David finally kills Goliath, breaks out of slump in FIBA Asia

MANILA, Philippines – Gary David finally killed Goliath that is pressure.

David took a lot of heat for his shooting slump in the first round of the 2013 Manila FIBA Asia Men’s Basketball Championship but instead of breaking apart, he fought back.

“Bumalik na (It’s back),” David exclaimed on his way to the dugout after Gilas’ big bounce back 90-71 win over Japan.

David scored his first field goal late in the fourth quarter since the 5:59 mark of the same quarter of their first game against Saudi Arabia.

The shot that gave his confidence back came in after 10 straight misses in a span of three games.

David, who is known as ‘El Granada’ in the PBA for his explosive scoring was uncharacteristically silent in Gilas’s first three games.  

He was 2-for-11 against Saudi, 0-for-2 against Jordan and 0-for-5 on Saturday night’s heartbreaking loss to Chinese Taipei.

Finally, he broke his silence in this game thanks to his teammates and the 13,000 plus crowd inside the MOA Arena and perhaps millions more outside who looked out for him.

Loud chants of “Gary, Gary” reverberated when David checked in back in the final three minutes.

In the eyes of many, it’s already a won game for the national team. But for David, the game against his personal demons was just about to start.  

David was active on defense as he was on the offensive end trying to elude his defender to get open.

Jimmy Alapag gave up what looked like an open layup for him to a cutting David in the baseline for his first basket as the crowd roared in approval.

Chot Reyes later revealed in the post-game interview that Jimmy talked to him in between breaks to get him in the game together with David.

“Jimmy told me, 'Coach if there's a chance, get me together with Gary, I'll get him a shot,” Reyes said. “And it wasn’t only Jimmy, LA also look out for him."

"There's a comrade down. so everybody else is doing their part to help their brother out. It just gives you a glimpse of the depth of the camaraderie in this group. They really look out for each other."

Tenorio did the same for David towards the endgame. 

David misfired on Tenorio’s first pass but he didn’t let his teammate down the second time around. The corner triple in the final 56 seconds of the game was his first long bomb of the tournament.

As David ran back to the other side of the court, his name was chanted once more. 

“Talagang napakasaya ko. Talagang hindi nila ako iniwan, nandun yung suporta nila (I’m really happy. They didn’t leave me behind, the support was there),” an overjoyed David told Philstar.com. “Eto na siguro. Sana tuloy-tuloy na ‘to. (I think this is it. Hopefully, it will continue.)”

And the whole nation hopes too that David has finally killed Goliath that is pressure.