On that teeth-gnashing win by Gilas over Korea
MANILA, Philippines — There’s this term that is used in the Bible — the gnashing of teeth.
I guess, aside from the Good Book, it seems right when used to describe the countless times Korea has broken Philippine hearts.
And this game in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers seemed destined to chip away at the enamel of many a teeth of a distraught Filipino, not once but twice.
In the first half, the Koreans had way too much space to shoot. They ran their sets to perfection and had the Philippines scrambling on defense.
It had the makings of a deflating loss as Korea was up by 17. Nothing was going right.
Except, the Philippines did mount a comeback and led by as much as five points in the fourth period.
Then came the eerily familiar turnovers and poor shot selection. And just like that, Korea had their own five-point lead.
And yet, the Philippines rallied and led by one with a three-point play opportunity that could give them a huge four-point lead with seconds left with scant seconds left.
Another brick and Korea raced down.
You know they were going to make that triple. They have collectively made thousands of those shots. Through the decades. Even in your dreams you see them make those shots.
Just like that, it was 78-all with 2.8 seconds left.
Well, that’s plenty of time to salvage a game-winner. The worst for the nonce was overtime.
The play was for a short-range stab by Carl Tamayo except Ricardo Ratcliffe covered him so credit must be made to Dwight Ramos for finding the “decoy option” in SJ Belangel, who ditched his man with a pump fake and took a one-legged off-balanced triple that banked in for the 81-78 win.
If you follow Ateneo Blue Eaglets basketball, you will know that Belangel is no stranger to big shots, crazy shots and improbable shots. And not necessarily in that order. Suffice to know that he is big shot and big time player.
What a win. The first versus Korea in eight years. And once more at home and with no crowd to cheer them on.
And the last time the Philippines got that win against their long time tormentor, they went to the 2014 FIBA World Cup. This time, the Philippines qualified for the FIBA Asia Cup.
It seems now that the Philippines is building to these huge next steps. Beat Korea and go to the next level.
What can we take away from this huge win against Korea?
I’ll point this out first. After the game, did anyone notice the subdued celebration? Yes, there were huge smiles and all. But the job isn’t done. There are two more games to play.
And that one is all Coach Tab Baldwin.
Notice he wasn’t all over Belangel mussing his hair. Does that remind you when Larry Bird was the head coach of the Indiana Pacers and he looked stoic after Reggie Miller stuck a game winning triple versus the Chicago Bulls?
So it rubs off on the team.
Besides, the team is still a work in progress. That was evident in the first half when they were coughing up the ball in ways that would make you gnash your teeth (there’s that word again).
Late in the first period, Gilas squeezed off three shots in one possession with Dwight Ramos and Isaac Go missing their 3-point attempts while Mike Nieto botched a twinner.
When Korea got it back, one shot for a three… bucket, 9-6, to break the deadlock.
Take a look at how Gilas cut down that 17-point lead to eight by the end of the first half of play.
At 41-27 time down to 1:42 in the second period, all five players on the floor for Baldwin – RJ Abarrientos, Will Navarro, Angelo Kouame, Isaac Go, and Dwight Ramos -- made something happen whether by an assist, a rebound, free throws, or a bucket in a 9-3 run, 44-36.
Kouame closed it out with a triple that cut the deficit to below single digits.
In the end game, Korea led by five, 75-70 with 2:06 left. Carl Tamayo split his free throws. Justine Baltazar made both his free throws. Dwight Ramos split his free throws. Navarro assisted Belangel on a drive, 76-75, with 48 seconds to go. Kouame scored a bucket and then Belangel finished off Korea with that spectacular off-balanced bank shot.
Even the players who rotated in and out in those final seconds chipped in.
Team ball.
How about those numbers. Did those turnovers hurt Gilas? Not really.
| Country | Turnovers By opponent in the first half | Points off of turnovers in the first half |
| Korea | 6 | 6 points |
| Philippines | 5 | 5 points |
| Country | Turnovers by opponent in the second half | Points off of turnovers in the second half |
| Korea | 3 | 2 points |
| Philippines | 3 | 2 points |
An 8-7 advantage by Korea in points off turnovers.
I thought it was their fastbreak points (16-6) and second chance points (17-10) that hurt us.
I thought the Filipinos played better defense in the second half and shot better. SJ Belangel came in later and stabilized the game for the Philippines and when they needed to, they attacked the interior.
How did Angelo Kouame fare in his first game? Let’s compare it to Andray Blatche’s debut numbers.
Ange finished with 12 points (4-of-8 shooting), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block in 22 minutes in an 81-78 win over Korea.
Blatche had better numbers in his Gilas debut although it was an 81-78 loss (does that score look familiar) to Croatia – 28 points, 12 rebounds and one steal in 41 minutes (it went into overtime).
If Kouame perhaps had Blatche’s experience up to that point and played more minutes, he could match those numbers. But Angelo didn’t get too many touches.
And that leads me back to the gnashing of teeth.
With time running down in the first half game clock, Kouame took a pass from Navarro and he stuck in a triple to cut the lead down to eight.
Whether that was a bit of foreshadowing is me romanticizing it.
Except Belangel hit a crazy game-winner as time expired.
It was almost the same in 2013 when Jimmy Alapag stuck in three triples in the fourth period including a huge one that gave Gilas an 84-79 lead (Marc Pingris scored on a putback to peg that final score 86-81) very late in the game.
Gilas Pilipinas showed they can give as good as they can take.
At least for now, it is Korea gnashing their teeth.
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