Thank you SMART GILAS!

Once and for all, I would like to congratulate Smart Gilas for being the Top 4 teams in the FIBA-Asia. Although they lost a potential silver medal against Jordan, still I am very proud of the accomplishments of Coach Rajko Toroman and the Gilas boys.

I remembered the last time when they formed the Smart Gilas, I was so disappointed on the selection of the players for the team. Some Fil-Ams were included in the line-up like Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter, which for me is still unknown players then (maybe because I’m not interested to look for their stats and Lutz and Lassiter even played more heart than other players requested to play for the team), another thing is the naturalization of Marcus Douthit. For me, it’s an insult to naturalize a player from another country in which we have Junmar Fajardo and Greg Slaughter to fill Marcus’ shoes. (But the way Marcus played this FIBA Asia, he is a Filipino at heart)

But it’s all easier said than done…

Coach Rajko said to conquer their goal “London 2012”, their current line-up which composed of several amateur players like Casio, Tiu, Baracael, Barocca, Ababou and Ballesteros is not enough to realize their goal. That’s why he asked the PBA and PBA teams to lend their players to play for the team. However, only MVP teams cooperate and actually lend their players for the Gilas team (I salute Jimmy Alapag, Ranidel de Ocampo, Kelly Williams and Asi Taulava). Also, he asked Junmar Fajardo and other collegiate players to play for the team, but UAAP and NCAA won’t allow their players because the collegiate championship is more prioritized than playing for the flag.

In the current FIBA-Asia, we actually saw our national team played their hearts out in order to conquer their goal. Although the height advantage is very evident during games, the players never… as in never backed down against giant teams in Asia.

Now, if we able to snatch a win against Korea, there is a very slim chance to qualify for the London Olympics, in which we will face other teams from Europe and America in the wild card phase for the remaining slots for the Olympics.

To those critics who said that Gilas project is a failure, think again twice. From rank number 9, we climb up to rank number 4. This is considered as an accomplishment for the team already. We all know all project has its flaws but we can fixed that flaw in the future. So please stop blaming the Gilas team for they didn’t match their expectations. If we feel sorry for the lost, how much worse they’re feeling right now?

Thank you again Smart Gilas for bringing back the basketball glory in our country.

Let’s hope that the next Gilas team will be as formidable as the current team today.

Let us support the Philippine basketball!