Philippines Senior National Team Thread Vol. V

[thatweirdguy]

What do you guys think of Kai, Japeth, Junmar, Edu & Tamayo as our final frontcourt lineup this coming world cup. Seems decent for me and perfect if JC will be our NP.

Edu has to be healthy. Without him were f@cked. Tamayo, JF aren't exactly good defenders. Japeth is surprisingly playing well but Kai can't go hard on each play if he doesn't have a reliever

[lurklurk]

What do you guys think of Kai, Japeth, Junmar, Edu & Tamayo as our final frontcourt lineup this coming world cup. Seems decent for me and perfect if JC will be our NP.

Kai, Japeth, Edu, Balti, Tamayo. I'd consider Geo Chiu over Fajardo at this point.

[reamily]

Japeth Aguilars matchup in 4 in windows isnt elite Abbas is washed, the AL mArwani is solid but not as skilled..but he is more ready tahtn a tamayo and Balti for now..

[mathematicianrcg]

Kai, Japeth, Edu, Balti, Tamayo. I'd consider Geo Chiu over Fajardo at this point.

Would you consider Almazan or Erram before JMF?

[Rds]

Edu has to be healthy. Without him were f@cked. Tamayo, JF aren't exactly good defenders. Japeth is surprisingly playing well but Kai can't go hard on each play if he doesn't have a reliever

If Edu cant go it will be a conundrum at NP. From what I saw injured Kouame is still our best defender at C. Kai is good but at this point his defense suffers with more minutes.

If we pick JC and Edu is not available we need good big defenders. After Japeth, Balti is the next best defending big we got. We will still have a problem with post defense though without Kouame. We might still need JF to spell Kai against posting bigs.

[fadzki]

If Edu cant go it will be a conundrum at NP. From what I saw injured Kouame is still our best defender at C. Kai is good but at this point his defense suffers with more minutes.

If we pick JC and Edu is not available we need good big defenders. After Japeth, Balti is the next best defending big we got. We will still have a problem with post defense though without Kouame. We might still need JF to spell Kai against posting bigs.

Can't imagine JF doing the Hedge on PNR situation it would be a defensive nightmare.

[IPC]

Moving forward, we won't be in a position to have a Team A and Team B because we can't even get full-time coaches for both. That should have been settled before the draw for the qualifiers when Tab was still the coach and demanded "All hands on deck" from all the stakeholders and never got it.

Imagine this pitiful excuse of a federation having to form a team in Feb for the last 2 games against Lebanon and Jordan, do the SEA Games in May where we could lose again to Indonesia while Thailand and Vietnam have improved, possibly tuneups in July for the World Cup, then get blown the f out during the World Cup in August, and have a bad case of a World Cup hangover at the Asian Games in late September where Chot will throw players under the bus because he won't have a Jordan Clarkson, Kai, or any of the B-League/KBL players available.

If FIBA Asia taught us anything, we're only good as our talent pool allows us. I'd be more inclined to even add players who might have retired from FIBA competition like Romeo, Almazan, Rosario and even Norwood for the SEA Games while coming up with a predominantly Fil-Foreigner squad (like the Gilastopainters) for the Asian Games since we have a deeper pool of UAAP/NCAA players playing at a high level than ever before.

If Goldwin is still around, maybe he can be the coach for Team B? No UAAP season by then, and he can work out with HS and college kids, plus a few eligible and ineligible pros. Let's see if he got what it takes in the SEA Games, and avenge that silver medal.

[thatweirdguy]

If Edu cant go it will be a conundrum at NP. From what I saw injured Kouame is still our best defender at C. Kai is good but at this point his defense suffers with more minutes.

If we pick JC and Edu is not available we need good big defenders. After Japeth, Balti is the next best defending big we got. We will still have a problem with post defense though without Kouame. We might still need JF to spell Kai against posting bigs.

Our defense is better this window because we got rid of 2 bad defenders in Kief and JC while also adding Kouame. If would be like taking 2 step backwards if we replaced Kouame with JF. Imagine people blowing by JC and/or Kiefer and JF is our last line of defense. We need a good alternate C.

[Rds]

Can't imagine JF doing the Hedge on PNR situation it would be a defensive nightmare.

Our defense is better this window because we got rid of 2 bad defenders in Kief and JC while also adding Kouame. If would be like taking 2 step backwards if we replaced Kouame with JF. Imagine people blowing by JC and/or Kiefer and JF is our last line of defense. We need a good alternate C.

