Gilas’ Melbourne sojourn was a good tourism trip.
Oh, never mind if the team lost by a big margin. The 16-point deficit (68-84) was not that painful given the fact that Gilas did not entertain a big hope of beating the hosts who placed fourth in the 2016 Rio Olympics basketball tournament.
This was the mindset I saw on the live TV coverage.
Oh, what kind of a national squad was that I saw?
Very obviously, Gilas’ naturalized recruit was very out of shape. Goodness, he was just going through the motions as he huffed and puffed during all the time he was on the floor.
Blatche attempted to impress his Filipino fans with his once notable all-around offensive and defensive skills but he fell short.
He tried to penetrate the Boomer’s zone defense but his feet and his dribbling were not properly synchronized.
Save for some scintillating outside sniping, one could sense the lack of fluid teamwork that Gilas displayed against Japan and Taiwan.
The height factor intimidated our boys that everytime anyone who drove inside the lane, he was properly covered by the Aussie tight umbrella defense.
The team, plucked from a line up of 20 wannabes, did not train as efficiently as it should have.
My question is: Why the heck did the coaching staff persist including an out- of-shape Blatche when Ginebra’s Greg Slaughter would have performed better under the circumstances?
For this deadline beater, the ex-NBAer, who is actively enlisted as an import in the Chinese pro league, has dashed the hopes of millions of Filipino basketball fanatics by not living up to his commitment.
Blatche has short-changed us.
In the process, this 6’-10” man mountain dragged the whole team along down the drain.
Coach Chot Reyes’ boys relied on their individual skills in the hope of outrunning the other side. Unfortunately, the Aussies outran them.
Calvin Abueva showed flashes of his tough defensive ability but his 6’2” frame was dwarfed by his taller foes. Kiefer Ravena and JuneMar Fajardo got their tandem going for awhile but when the Aussies noticed the give and go routine, they forced Gilas to shoot from the outside.
Matthew Wright, RR Pogoy and Gabe Norwood did good in the early stretches of the first half but not well enough. Kevin Alas was a revelation but Japhet Aguilar failed to assert himself.
My overall impressions are these:
Gilas did not play effective teamwork in both offense and defense.
Blatche was more of a liability than an asset.
Our consolation is that three of four in Gilas’ group will move into the next round of play.
We have a great chance but watch out for Gilas’ return confrontation against Japan and Taiwan. (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) Acts 6:15: “All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!
