Erram’s spirit an inspiration; Yap, Tiu rue Asiad downfall

JAKARTA – Blackwater center Poy Erram has been a revelation and inspiration with the warrior spirit he’s been showing in his stint with the Philippine quintet in the 18th Asian Games here.

He could have easily quit with his hard fall that saw his face slam to the hard court, leaving him with two chipped teeth in the Philippines-Korea game.

But he did not.

Not even after one chipped tooth was eventually extracted in his visit to the dentist. He still suited up in their next game against Japan and chipped in a three-pointer and a free throw plus three rebounds and one block in their 113-80 victory.

“We came here to fight, and so I’m here fighting for the country,” said Erram.

And with his consistent contribution in all matches here, Erram could well be rewarded with a spot in Team Philippines to the coming FIBA World Cup qualifying window.

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Sad without a contribution in their last two games is James Yap in what could well be his farewell stint as a national player at 36.

The two-time PBA MVP awardee sat out their games against Korea and Japan due to a sore ankle.

“I’ve taken painkillers. Still there’s pain,” said Yap.

“He has an ankle injury and we don’t want to aggravate it. It’s been there since the Korea game. We don’t want to risk it. If I needed him he could play but if not really needed, we didn’t want to take that risk,” said national coach Yeng Guiao as he opted to continue to rest Yap against Japan.

Yap hopes he’ll be okay for the Syria game Friday.

The Rain or Shine forward had his previous stint as a national player in the 2009 Tianjin Asian meet.

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Chris Tiu had his disappointments he’s not able to win a medal in all his tours of duty with the national team back to the original Gilas team in 2010.

He considered their loss to Korea Monday as one of the most painful defeats he’s had.

“I've been playing professional and international basketball for 10 years now and there are a few games that hurt pretty bad and are almost never forgotten. This one versus Korea in the quarterfinals is one of them,” said Tiu.

“It is painful because we know we could have made millions of Filipinos happy even for a moment and have a legitimate shot at bringing home a medal that will make the Filipinos proud,” he added.

“It's not the wasted effort or sacrifices or absence of leaving a legacy that bothers me, but what's hard to swallow is letting people down and disappointing them when they trusted you to deliver,” he further said.

Thinking it could also be his last stint as a national player, Tiu, 33, said it would have been perfect to win a medal here.

But he’s ready to move forward.

“Basketball is a metaphor of life. You try to do everything to make things work but sometimes God has other plans, usually better ones for us in His perfect time. We just have to accept, pick ourselves up and move forward,” he said.