Five reasons why Gilas Pilipinas failed in the Asian Games
Below the expectation of the Filipino fans round the world, Gilas Pilipinas finished seventh in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
For many, it is a shocking outcome of the much publicized journey of the Philippine basketball team. For the fans, it is a shattered dream. For the critics, it is “you should have listened”.
What went wrong to the well-funded, even spending millions to naturalize and to play Andray Blatche and Marcus Douthit, Gilas Pilipinas team? What happened to the goal of Manny V. Pangilinan to capture the Gold Medal?
Here are five reasons why Gilas Pilipinas stumbled in the Asian Games.
1. Breakdown in close games
When Gilas Pilipinas lost games in a slim margin in the World Cup, they were happy because they almost beat the giants. The Philippine team again encountered close games against Iran, Qatar, and South Korea in which the players failed to respond. In my previous article, there are five reasons why Gilas keeps losing tight games. You can read here.
2. Douthit being sidelined against South Korea
June Mar Fajardo played his best against Korea, but he is not Marcus Douthit. When you take out the best player of the team, everything would go awry. From chemistry of the players, rotation, and even in the defense. No wonder the Koreans came back quickly from a 16-point deficit to beat Gilas.
3. Chot Reyes
In fairness to Chot, he is my No. 5 of the best coaches in the history of Philippine basketball. My rankings will not be affected because of his performance in the Asian Games. He should have done it better. Again, he was not able to identify his “first five”, in which he can use when the game is on the line. He used different lineups to end games, which was uncharacteristic in basketball coaching. In the last two minutes, Reyes should always have the same five players, who know each other and who are familiar to certain plays.
He oversubstituted in some of the games, without knowing that the chemistry was being disrupted. In Filipino, “palit siya ng palit ng players”.
4. Size, quickness and age matter
To compete against the best of Asia, height matters still. Gilas may have the height with Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar but they play center and power forward. We will wait for the day when many 6-foot-7 Filipinos are capable of shooting three-pointers with accuracy.
How about the age? Jeff Chan (31), Jimmy Alapag (36), Gary David (36), Marc Pingris (32), LA Tenorio (30), Jayson Castro (28), Gabe Norwood (29), and Ranidel De Ocampo (32).
5. Scouted well by the opponents
Because of their exposure in the World Cup 2014, their opponents were well-prepared against Gilas. How about different teams for FIBA World Cup and ASEAN Games?
With the debacle, everybody believes that the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and the PBA will draw a blueprint for a better Gilas Pilipinas.
