Lessons from the Mustangs

Gilas treated the hometown fans with a rousing 74-64 win over the Taiwan Mustangs at the PhilSports Arena last Monday but the send-off game before leaving for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia wasn’t just for fun. Coach Tim Cone picked up a lot of lessons along the way and will surely use the experience to get tougher when the OQT rolls out.

The Mustangs didn’t come to roll over and die. They’re waiting for reinforcements Dwight Howard, DeMarcus Cousins and Quinn Cook to bolster their title hopes in The Asian Tournament but coach Chris Gavina, assisted by 2004 PBA first overall draft pick Rich Alvarez, still had big pieces in 7-6 Sam Deguara of Malta, 6-9 Rey Miller of California State at Fullerton, 6-6 Tevis Robinson of NAIA school Johnson and Wales University in Florida, 6-4 Oscar Lopez of DePaul and Central Michigan University, 17-year PBA veteran Alex Cabagnot, seven-year PBA veteran Rashawn McCarthy and Gilas veteran 6-8 Geo Chiu of Ateneo.

Deguara, 33, has played in Italy, Spain, Canada, Lithuania, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Malta, Japan, Chile and Taiwan. The lumbering giant, who plays like 7-4 Boban Marjanovic but is less skilled, had stints in the defunct ABL with Hong Kong and Alab Pilipinas. Miller, 36, saw action in Germany, Oman, El Salvador, Honduras, Thailand, Ecuador, Libya, Vietnam, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan. Robinson, 29, campaigned in the UK, Costa Rica and Thailand before winding up in Taiwan. Lopez, 27, played in Mexico before suiting up as a local on the Cambodian team at the SEA Games last year. His mother Thon Khun is Cambodian. Cabagnot, 41, and McCarthy, 34, know what it’s like playing in the PBA with 11 combined championships. Chiu, 23, played nine Gilas games so he, too, is familiar with the Philippine national vibe.

In the friendly, Gilas zoomed to a 22-7 start, spiked by four triples then Taiwan unloaded a 12-0 bomb to cut the lead to three before the first quarter ended. Gilas’ edge was reduced to two, 34-32, in the second frame as the Mustangs turned to Lopez who had 13 points at halftime. Then, Gilas tightened the screws in the third period, forcing nine turnovers and limiting the Mustangs to 12 points. Justin Brownlee fired six of his 12 points and Dwight Ramos nine of his 19 in that quarter. Gilas’ lead ballooned to 17 and the closest Taiwan came was within eight until the end. All 11 Gilas players scored as the team took 71 field goal attempts to Taiwan’s 57 with extra possessions fueled by more steals, 15-7 and less turnovers, 12-21. Gilas romped with more fastbreak points, 15-5, capitalizing on the Mustangs’ errors.

Gilas’ sputter in the second period was caused by Taiwan’s zone. The Mustangs dominated the boards, 52-39, as Deguara, Miller and Lopez grabbed 33 together. Another cause for concern was Gilas’ free throw shooting which was a poor .286 on four-of-14 with CJ Perez going 0-of-4 and Kai Sotto 1-of-6. “Need to improve free throws,” said Gilas lead assistant coach and team manager Richard del Rosario. “We haven’t put any energy into working on a zone and we’ve got to make free throws,” noted Gilas assistant coach Sean Chambers. “Those are some areas that we can drastically improve in a short period of time.”