Envoy says Phl won but not on scoreboard

SEVILLE.  Gilas’ naturalized player Andray Blatche was visibly dejected in the Philippine national team’s lockerroom shortly after a hairline 81-78 overtime loss to Croatia in Group B of the FIBA World Cup at the Palacio Municipal de Deportes here last Saturday.  Still, he managed a smile as Philippine Ambassador to Spain Carlos Salinas walked into the dugout to congratulate the squad for a gallant effort.

“I appreciate it,” said Blatche, acknowledging Salinas’ greetings. “I’ll go back to the hotel and rest my knee. Thanks for all the kind words.” Salinas said in his view, the Philippines won the game although not on the scoreboard. “We deserved to win,” the Ambassador told The Star. “We won everyone’s heart. We may have lost the game numerically but the world will remember this game because of how we fought.”

Blatche played his guts out on the floor and as early as in the second quarter, began to limp after banging up his right knee. He was on the bench when the first half ended with Gilas down by only six, 37-31, after trailing by 15 and came back to play in the third period with a brace on his knee. Blatche later took off the brace before taking free throws. He had a slow start, hitting only 1-of-7 from the floor in the first 10 minutes and added two more field goals before the turn. Blatche erupted for eight points in the third quarter and seven in the fourth as Gilas forced overtime. He wound up with 28 points and 12 rebounds in 41:11 minutes.

“Unfortunately, we lost but the game confirmed how much I trust my teammates,” said Blatche quoted by sportando.com. “We fought until the end against a much stronger opponent and we also had the final shot to win it. I felt good, we must play again like today without being afraid of our opponents. In addition to points and rebounds, my task is also to give confidence to my teammates. I am very optimistic for the next games. The Philippines will continue to impress and we want to make our great fans happier than today.”

Blatche’s mother Angela Oliver and his financial advisor Ingrid Bachelor, who owns her own accounting and consultancy firm, were scheduled to arrive here from Florida yesterday to provide family support. Blatche flew in with Gilas accompanied by his boyhood friend Bryan Extra and personal trainer Rory Jones, a former University of Toledo basketball guard. Blatche’s brother Trey couldn’t make the trip to Spain because he’s enrolled in school.

Extra said Blatche has lost about 17 pounds from when Gilas opened training camp in Miami a month ago. The nine-year NBA veteran looked sharp and agile against Croatia, repeatedly driving to the hoop in leaving his defenders behind. Blatche’s weight was listed at 260 pounds in the NBA last season.

Extra credited Blatche’s conditioning to Jones’ handling in the gym. “Not too many people know that Rory was the guy who got in the touch with me about the possibility of Andray playing for the Philippines,” said Extra. “I read this article on Grantland recently and some other guy for the credit for referring Andray to Gilas. The article was outstanding but the credit went to the wrong guy. Rory is actually JaVale McGee’s guy. JaVale was supposed to join Gilas as a naturalized player but got hurt. JaVale and Dray go back to their Washington Wizards days. So Rory called me one day asking if Dray would be interested to take his place. I talked to Dray and his reply was of course. I got back to Rory and somehow, word leaked out in Manila. The next day, Dray walked into the Brooklyn Nets dugout and people were asking about playing for the Philippines. Whoa, Dray got blown away. Dray’s loving the experience, he loves his teammates, his coaches, Filipinos and the Philippines.”

Coincidentally, the Nets’ manager of basketball operations is a Filipina, Marivic Lardizabal. Before long, Blatche’s naturalization papers went through the legislative process in the Philippines with the bill getting approved by the House of Representatives, Senate and finally, the President.

Jones played two years with the Toledo varsity, averaging 5.8 points in 54 total games in 1999-2000 and 2000-01. In 2003, he was working as a physical education teacher earning $1,500 a month to support a newly-born son. Jones is from Flint, Michigan.

Blatche’s mother made the news when in 2010, she travelled 900 miles from South Carolina back to her Syracuse, New York, hometown to distribute Thanksgiving Day dinner packs of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes and gravy mix to 20 families victimized by gun violence. It was her way of empathizing with mothers whose children were wounded in violent incidents. In 2005, just before the Wizards opened training camp, Blatche was shot once in the chest by carnappers in Alexandria, Virginia. None of his vital organs was damaged. He was hospitalized for two days and a day after his discharge, resumed walking. Two months later, Blatche made his NBA debut with five points in Washington’s 137-96 win over Seattle.

Blatche’s mother bought 120 turkeys to fill the Thanksgiving Dinner baskets. “It’s just so traumatizing for a mother to get that phone call about her son,” said Oliver quoted by Lyndra Vassar of syracuse.com. “I didn’t lose my child but I just want to let the mothers and parents know that I get where they’re coming from. It’s a start for a good meal with a lot of love.”