gotta get that exception for AK soon,with AJ he gotta have a backup from Balti,Malonzo or Navarro,definitely Lopez over Oftana,Amos ineffective but more than likely CTC is gonna give him another chance in November.

CTC already said that they will not replace any of those players... He will stick with those players no matter what... His system is hard to learn.. if we change many players then our progeiwill be back to scratch again... So pabayaan nalang natin how will CTC likes in our program... Even I like the likes of JC, Abando and Baltazar, he will not tap them on foreseen future...

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

It has never been expected to be easy. China may have struggled in FIBA & international basketball the last few years, but you bet the Chinese would try very hard to bounce back. There's just too much pride in the hearts of the Chinese being the most dominant country in Asian basketball many years back.

The same can also be expected from South Korea who have also struggled in the last few years. Babawi din ang mga Koreano na yan. We better be ready.

As we can see, China played friendlies with Australia. To think that China isnt going to the Olympics. It is obviously preparing for next year's FIBA Asia Cup & even the 2027 FIBA World Cup. And U bet China is going to continue playing friendlies & perhaps some pocket tournaments up to August.

Competition in Asia is now tougher than you think these days... Even Bahrain, after this OQT experience, they will be more tougher.. Guam will likely add talents if they manage to qualify... Remember Guam's eligibility criteria are more easier than any of independent nations since they are just only state/colony of one country (US)...

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

This is something I said before all of this...

In this high-tier basketball level...we are not loaded enough where we can put out a team that can go against every type of team. We can only hope to put out a team that can beat certain teams and then consistently compete against some. In time, with more experience at this higher level, we can inch up our overall quality. But it won't be overnight.

At the end of the day...does it look like we have peaked? Hell no, there's so much room for improvement. And to think that we came up with these results and that we still have so much room for improvement is a welcome thing.

We hope Edu will be 100% healthy in 2027, same is also for Kai, Malonzo, Scottie, etc.... better not to full force most of qualifiers... Against Hong Kong and Taiwan, give more playing time to guys like KQ, Amos, Oftana, Perez more to extend their confidence moving forward...

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

Our run in last OQT is like Slam dunk anime... Shohoku beat the best team on the tournament (Sannoh), but their next game the lost because they are exhausted beating top team... Same with Gilas.. we beat Latvia but after that we were physical and emotional tired on the next game... What a great run... NZL is next!!! It's time now to beat them...

 

[IPC2]

In other news, Uruguay got payback for us by beating Brazil in a 4-2 penalty shootout in the Copa America quarterfinal: https://x.com/jrl_mnc/status/1809786719895789645?t=nWjGGBiOXA5aAHbITDmbWw&s=19

 

[JAMSKIE2]

As expected, so many are panicking again calling for this and that, blaming this and that.

Big picture...rewind to that time when preparation games hasn't even began. Was anyone expecting us to compete and almost win against Poland and Turkey? Win against Latvia? Eliminate Georgia? Before all of this, everyone was just hoping for us not to get blown out in all of those games.

Now that the team over-achieved and made expectations high again, people are micro-analyzing everything again.

Cone and the team proved that we can compete at this level...and that's all we can hope for, compete meaning we give ourselves a chance of winning. And we did in each and every game.

I like the system, the coach, the team identity and the direction. Obviously, we're missing guys who can help. But big picture, trust the process. It's not going to be overnight.

Well said bro. Problem with the majority of Pinoy basketball fans is that they're impulsive instead of being rational & reasonable. Good that U pointed out that prior to the OQT, not everyone really expected that we're gonna beat Latvia. Let's be honest, most of us expected that Latvia wud rout us by at least 20 pts. We also didn't know how we'll fare against Georgia. Honestly, most people's optimistic expectations were, we'll lose to Latvia by a significant margin, then we'll beat Georgia in a very close game.

That's the problem when Gilas overachieves in the world stage - the expectation becomes higher & sometimes a bit unrealistic. This I say, beating world No. 6 Latvia & hang in there against world No. 12 Brazil & No. 23 Georgia doesn't place Gilas within the same level as the top 16 basketball countries in the world.

Also, not becoz we were able to upset Latvia & hang in there against the top teams in the world, Gilas is now almost invincible against the top Asian basketball countries. We are still not safe against the likes of China, Korea, Japan, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran. Even Chinese Taipei. which is expected to have improved from last year (I mean a full force CT national team), would be a threat to Gilas.

 

[ARMIR2]

I don't know if the coach of Brazil is believable that they already studied the triangle and it seems there's only a finite number of plays that Gilas run and they pretty much stop it by the 3rd quarter.

 

[ARMIR2]

CTC already said that they will not replace any of those players... He will stick with those players no matter what... His system is hard to learn.. if we change many players then our progeiwill be back to scratch again... So pabayaan nalang natin how will CTC likes in our program... Even I like the likes of JC, Abando and Baltazar, he will not tap them on foreseen future...

Not really change but add on to the team,so that way he could have a pick of players according to the matchup so he won't be limited to what he have,he could have a pool of no more than 16 players,he's not too concerned with avialability and injuries since he would just pick someone from any of the SMC teams,just like the 3x retired Japeth for example.I don't think its just that it concerns that learning his system is hard,heck the Brazilians figure it out soon enough according to their coach,its politics again,you can see and smell it a mile away.

 

[ja.he2]

Based on our performance, I can assume that this Gilas team is capable of beating atleast low-tier European teams and majority of the Latin American teams. North American teams are out of the question.

