Advertisement

Gilas gets highest efficiency rating among Asian teams in FIBA World Cup

Gilas versus Croatia (Photo from FIBA.com)
Gilas versus Croatia (Photo from FIBA.com)

 

At the conclusion of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, it became clear that the Philippines has overachieved in its first participation after 36 years in this prestigious event. For the record, the country last saw action in this tournament in 1978 when the world championship was held in Manila. As host country, the Philippines was seeded in the Semi-final Round but lost all its seven matches. The last time the Filipinos won in the event was 40 years ago during the 1974 world championship in Puerto Rico, where they nipped Australia (101-100) and the Central African Republic (87-86) in the Classification Round.

The fact that this basketball-crazy nation qualified again in the latest world championship through the efforts of Gilas Pilipinas is by itself a huge achievement.  But the country gained so much more and certainly exceeded all expectations with a much-celebrated triumph over the 2013 FIBA Africa bronze medalist Senegal via an 81-79 overtime decision. Not to mention the unexpected close losses against powerhouse basketball teams Croatia, Greece, Argentina and Puerto Rico.

This impressive showing by Gilas got the Philippines to 21st spot in the final standings of the tournament won by the United States. Below the Philippines are Finland (No. 22), Korea (No. 23) and Egypt (No. 24).  Iran, the 2013 Asian champion, finished at 20th spot with also a 1-4 win-loss card. The Iranians got a higher finish because they topped winless Egypt in their group.

However, a review of the FIBA statistics showed that the Philippines got the highest Efficiency Rate from among all Asian countries in the recent World Cup. It got an Efficiency Rate of 73.2, which is the 14th-highest in the entire tournament. The two other Asian teams Iran (64.8) and Korea (61.8) landed at 19th and 22nd spots respectively. Team USA got the best grade with 127.3 followed by host Spain (101.1) and Greece (96.7). Silver medalist Serbia was sixth with 86.6 followed by bronze winner France (84.4).

The Efficiency Rate is computed to determine the overall performance of a team considering both the offensive and defensive contributions.  It was originally designed to figure out the MVP of a basketball tournament.  Also known as the Performance Index rating, the computation varies in different leagues. The FIBA web site does not contain the formula for the Efficiency Rate. However, the Euroleague, which is sanctioned by FIBA, uses the formula:   (Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks + Fouls Drawn) - (Missed Field Goals + Missed Free Throws + Turnovers + Shots Rejected + Fouls Committed).

As a result also of Gilas’ feat, the Philippines climbed three notches in the latest FIBA World Ranking for Men, from 34th to 31st. The Philippines still trails four other Asian nations namely China (No. 14), Iran (No. 17), Korea (No. 27) and Jordan (No. 28), but has overtaken Lebanon (from 29th to 34th).

But more importantly, the Pinoys won the admiration of the entire basketball universe in this recent world championship. FIBA also honored the Philippines with a special citation called the Most Valuable Fan (MVF) Best Country Award for having the most passionate fans in the tournament. Filipinos from all over the world trooped to Seville to support Gilas’ historic participation in the sport’s biggest stage.