Gilas mainstay Norwood sees long break as an advantage

MANILA, Philippines — Gabe Norwood has been doing this for a decade that nothing surprises him anymore.

No, not even Gilas’ sluggish start against a familiar Chinese-Taipei side on Monday night.

For Norwood, who is also celebrating his 10th year with the national team this year, the Filipinos’ 90-83 victory was nowhere near pleasant, but it was understandable given the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers’ new format.

"Yeah, it was ugly — it was ugly for a lot of the game, to be honest. But at the end of the day, it’s a new format for everybody. So to come out with two wins in the first leg is big,” Norwood offered.

"You gotta weather the storm. That’s basketball. But you know, it’s a great game,” he added.

"Moving forward, I think we understand now that we got a little more work to do, anticipate it and hopefully, all the powers in control would allow us to really prepare to the best of our abilities,” the skipper said.

Norwood has played for eight FIBA-sanctioned events in his 10-year stint with the national team. His best came during his rookie year with the Nationals, where he normed 8.3 points, 4.7 boards and 1.7 assists a game.

According to the 6-foot-6 swingman, if there’s any takeaway from the close affair against the visiting Taiwanese, it’s seeing the second unit take over with ease.

"I think [the performance] shows that everybody could contribute,” Norwood offered. "You know, guys stepped up. June Mar (Fajardo) played his best game internationally, and uh, it was awesome to see. It is awesome to see June Mar to play well and flourish and especially in front of the home crowd."

"They’re here for a reason. Like I said, June Mar came in, played great. Kiefer (Ravena) controlled the game in and played great with ball pressure,” he went on.

Gilas will be enjoying two months worth of break before finally taking on their biggest assignment in Group B of the Asian qualifiers on the road: Australia.

And having to go 2-0 is of paramount factor, Norwood noted.

“Two months to figure out how to get a win. I think it’s an advantage for us,” he said. "We’ve got two wins to rest on our wins and enjoy ourselves … but we can’t get comfortable.”

Gilas and the Boomers face off on Feb. 22, 2018 at a yet-to-be-decided venue.