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

Not really change but add on to the team,so that way he could have a pick of players according to the matchup so he won't be limited to what he have,he could have a pool of no more than 16 players,he's not too concerned with avialability and injuries since he would just pick someone from any of the SMC teams,just like the 3x retired Japeth for example.I don't think its just that it concerns that learning his system is hard,heck the Brazilians figure it out soon enough according to their coach,its politics again,you can see and smell it a mile away.

Yeah… Japeth should be gone for national team.. I respect him and passion to play for national team but he should give way to others… Castro before take early retirement for Gilas in early 2019 before the World Cup even we all know he can still play.. he knows that he needs to give his spot to the younger players and not to rely on him… We have Baltazar as the best replacement for Japeth but he was politicised… Baltazar is a great fit for triangle because he’s like a younger Joe DeVance.. can shoot threes, versatile, agile player and very talented player.. I hope once Baltazar enters the PBA this season then SBP and CTC give him a chance… he’s the first one should be priority for additional players.. Please Japeth, retire now with Gilas… You done your part already…

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

Based on our performance, I can assume that this Gilas team is capable of beating atleast low-tier European teams and majority of the Latin American teams. North American teams are out of the question.

We always say that for so many years about Latin Americans outside Venezuela, other tough Latinos are hard to beat.. If we want to familiarize with them, take BCL and EASL seriously… the set up of club teams having 3 imports is like we are playing with Latinos since they are very athletic and versatile… It’s impossible to play with them for some tune up games due to geography reasons but BCL and EASL is the alternative solution for long term answer how to beat Latinos…

 

[ja.he2]

We always say that for so many years about Latin Americans outside Venezuela, other tough Latinos are hard to beat.. If we want to familiarize with them, take BCL and EASL seriously… the set up of club teams having 3 imports is like we are playing with Latinos since they are very athletic and versatile… It’s impossible to play with them for some tune up games due to geography reasons but BCL and EASL is the alternative solution for long term answer how to beat Latinos…

While the likes of Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina and Dominican Republic are all bad matches for Gilas, the same is not true against Venezuela, Mexico and those at the bottom of the Latin American basketball pyramid. That's why I said majority, not all.

 

[OverratedTabBaldwin2]

This tournament shows that with JMF and Aguilar aging, it's crucial for SBP to get Kouame's exemption. Edu will always be eligible but I'm afraid he's too injury-prone for Gilas to rely on him consistently. This is Kai's team now and without Kai, Gilas is a regular team. Kai makes this team special because of he's the perfect big for the triangle. Euro teams struggle with Kai patrolling the paint. A healthy Edu and an exempted Kouame will make Gilas one of the toughest teams to score against.

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

While the likes of Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina and Dominican Republic are all bad matches for Gilas, the same is not true against Venezuela, Mexico and those at the bottom of the Latin American basketball pyramid. That's why I said majority, not all.

I think even Mexico is hard to beat... The last 3 games of Mexico vs Asian teams are all wins.. 2014 vs Korea was blow out, 2016 vs Iran was a close one but Mexicans still prevail and last year Mexico blow out Jordan... Mexicans are like PR, DR and rest of some Latinos, they are athletic, physical and versatile... They might be weaker than other Latinos, but they are still tough for Asians... And remember we also lose to them in a tune up games last year...

 

[ccharmed2]

The present 12-14 man team is better than anything in asia except for australia. I agree that emergency patching up of the team can be done by just using sanmig players.

Patching the too old and injured in the roster cant be done for top 20 and top 10 world level finishes. It is okay to have ambitions, but not okay to be ambitious.

A minimum of four upgrades is required for top 20 ambitions just for the next two years. Top ten is as good as impossible without further inclusion of two good nba or nba-class players.

Cone admirably did create a non-embarrassing nt. He is the only coach who has enough pride not to form a garbage nt. But if he sticks to his current formula of no more upgrades, he will be too ambitious to aim for heavy gains against euro and north/south american best teams. The team already has too many old players as it is, and will certainly be shopworn for stated 2028 olympic ambitions.

As for the sbp leadership, someone like the highly competent remulla is urgently needed. You cant put empty-shell, self-promoting incompetent seyer there.

 

[ja.he2]

I think even Mexico is hard to beat... The last 3 games of Mexico vs Asian teams are all wins.. 2014 vs Korea was blow out, 2016 vs Iran was a close one but Mexicans still prevail and last year Mexico blow out Jordan... Mexicans are like PR, DR and rest of some Latinos, they are athletic, physical and versatile... They might be weaker than other Latinos, but they are still tough for Asians... And remember we also lose to them in a tune up games last year...

Gilas lost against Mexico by 7 without Clarkson and the head coach was Choke with his ineffective DDO. Things are kind of different now.

Besides, I never saw any explosiveness from Mexicans. Gilas is essentially the Mexican team and the Mexican team is essentially our Gilas team. Do you get what I mean?

 

[Giannis34GOD2]

Gilas lost against Mexico by 7 without Clarkson and the head coach was Choke with his ineffective DDO. Things are kind of different now.

Besides, I never saw any explosiveness from Mexicans.

But Mexicans still hard to beat... They always exposed in American style of basketball swagger.. something that Asians don't have... It's like superior complex of Latinos getting that advantage over Asians.. they have that swagger and confidence against Asian teams that Asians can't solve until now, especially in a close games, Latinos knows how to beat Asians.. And now Bahamas coming into mix, it's now more harder to get past those Latinos... I think even the likes of Cuba or Uruguay can beat those top rank Asian teams... The Latinos are lucky that geography wise they are nearer in the US for consistent exposure playing against Americans.. they learn how to play within or against American style of basketball... Something that Asians don't have...

 

[LCM2]

The only thing that will help Gilas to Finally qualify for the Olympics, if they improve their 3 point shooting