There’s a beautiful song by The Carpenters called “We’ve Only Just Begun” that was a hit in 1970 and continues to be popular today. The refrain goes like this: “Sharing horizons that are new to us, watching the signs along the way, talkin’ it over, just the two of us, workin’ together day to day, together, together.”
It’s almost like the story of the Gilas basketball team, coming off a sweep of the FIBA Asia Cup three-step qualifiers and set to tread on unchartered waters in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Belgrade starting June 29. From when the first window opened in February last year, the Philippines has won six in a row to top Group A in the qualifiers. The journey began with seven PBA players plus Thirdy Ravena, Dwight Ramos, Matt Nieto, Juan Gomez de Liaño and Isaac Go whipping Indonesia, 100-70, in Jakarta under coach Mark Dickel. Then, in the second window, coach Jong Uichico took over as Gilas trounced Thailand twice, 93-61 and 93-69, in Bahrain, with no PBA reinforcements. Finally, in the Clark bubble that ended last weekend, coach Tab Baldwin again went with a no-pro lineup to upset South Korea, 81-78, crush Indonesia, 76-51 and repeat over South Korea, 82-77, in that order.
Cracking the dreaded Korean curse couldn’t be sweeter for Gilas. Since the Philippines defeated South Korea in the FIBA Asia Cup semifinals at the MOA Arena in 2013, Gilas had bowed to the Koreans in five straight games until the Clark bubble happened. The five setbacks came at the 2014 Asian Games, 97-95, 2015 Jones Cup, 82-70, 2017 Jones Cup, 83-72, 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, 118-86, and 2018 Asian Games, 91-82. Last Sunday’s victory was particularly memorable because it was decisive. No Philippine team had ever outshot the Koreans from three-point distance or held them to three fastbreak points in an entire game. Gilas controlled the pace most of the way and wound up outscoring South Korea from triple range, 14-10, in fastbreak points, 9-3, in second chance points, 24-17, in turnover points, 19-5, and in bench points, 36-19. That took discipline, dedication to play within Baldwin’s we-not-me system and a lot of effort. When the Koreans raced to a 9-0 lead, Baldwin didn’t call a timeout and showed his trust in the players on the floor like a teacher guiding his students in the maturing process. It didn’t take long for Gilas to rebound with an 8-0 blast.
Next for Gilas is the OQT where the opposition will be at a much higher level. World No. 31 Philippines plays No. 5 Serbia and No. 19 Dominican Republic in the group stage then, if it wins at least once, the team will advance to the semifinals to face either No. 18 Puerto Rico or No. 10 Italy in a knockout. If Gilas survives, it will battle likely finalist Serbia for the ticket to Tokyo.
SBP chairman emeritus Manny V. Pangilinan paraphrased the American poet Robert Frost in putting the Gilas journey into perspective – “we have miles to go before we sleep.” And as The Carpenters sang, Gilas has only just begun. “I have always thought that the best way forward was to start with a tabula rasa, a clean board,” said MVP. “This means developing organic talent and not being reliant on the PBA which, however, requires long-term planning and the patience that goes with it. Took a while to develop internal consensus but here we are, with the first steps executed well.”
MVP added: “Our comfort zone was to take the safe path on reliance on our best and mature players. It took some time to take the unorthodox view and reset the program to zero. SBP was setting new frontiers with this program and I must say there was concern it may not succeed, albeit the initial results are encouraging. More work ahead. The road will be long and steep and we will face defeat as we motor along. Let’s be patient. Let’s stay focused. Let’s stay committed to our program.”