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The Year in Sports: Gilas Pilipinas enters FIBA World Cup

(Editor's note: The Yahoo! Philippines Sports team looks back at 2013's memorable moments in sports with a series of year-end articles on the topics and events that had the biggest impact on our readers.)

Undoubtedly the biggest achievement in Philippine sports this year was the amazing feat of the Gilas Pilipinas Men’s Basketball Team in the 27th FIBA Asia Championship held at the Mall of Asia Arena last August. Not only did the Nationals annex the silver medal in the tough Asian jousts, a gigantic accomplishment by itself, but also qualified for the first time in 35 years in the FIBA World Cup. Defeating archrival South Korea in the semis made it even sweeter, after years of bowing to the Koreans in the sport Filipinos love the most. The last time the Philippines qualified in the World Championship was when it hosted the event in 1978.

This time, inspired by over 20,000 screaming fans at the MOA Arena, Gilas poured their hearts out in the scintillating contest with the deadly Koreans, and achieved what many Philippine national teams that went before them failed to do, which is to beat South Korea in a knockout game. The Pinoys outdueled the Koreans by using a relentless pressure defense and fluid motion offense to hack out the 86-79 triumph. The victory assured the Philippines of a slot in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.

Although Gilas succumbed to the taller Iranians in the gold medal match, 71-85, the country’s comeback to the world stage in basketball has certainly given this hoops-crazy land something to feel good about and look forward to. What’s more, Gilas’ second place finish in Asia elevated the Philippines’ world rankings by 11 spots to 34th place with an accumulated 22.8 points. It is now the sixth highest Asian country in the FIBA world rankings behind China (12th), Iran (20th), Lebanon (29th), Jordan (30th), and South Korea (31st).

National head coach Chot Reyes assembled an all-pro squad composed of a mixture of international campaigners and young superstars, plus resident naturalized player Marcus Douthit.

Among the biggest heroes in the Korea game was veteran playmaker Jimmy Alapag, who has had his share of painful defeats in the hands of the Koreans. But playing in front of his fellow Filipinos, the Talk N Text ace guard hit crucial treys in endgame to lift Gilas past the Koreans in the tightly contested match. Jayson Castro, a.k.a Jayson Williams, also stood tall, sizzling with 17 markers with his cat-quick penetrations to the basket. But the biggest surprise of the game was Marc Pingris, who battled the taller Koreans inside the paint after Douthit limped out of the playing court early in the first half due to a strained calf. The San Mig Coffee star had a double-double performance of 16 points and ten rebounds. Ranidel de Ocampo, LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar also had splendid games, scoring 11, nine and eight points respectively.

Gabe Norwood proved to be a highly effective defensive player in the tournament. Reyes assigned him to shackle the opponents’ best gunners. Jeff Chan also shone in the Asian Championship, proving to be Gilas’ best shooter and almost looking like a younger Allan Caidic.

The other members of the historic squad are Larry Fonacier, June Mar Fajardo and Gary David, with Greg Slaughter, Sonny Thoss, Ryan Reyes, Kelly Williams, Jared Dillinger and Beau Belga as reserves.

It was also an excellent display of the Filipino brand of basketball as Reyes' "Dribble-Drive Motion" offense brought out the superior skills of the Gilas boys. The constant attacks to the basket and kick-out passes to outside shooters made the Philippine team a nightmare to defend against. Moreover, their up-tempo game made the Nationals even more exciting to watch.

The Philippines was bracketed in Group A with Jordan, Chinese Taipei and Saudi Arabia. It finished second to Chinese Taipei after the first round with victories over Saudi Arabia (78-66) and Jordan (77-71). It absorbed a 79-84 loss to Chinese Taipei but it served as a wake-up call for the host team.

Gilas swept the second round with lopsided wins over Japan (90-71), Qatar (80-70) and Hong Kong (67-55).
In the quarterfinals, the Filipinos drubbed Kazakhstan, 88-58, to set the much-awaited clash with the Koreans in the semis the next day.

Castro was selected in the All-Star team with Korea’s Kim Min-Goo, Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chih-chieh and Iran’s Oshin Sahakian and tournament MVP Hamed Haddadi.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) and Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) are now discussing ways to bolster the preparations of Gilas Pilipinas for next year’s World Cup.

After 35 years, the Philippines gets to play against the best teams in the world next year in Spain.

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