Marvelous

Gilas Pilipinas rained treys that accounted for almost half of their final score against Lebanon in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup. Even the mammoth from the south, June Mar Fajardo, unknown for outside shooting, rammed a rimless three early in the match.

Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson and Jamie Malonzo showed why they are from Barangay Ginebra, the only rock solid village in the country, probably because no divisive individuals campaign for unity, otherwise known as politicians in the most partisan nonpartisan elections.

The Filipino head of tactics was ecstatic and optimistic. After that convincing win against Lebanon, Reyes thought his men had a perfect Chot in their next match. He noted Gilas has come to terms with its frustrations in the past, only to suffer another heartbreaker of a loss to Jordan, not Michael, but the country of tall and hefty ballers who barraged the host country with treys, leading by as much as 25 points in the first half.

But in the third quarter, they messed up and missed out as the Filipinos tightened their defense unlike how their government defends its territory. The Gilas five enthralled the Philippine Arena when they evened the evening match in the fourth quarter twice, at 81-all and 88-all. The Jordanian team felt the pressure but stayed focus.

Despite the momentum shift in their favor, the Filipinos blinked and blanked multiple chances to stay alive in the dying minutes. With half a minute ticking, Thompson had a couple of freebies to give his team the lead for the first time since the first quarter. But he missed both, reminiscent of Alvin Patrimonio in the battle for bronze against Japan in the 1994 Asiad.

Calling it the biggest missed free throws of his career, Scottie felt dejected, but not rejected. No one blamed him for the debacle. He preceded it with a spectacle all over the floor. He scored 9 points, rebounded and assisted 7 times apiece that helped cut down the two-digit deficit to just six at the end of the third quarter.

By then Gilas appeared headed to a dramatic come-from-behind victory but ended on a one-point-behind misery. What irony, a mission so possible becomes impossible, and easy becomes hard, like how law students are constrained to overthink a simple legal problem when they enter the zone of reason during examinations, and in basketball, the zone of execution at the most crucial situations.

In both matches, Brownlee proved he deserves to be naturalized. Against Jordan, the 6’6” American led his team to the third quarter charge with exponential statistics – 41 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists in 35 minutes.

 Yes, the Filipinized power forward has no Filipino flesh or blood. But neither patriotism nor nationalism runs in the blood. A foreigner need neither be half-blooded nor naturalized to be one with Filipinos. In fact, some of them show Filipinos how to treat Filipinos just and right, as opposed to some Filipinos, especially those in the hallowed halls, who harrow their fellows.