Gilas 'splash in Spain' sought in FIBA Olympic qualifiers

(Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 5, 2016 on thefilipinoconnection.net and is used with permission from the website.)

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines knows the hard truth of current-day global basketball: while in a reconnaissance as of late, the Philippines is still outside the inner ambit of cage superpowers. Playing like Americans amid Filipinos’ size, height and current level of athleticism is what this basketball-crazy nation is banking on.

Which leads to the other hard reality: NBA-style fascination by Filipino players is not even enough.

Which leads to the other hard reality: NBA-style fascination by Filipino players is not even enough.

Like the Filipino fans who trooped to the Araneta Coliseum for the 1978 World Basketball Championships to cheer for their (winless) home team, what Filipino fans will be witnessing tonight and tomorrow is how world-level competition levels up and weeds out its protagonists. Gilas Pilipinas and its hopeful fans are all praying for the most important miracle — topping the July 5-10 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and returning to the Olympic Games, slated in Rio de Janeiro— since the bronze medal finish at the 1954 World Championships, also held in Rio.

But as this OQT is held in rainy Manila, the tournament’s underdogs are hoping to revive a surprising Filipino splash that the world saw in Spain two years ago.

The Philippines, as learned these last three-to-four years, had shrugged off the intimidation to NBA talents. This paid off at the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain; close losses to Croatia (three pts., in overtime), world no. 4 Argentina (four pts.) and Puerto Rico (four pts.) impressed basketball analysts. While Gilas lost to the bulkier Greece squad by 12, near jitters in regulation and in overtime were finally conquered in a two-point win over Senegal.

Argentina, the former Olympic gold medalist which was bannered in Spain by NBA and Euroleague veterans, was visibly perplexed with the Filipinos’ tenacity and persistence. Post-game, Argentinian journalists wrote sufrimiento or sufrió (in English, suffering) in their news headlines. Canchallena journalist Juan Manuel Trenado wrote this in his lead: El pasaje para los octavos de final llego en un partido a puro sufrimiento (The passage to the knockout stages comes in a game of pure suffering [sic]).

The Philippines’ style of play, says Argentinean basketball commentator Diego Brunetti, “made Argentina play uncomfortably with them.”

“The fast pace of the game, and the Filipinos’ taking of quick shots never (allowed) Argentina to establish its half-court defense,” radio commentator Brunetti told The Filipino Connection in a 2014 email. “The Philippines set the tempo of the game, and sometimes Argentina was caught in that tempo even if it was not convenient. We (Argentineans) were really scared until the end”

While Gilas Pilipinas missed the knockout stages in Spain, Brunetti lauded the Filipinos who “(gave) everybody in the tournament a headache.”