Gilas Pilipinas heads to New Zealand for homestretch of training

Among the nations of the world who play competitive basketball, perhaps no one can match the unbridled passion of millions of Filipinos for whom the sport is a part of their everyday lives and whose knowledge of the game and its nuances are remarkable.

To this day Filipinos dream of the 1954 heroics of a team anchored around “The Big Difference” Caloy Loyzaga who was not that big but made a difference when playing against the top teams of the world including the United States, Brazil, Canada, France, Uruguay, Israel and Formosa (present-day Taiwan.)

Loyzaga averaged 16.4 points a game with a high of 31 against Uruguay whom the Philippines beat 67-63 and made it to the Mythical Five which is the highest honor ever achieved by a Filipino basketball player.

Realizing that the rest of Asia, let alone the rest of the world has improved dramatically, with the exposure players get in the premier league in the world – the NBA – and the European leagues, the eminent businessman-sportsman Manny Pangilinan decided to invest his resources and channel his incredible fervor for the game, into the building of a national pool under his leadership as President of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.

It was somewhat similar to the effort of Ambassador Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco who, in the 1980’s, recruited the brilliant American coach Ron Jacobs who built a team bannered by naturalized players Dennis Still, Jeff Moore and Chip Engelland who played alongside such local superstars as Allan Caidic, Samboy Lim and Hector Calma among others.

It was a team that won the ABC Championships in Kuala Lumpur in January 1986 beating mighty China in the finals and also achieved the singular distinction of defeating a star-studded US squad in the 1985 Jones Cup in Taipei in an epic overtime battle.

Several members of that US collegiate team eventually played in the NBA.

The current national team under multi-titled PBA champion coach Chot Reyes has been named SMART Gilas in a recognition of the huge resources poured into the squad by Pangilinan, the top honcho of PLDT-Smart whose support for various sports is legendary.

Since the current roster except for naturalized American Marcus Douthit and former UAAP champions Ateneo, Greg Slaughter, are from the member teams of the PBA which, under the leadership of Commissioner Chito Salud and Chairman Robert Non have provided their full support, it was readily agreed to drop Smart from the team name.

With his sole objective being the quest for a place in the world championships, now named the FIBA World Cup, Pangilinan wasn’t hard to convince.

He has continued to underwrite the national teams participation in major international tournaments and several training stints abroad in a continuing effort to develop a squad that could compete with the best in Asia, at the very least. This is not counting the resources he has committed to hosting the 16 team, FIBA Asia Championships in Manila.

ALSO READ: Will Sonny Thoss be tossed from Gilas?

The rise in the FIBA world rankings by the Philippines tells the story of perseverance, hard-work and commitment. Two fourth place finishes in two fiercely competitive FIBA tournaments – the FIBA Asia Champions Cup and the FIBA Asia Men’s Championship in Wuhan, China saw the Philippines rise to 45 in the latest FIBA world rankings from the previous 53.

After a tough training stint in Lithuania, Gilas Pilipinas was scheduled to leave for New Zealand for a series of games against National Basketball League teams which are still in tournament mode, ending with a game against the New Zealand national team which is ranked No. 18 in the world in its final run-up in preparation for the FIBA Asia Championships which will open at the Mall of Asia Arena on August 1.

The target is a top three finish which will guarantee the Philippines a place in next year’s FIBA World Cup in Spain.

Although Gilas Pilipinas ended its stint in Lithuania with a 5-2 win-loss record, Reyes conceded that the teams they played against were not in season and also didn’t have their American imports. However, he did admit there were gains, the most important being it was the first time they assembled a complete team having been stymied by the PBA Commissioner’s Cup which was eventually proven when Alaska center Sonny Thoss and outstanding rookie Calvin “The Beast” Abueva couldn’t commit to practice, were injured in the finals and were eventually dropped from the squad.

As they prepared to leave for a long 20-hour journey to Napier, a popular tourist spot in New Zealand, Reyes ran the team through one final workout which he told Yahoo! Philippines was “a high energy, good intensity practice.”

On July 11 Reyes and his coaching staff have to make what he describes as “a really tough decision” although the non-inclusion of Thoss which he explained would be unfair to the other players who have sacrificed so much, makes the task a little easier.

The tallest player in the line-up, Ateneo’s seven-foot Greg Slaughter will not be released by his university for the New Zealand trip because of his studies which Ateneo adheres to strictly, in relation to its priorities.

In short, Reyes who also may call in the players to get their views on the final 12-man roster, has to drop two players to the reserve roster.

While he isn’t showing his hand, Reyes did tell us that the hardest decision will concern two big men – lanky Japeth Aguilar, an athletic 6'9" forward with an ability to block shots and run the break but who still has a lot to learn in terms of his role on the team which is primarily to play defense and rebound and not to score – and big Beau Belga.

Belga was added to the squad and gladly accepted the opportunity prior to the Lithuania training stint and has, according to Reyes, been playing well.

He said Belga “has some skills we can use” but noted that “when ranged against quick, tall guys who can shoot” he has problems because “he’s not tall enough to be a center and not quick enough to be a power forward” which are attributes Aguilar has in abundance provided he can harness them at game time.

The Philippines as the host nation, by choice chose Group A which would mean playing Saudi Arabia (ranked 69 in the world), Jordan which is No. 30 and Chinese-Taipei which is three rungs above the Philippines at No. 42.

Regrettably denied an opportunity to efend its Jones Cup championship in Chinese-Taipei because of tensions over the killing of a Taiwanese fishermen by Philippine Coast Guard personnel, Reyes was forced to send Norman Black to scout the Jones Cup teams after initially taking a look at the Chinese team which he reported back was unbelievably strong.

But what may worry Reyes is not the possible adverse public reaction to the Chinese-Taipei squad but the talent on the team which, following a step the Philippines resorted to by naturalizing Douthit, went out and did the same thing by naturalizing 30-year-old Quincy Davis, a 6’9” power forward who played in Turkey, China, Venezuela and Portugal and in the last Taiwan season suited up for Pure Youth in 42 games and averaged 18.9 points, 13.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots.

Chinese-Taipei began its Jones Cup campaign with impressive wins over the favored United States and the fancied Japan squad which would make them a tougher proposition than before.

Reyes said the Taiwanese have always been competitive, more so now but remained quietly confident that the Philippines is “still a better team.”

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.