Hearts break for Gilas but heads remain unbowed

I was rabid from the first basket to the very last.
 
I truly believed in my heart that Gilas was going to defeat Argentina. It made no sense. They’re the third best basketball team in the world according to FIBA. They’re former Olympic champions. They have full-fledged NBA players in their roster and they’ve been together for the longest time.
 
Yet I believed that our rag-tag team of basketball overachievers could beat them.
 
I had no logical explanation. I didn’t need one.
 
When you believe, you just do. You don’t reason with yourself. You just choose what to believe in, you buckle up your seat, and brace for the rollercoaster ride.
 
This cruel world demands us to be realists, to think about out limits.
 
This world tries to tell us that fairytales are dead, that miracles do not happen anymore.

Jayson Castro wasn’t supposed to hit threes. A few years ago he couldn’t hit the side of the backboard from long distance. Yet he nailed two in the opening salvo against Argentina.
 
Ranidel De Ocampo was supposed to have lost his touch from the outside with no hopes of getting it back in the competitions. Yet he finally showed why he is true champion.
 
Gabe Norwood was supposed to be soft. He was supposed to be a player who settled for outside shots and layups. Yet he stuffed two monstrous slams in the face of Argentina’s defense, the nastiest dunks of the entire competition.
 
Andray Blatche wasn’t even supposed to be a Filipino. He also wasn't supposed to play with a bum knee but he played his heart out like a true Pinoy.
 
Jimmy Alapag was supposed to be way past his prime; his inclusion in this team was supposedly more for emotional reasons. Yet, for a time even his teammates had to step back and watch as the Gilas captain caught fire. They watched as Jimmy, the heart and soul of the team, gave another performance that will live long after he hangs his Pilipinas jersey up for good. They watched alongside every Filipino as Jimmy gave out what could be his one last signature moment in international basketball.
 
We’re the Philippines. We’re not supposed to be even on the same court with Argentina. Yet, we took their best punches and threw some back. We took blow after blow after blow but we were still standing.

 
For every perfectly valid reason telling us we couldn't, we came up with two reasons to believe we could.
 
We all don’t quite know what kept us believing on our made up reasons but the Filipino beside us believed it too and that was really all we ever needed.
 
We had our doubts when Argentina built a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter but Jimmy convinced us that we were not done.
 
We had our doubts when Jimmy missed a triple but Ranidel convinced us that, as it has been for so long with Talk ‘N Text, he has his point guard’s back.
 
We came up short. Painfully short. But I believe that this pain will make us cheer harder, make us support our team better. This was one of those pains we will share as an entire nation, a pain that we will all get over at the same time too.
 
One day, someday very soon, we’ll hear those magical words again that will make this pain and every other pain worth it.
 
And the curse of Argentina is finally broken.
 
I believe that. I truly believe that. Why? Because I know you believe it too.