Yeah. JF hedging with his bad leg, might not be a good idea. Without Kouame and possibly Edu we will have to hope that good perimeter D and gang rebounding will be enough to offset our lack of muscle inside.

[IPC]

We can only win in the world level by being scrappy. Hard nose, smash mouth defense. We cannot and will never be a lithuania or argentina in offense. Our only hope is to grind it out and hope our threes, offensive boards, and fastbreaks all click.

That scrappiness was actually a big reason, for me, why we got those silvers in 2013 and 2015, although we got a decent offense at the time. To me, our NT goes where our defense goes.

Still, a little more offense could work.

That "little more offense" is jordan clarkson. We will never have the offense of korea or the europeans. This is our basketball culture. Ingrained, started when we are playing basketball as kids.

Our basketball culture is never pass first, efficient dribbling and good shooting fundamentals.

Blue collared basketball should be our identity.

I agree on the blue collar basketball part. High motor players and long, tough, mobile defenders should be a key point here.

Honestly, we missed that blue collar defensive identity between 2017 and the past two windows, save for that portion when Tab was the program director. But now, we fucking got it back with this lineup, and with Cone as defensive coordinator. Hope this can be a long-term identity with us.

In view of this, we need to select and scout for players with good motor, mobility, toughness, size, length, and/or athleticism as prospects for tough, versatile defenders.

In the seniors, we already have 6'7" Justine Baltazar, 6'4" Dwight Ramos, 6'5" Calvin Oftana, and 6'6" Will Navarro as templates. Even 6'2" Thirdy Ravena, 6'2" CJ Perez, and 6'1" Scottie Thompson are good defenders with a good motor.

From the U16/U18 group, maybe look at 6'5" Caelum Harris, 6'7" Alex Konov, 6'4" James Nacua, 6'4" Joshua Coronel as defender templates. Can 6'5" Jared Abadam make it?

Maybe look at 6'2" Gian Mamuyac. Guy is a smart defender with long arms at the guard position. Maybe also that Enoch Valdez guy too? He has the motor and athleticism. But, at 6'2", I hope he can develop into a combo guard.

[IPC]

With the line-up that beat Jordan, I don't see Indonesia beating Gilas twice in a row.

Even with Jakrawan, Patipan and Lamb playing, that Gilas team is a souped up team, from players to coaches. I don't see Thailand beat Gilas. Maybe, they will give a good fight but that's it.

This Gilas team the past two windows is far better than the Gilas that participated in the SEA Games, talent-wise. Better emphasis on defense too. That SEA Games team were headless chickens on defense, and rotation players like Wright, June Mar, Mo, Troy, Kiefer, and maybe Pogoy were liabilities on defense. This window team's defense was far more organized.

Still, if we had this same effort and scheme on defense, we wouldn't have lost that Indonesia game, and Thailand would have had far less easy shots.

[IPC]

I'm not trying to be a devil's advocate or a killjoy to some who might have seen a glimmer of hope in our World Cup team. Even if lady luck smiles on us and the high heavens all of a sudden open up like with FIBA ruling, JC, Ange, CStand, Pringle, etc as finally locals, if the management mindset especially the coach remains the same, pupulutin pa rin tayo sa kangkungan - trans- we will still be in a shithole. The cycle continues I'm afraid...

If the management doesn't see what works and what doesn't, we're fucked. Need to build from this and progress from it.

[shootingbwakaw]

In view of this, we need to select and scout for players with good motor, mobility, toughness, size, length, and/or athleticism as prospects for tough, versatile defenders.

Oh, you mean Kib Montalbo, Keifer Ravena, RR Pogoy and other Chot favorites? he he. With the way the ball moved with Iskati and CJ Perez (although I only saw highlights), here's hoping we've seen the last of Keifer at the point. He can go quarterback in the SEA games and qualifiers, but not when it matters most.

[Silent Killer]

Oh, you mean Kib Montalbo, Keifer Ravena, RR Pogoy and other Chot favorites? he he. With the way the ball moved with Iskati and CJ Perez (although I only saw highlights), here's hoping we've seen the last of Keifer at the point. He can go quarterback in the SEA games and qualifiers, but not when it matters most.

it was atrocious ball movement..

[sroth3839]

Oh, you mean Kib Montalbo, Keifer Ravena, RR Pogoy and other Chot favorites? he he. With the way the ball moved with Iskati and CJ Perez (although I only saw highlights), here's hoping we've seen the last of Keifer at the point. He can go quarterback in the SEA games and qualifiers, but not when it matters most.

Yeah lol I honestly hate how Kiefer keeps getting leeway to be inserted during clutch times.