Breakthrough

We were treated to probably one of the best performances to date of the Smart Gilas national basketball team program. Gilas 2.0 stole the thunder from a USA Select squad in the 34th William Jones Cup held in Taiwan. And what a way to steal it, showing nerves never before witnessed from any of our national teams.

Gilas 2.0 was actually down by 14 midway through the third canto. But from there, it was the LA Tenorio Show. He was the smallest man on the floor yet his presence overshadowed that of Marcus Douthit. Pick-and-rolls, pops, dribble drives, El Tiniente made mincemeat of the slow-footed defense and even pulled an old specialty of the house reverse lay-up that totally took the wind out of the Americans. But it was that dagger of a jumper that pushed the Nationals ahead 76-75 with a little over 45 seconds left.

Nothing was heard when the bomb dropped. Only the swish of the net as the ball went through.

Members of Smart Gilas II whoop it up after securing a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the United States, 76-75, to capture the 34th Jones Cup crown in Taiwan yesterday. PHOTO COURTESY OF YU CHIH-SHENG OF APPLE DAILY

This capped off an amazing comeback. This capped off the breakthrough win that the National Team has been working hard for. And even it ain’t the Redeem Team our Gilas brought down, it’s still a collection of representatives from the United States of America, the land where basketball was born.

If there’s a better feel-good story than the Azkals’ improbable rise to stardom in the country, it’s this win. While the Jones Cup is mostly considered a celebrated tuneup of sorts, here we can gauge where the Gilas program’s level is at. No longer are they scrambling and going for the homerun plays when the straits go dire. They are composed now.

They have a direction.

Our past national squads did not have any direction. It only started getting a rudder when MVP got tired of all the losing that he decided to give the ship a modicum of direction. Under Rajko Toroman, slowly but surely, we sort of saw where we wanted to end up. And that’s with the level of the Irans, the Chinas, the South Koreas. Given the chance against the USA? Sure why not, let’s make them run for their money, at least this side of the Redeem Team.

They called this squad the Smart Gilas Texters.

It was only a fitting snide remark since all of Chot Reyes’ favorite wards were included in the lineup. Well, who’s going to complain now when Larry Fonacier delivered when it mattered most? Who’s going to complain now when a Rain or Shine player in Jeff Chan actually pulled through? Who’s going to complain now when LA Tenorio and not a Jason Castro anchored the offense for Gilas?

I complained about the all-pro team assembled. Why? Well, it’s been proven time and again that these pros cannot co-exist. That they want the ball at all times to look good not only as a representative of their mother clubs but to be the next Big Difference or something. But with this group? I did not see that at all. These were all system players apparently, when the San Miguel group declined to lend their players to the Gilas program. Too bad though, SMC has nice system players (Hey there Pinoy Sakuragi!) that can fit in with the current Gilas crop.

System players.

I guess that’s what it takes. And I will stop complaining. We need these kind of guys. No superstar syndrome. Just pure crisp ball movement. Just purely understanding what roles they have. Just providing the intangibles and not 30-plus points everytime down on the floor.

This is a breakthrough that needs savoring.

We have a direction now.

We have a system in place.

We had the breakthrough.

Let’s keep it going, shall we?

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