Are we in a dream?
Gilas Pilipinas, our beloved team making its first appearance on the world stage since 1978, almost pulled off a shocker over a heavily favored Croatia, ranked 16th by FIBA in the world and somewhere in the Top 10 in power rankings by American sportswriters, before dropping a 78-81 loss in the very first game of the FIBA World Cup in Seville, Spain.
And we have several thoughts.
1. ESPN's Marc Stein ranked Gilas at No. 20 out of 24 in his power rankings while Bleacher Report put the Filipinos at No. 21. They even put us behind the South Koreans, whom we beat in the semifinals of the FIBA-Asia Championship right on our home turf last year. Was it disrespect? Perhaps. But after we came one shot and a lucky break away from achieving the one thing we once thought impossible, they're probably eating their words right now.
2. Speaking of rankings, Croatia is high on everybody's list. Based on FIBA rankings, the Croatians are 16th in the world. In the eyes of the world media, they're probably ranked somewhere in the top 10. They have two NBA players – Bojan Bogdanovic of the Brooklyn Nets and Dmjan Rudez of the Indiana Pacers – and several others who are NBA material like Ante Tomic, Mario Hezonja and Dario Saric, who was the 12th overall pick in last June's NBA draft. And yet we almost pulled the rug from under them?
3. Oh Andray Blatche! He was a man on a mission out there with 28 points, including three triples, and 12 rebounds amid the sore knee. True, he turned the ball over seven times, but all is forgiven after his game to remember. He’s currently a free agent, but I will not be surprised if NBA teams start to queue up for his services.
4. We're not sourgraping but I think there was a call and a non-call that I think should have been called otherwise. The first one was by Jayson Castro, who was slapped a technical foul for flopping when it looked more like an offensive foul? The other also involved player known as The Blur, who was nudged while we was attempting seconds before the buzzer sounded at the end of the overtime period. He was obviously fouled there. That foul, if called, would have given Castro three foul shots. And if he made all, he would have sent the game into a second OT. Even the foreign broadcasters calling the game at BTV agreed there was really a foul. The referees are probably blind.
5. Gilas' quickness and outside guns are our ticket to pulling off a major upset or two. In this game, we buried a total of 10 triples, four by Jeff Chan, including that one with 2.49 minutes left in regulation that gave us a 67-66 lead. It was our first taste of the upperhand since 1978, the year the country last qualified a team in the world stage.
6. Chot Reyes is a genius. Regardless of what happens here in Spain, we found the right formula to compete at this level that future national teams can use in the international arena. Get a Blatche, pluck the best players in the country today and drown them with international exposure and voila, we have a world-class Gilas team. After this game, I will not be surprised if Reyes gets an offer to coach an NBA team.
Now let me hear your thoughts.
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Editor’s note: Joey Villar is a veteran sportswriter for The Philippine Star, covering college basketball and other sports. He also blogs occasionally for Unblogged Sports and NBA.com Philippines. His views are purely his own and do not reflect those of the organizations he writes for.