One Gilas win has us smitten all over again

I admit. My faith in Gilas Pilipinas wavered. When they struggled in the quarter, I was already formulating excuses for them in my head.

They’re too down after losing to Puerto Rico. They’re too banged up after playing their fifth game in six days. They don’t have the experience to pull out close games. They can’t compete with an injured Jayson Castro.

I was preparing myself for another loss. I was already looking for the silver lining.

Di lang talaga ito yung para sa atin. Marami pa naman diyang iba. Bawi na lang next time.

When Mouhammad Faye made a fast break layup at the 2:31 mark of the fourth to give Senegal a 62-61 lead, I almost broke down. It was like watching the same horror movie for the second straight day. It was like seeing the train coming with my foot stuck on the rails.

But June Mar Fajardo convinced me to hold on. After catching a pass from Andray Blatche, Fajardo told me to calm down because he got this.

When Gilas gave up multiple offensive rebounds leading to a Maleye Ndoye triple and a 64-all tie, I was ready to crack again. It was too similar to JJ Barea’s triple the night before. The wound was still fresh but it felt like fate was going to slice it up again.

My heart sank deeper when Blatche missed a jumper to give Senegal a shot at getting the win.

Jimmy Alapag assured me that he wasn’t giving up. He ran for the loose ball against a much taller Senegalese player but his effort was enough for the tap out.

When LA Tenorio missed the game winner, I was ready to stop watching. It was too similar to our end-game effort against Croatia.

I was ready to believe that we were flat-out cursed when Xane Dalmeida’s three–point shot trickled in to start overtime. He was 0 for 4 from three before that point, most of his misses were not even close to going in, but he made the one that mattered a lot.

And when Blatche fouled out of the game? I was positive that we were done.

I was already telling myself that at least we fought until the bitter end, to whatever end it was.

De Ocampo and Fajardo told me to hang on for a little bit more, that they were going to try and win this without the team’s most potent weapon.

For every reason I had to doubt. Gilas gave me two reasons to keep believing.

And then, Jimmy. Jimmy. Jimmy. Jimmy.

Many things will be written about Jimmy Alapag. His courage, his skill, and his fighting heart were all in full display for the world to see. He was the ambassador of Philippine basketball to entire planet.

Like Francis M for our rap, the basketball world will remember Jimmy as the man from Manila.

He’ll bow out of international competitions and he will be sorely missed. He gave up his slot in the Asian Games because that’s what kind of a guy he is. With some Gilas teammates not making the cut for the World Cup, Jimmy made sure at least one of them gets to represent the country this year even if it costs him his spot.

But it was more than just Jimmy.

Larry Fonacier, Beau Belga, Jay Washington, Marcus Douthit, and Jared Dillinger were all a part of this. They pushed the other guys in practice day in and day out. As Kevin Durant always lifts from the Bible, “as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

Gary David, Jeff Chan, and Japeth Aguilar did not play heavy minutes for Gilas. David barely played. His wife was happy with the win but she wasn’t sure Gary was part of it.

He was. They all were. Contributions to the team are not measures by statistics, advanced or otherwise. This team won’t end up here without daily contributions from all of those involved.

Marc Pingris, Ranidel De Ocampo, and Gabe Norwood showed the whole world that we may have the smallest forwards in the competitions but they could not measure us by our height alone. They dunked on, shot over, and outrebounded much taller defenders like it was no big deal.

Jayson Castro, Paul Lee, and LA Tenorio displayed that the Philippines’ guard skills could match up with anyone in the world.

Andray Blatche showed that being Filipino could also be about an attitude more than the blood that flows through your veins. His value on the court showed that we needed him, but his outpouring emotion also showed he needed us too. Blatche never had a steady fan base. He was never the most liked, never the most appreciated. With his effort for Gilas as a Filipino, he’ll have millions of fans, the kind who will support him for a lifetime.

And June Mar Fajardo? He showed us a glimpse of the future. After the win against Senegal, Pingris rode on Fajardo’s back. We should all get used to that scene because for the near future, Philippine basketball will also be riding on his broad back. We’re going wherever the bisdak wants us to go.

We’ll always wonder what could have happened if we managed to pull out a win over Croatia or Argentina or Puerto Rico. We’ll always imagine what it could have been like to be in Madrid for the knockout stages.

But this curiosity is driven not by greed or a thirst to get more. This feeling is more because we would have loved to see Gilas on the floor one more time. We wanted to see Jimmy Alapag shoot threes from the parking lot. We wanted to see Marc Pingris school another NBA big man with a post move. We wanted another poster Gabe Norwood dunk like the one he had over Luis Scola.

We wanted to see them one last time because we’re going to miss cheering for them.

We’re going to miss checking our Facebook and Twitter feeds and seeing nothing else but Gilas, with some of us silently laughing at those few who have no idea what was going on.

We’re going to miss talking about how the Filipino athlete once again proved that they’re world class.

We’re going to miss seeing foreigners show their appreciation for our players while we act all smug because we could watch them on every week on free TV.

We’re going to miss Gilas because even for just a few days, they’ve shown us again that we can accomplish anything if we worked together.

We're going to miss shouting PUSO at someone to show our support for anything from studying for a test to making a deadline for work.

Even if it ended well, there’s still some pain in its ending. Even if we won one, there’s still sadness over the fact that we’ll have to wait five years to feel this incredible thrill again.

But I remain hopeful, for Gilas and for us. Hopeful that the five years will be put to great use. Hopeful that the basketball decision makers will set aside their pride and work towards a common goal. Hopeful that our young players will develop by taking inspiration from Gilas. Hopeful that, in five years, we will find ourselves talking to each other again, reminiscing about that magical run we had back in 2014, and watching the new version of Gilas compete against the world’s best again.

For so long we’ve given the sport of basketball the unconditional love no one else could. With the win over Senegal, the basketball gods gave us that look and that sweet, sweet smile. And just like that we're smitten all over again.