No choice in schedule

If you’re wondering why the Philippines played France and New Zealand back-to-back in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the MOA Arena last Tuesday and Wednesday, it’s because that’s how the draw went. As the host country, the Philippines had no right to choose what day to play its games. The only prerogative given to the Philippines was to pick the time to play, whether at 6:30 or 9 p.m.

SBP senior consultant and former FIBA Asia (then known as the Asian Basketball Confederation or ABC) secretary-general Moying Martelino confirmed yesterday that the Philippines was designated to play France and New Zealand on two consecutive days of the tournament in a fair draw conducted by FIBA.

The luck of the draw put New Zealand in a favorable position against Gilas the other day. The Kiwis were fresh because they hadn’t played the day before. And since it was New Zealand’s first game, Gilas had no benefit of scouting the squad. On the other hand, the Kiwis were able to scout Gilas in playing France the previous day. Gilas also had to be exhausted going against France in a tight contest where the margin of difference was only four points with less than four minutes left. The Philippines eventually lost to France, 93-84.

“A schedule was made after a draw involving the six teams in our qualifying tournament,” said Martelino. “Even the grouping was drawn. Once the schedule was determined, we were given the prerogative of choosing to play either the first or second game. That was the only privilege we had as host. We picked to play the second game for crowd and TV purposes.”

It would’ve been a lift for Gilas if the Philippines played France on Tuesday, took a rest the next day and battled New Zealand on Thursday. That way, the players would’ve had a day to rest and New Zealand would’ve been scouted on Wednesday. But that wasn’t how it was drawn.

Against New Zealand, Gilas wasn’t as sharp as the national team looked in pushing France to the limit. The Kiwis led 34:58 minutes and the Philippines was ahead by two only for 14 seconds the entire game. In contrast, Gilas led France in 17:05 of 40 minutes.

Still, Gilas was down by only two, 62-60, with 7:40 left in the fourth period. Andray Blatche missed a triple that could’ve given Gilas the lead. New Zealand then went on an 18-3 run to open a 78-65 lead with 2:35 left to ice the contest. During that surge, Gilas missed four attempts, never went to the line and had two crucial turnovers. New Zealand held on to win, 89-80.

Blatche carried the load for Gilas in the fourth period, firing 17 of his 30 points but couldn’t do it all by himself. The Webster brothers Tai and Corey combined for 16 points in the payoff quarter and finished with 48 together to pace the Kiwis.

Gilas could hit only 41 percent from the floor compared to New Zealand’s 48 percent with Bobby Ray Parks, Gabe Norwood and Ranidel de Ocampo blanked on a total of six attempts. Terrence Romeo and Troy Rosario both went 2-of-7 each. Gilas converted more triples, 11-8, and had more bench points, 15-5 but was outgunned in the interior, 34-24 and in turnover points, 16-8. The efficiency level was reflected in the assist-to-turnover ratio as New Zealand’s rate was 12:11 compared to Gilas’ 10:14.

Coach Tab Baldwin started the game against New Zealand with Blatche and JuneMar Fajardo playing together. Fajardo finished with 11 points, including 5-of-5 free throws, and four rebounds in 16:51 minutes so he proved himself deserving of Baldwin’s nod. It was in defense where Fajardo looked a step slow in protecting the rim particularly as New Zealand repeatedly ran baseline cuts to score on layups. Fajardo will learn from this experience.

Blatche appeared to pace himself, going scoreless in 8:12 minutes of the first period, contributing four points in the second and nine in the third before his explosion in the fourth. But it wasn’t in offense where Gilas was deficient in the last 10 minutes. In fact, Gilas scored 27 points and New Zealand, 29. To win, Gilas couldn’t just trade baskets. The challenge was in making stops and that was where Gilas was deficient. The usual suspects knocked down big shots for New Zealand – the Websters, Tom Abercrombie and Ike Fotu. Baldwin knew who were the New Zealand gunners and so did the Gilas players. Unfortunately, the Kiwis couldn’t be contained.

Was Gilas fagged out after playing France the night before? If the players were tired, that’s no excuse. The FIBA system is gruelling and players know it takes a toll on the body.  Losing two straight games before the homecrowd wasn’t just heartbreaking, it was painful. Gilas couldn’t even win a game at home. A serious reevaluation of the Gilas program should be next on the SBP’s agenda.