Norwood's electrifying dunks vs. Argentina dazzle Gilas fans

In the aftermath of Gilas' heartbreaking 85-81 loss to Argentina on Monday several notable side stories emerged: Ranidel De Ocampo's heady 18-point evening, Jimmy Alapag's sensational second-half threes and the rousing comeback from the Philippines from fifteen points down in the second half.

But what left millions of Filipinos slack-jawed more than anything else were the pair of jams by 29-year-old Gabe Norwood.

Midway through the first quarter the former George Mason University standout gathered a pass on the break from Jayson Castro and produced a thunderous jam over NBA veteran Luis Scola to pad the Filipino lead to 19-12.  Watch the video here.

According to my Filipino friend Ricky Bonoan, who was watching from his home in Chicago, Illinois the commentator on American TV said something to the effect of “Smile for the poster, Scola... Norwood, the world saw that,” after the play.

Both Norwood and Scola trended on Twitter in the Philippines soon afterwards.

What did Norwood do for an encore? Well, the same thing, with his other hand.

In the third quarter the 6'5” swingman tied the game at 48-48 when he scythed through the lane and hammered down a vicious left handed slam dunk past Marcos Mata.

What's almost as good as the second dunk were the gloriously over-the-top (and understandably so) reactions from TV5 commentators Magoo Marjon and Quinito Henson.

The Twitterverse was ablaze with plaudits on the dunks, including at least one suggestion that the jammer be immortalized in currency.

Norwood finished with six points on three-for-four from the field.

Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.