2013 FIBA Asia Championship: Retro diary of Gilas Pilipinas versus Hong Kong

Chuck Araneta was in the stands Wednesday evening when Gilas Pilipinas was set to rout the Hong Kong national team, in their final second round match at the MOA Arena.

Earlier in the afternoon, Qatar had pulled off an improbable victory against Chinese-Taipei, setting the table for the Philippines to claim the number one seed in their group, and avoid the likes of Iran and China early on in the KO rounds.

That wasn't exactly what happened.

[Read the recap of this game here]


1st Quarter 7:10

Gilas coach Chot Reyes was not happy. The starting line-up of LA Tenorio, Larry Fonacier, Gabe Norwood, Marc Pingris and Marcus Douthit was expected to pound Hong Kong. Instead, they looked a step slow. Three-point shots were flat, and they were slow to rebounds, leading to second-chance opportunities for Hong Kong, which had lost their previous four games.

Reyes looked to his bench, and brought out a platoon substitution: Gary David, Japeth Aguilar, Jeff Chan and Jayson Castro came in, to try and restore some semblance of order for Gilas.

As Gilas trimmed down the lead, Hong Kong kept finding ways to score. The walk in Luneta Parkthat Coach Chot was expecting was rained out. This was going to be tougher than expected.

1st Quarter 6:16
 
When I watch basketball, I tend to get enamored by certain players for no specific reason. Sometimes it's the way that Ranidel De Ocampo has this blank “Cool story, bro” expression despite anything happening in the game. Sometimes it’s the way that captain Jimmy Alapag has become the unofficial cheerleader for Gilas, pumping up the crowd with primal screams.

On this night however, it was my first time to watch Hong Kong’s Duncan Reid. The floppy haired dude gave everything he could to try and defend Marcus Douthit, even though it was clear that he had no chance.

On this play, he sized up Douthit, ran across the free throw line, and launched a gorgeous, one handed hook shot. It absolutely floored me. It was a genius move, one that Douthit was not prepared for at all. It was so old-school, it looked new school.

I resolved to call him Tim Duncan Reid for the rest of the game.

1st Quarter 4:15

Jayson Castro was fouled, and he headed to the line to shoot two free throws. Watching from the MOA Arena, you immediately notice that Castro’s jersey inexplicably says William as his surname. This is probably the most bizarre subplot of the entire tourney, but for the rest of the day, let’s just stick with Castro-William, so as not to confuse anyone. It’s like an ad agency or law firm. Sosyal. Ikaw na, Jayson Castro-William

1st Quarter 40s

Hong Kong hits another trey, and their bench stands up and howls. With every shot, they gain more and more confidence. I don’t think they really expected to win today, but give them all the credit in the world for not bowing down. They want to end on a high note and that three-pointer gave them hope.

On the next play, Jeff Chan nails a buzzer-beating three to end the first. Around me people are more annoyed than worried.

2nd Quarter 3:55

Gilas was able to restore a semblance of order, and make their comeback.

From top to bottom, and at every position, Gilas has the advantage. But plays like this, a late and half-hearted contest on a Chan Shiu Wing corner three, made this game a chore to watch. Jayson Castro-William could have easily rotated and swatted the shot out of bounds, or forced the shooter to have to swing the ball again. But on this possession, Chan drained the trey, and silenced the home crowd.

2nd Quarter 2:33

You can't help but cheer for Marc Pingris, but because his game is predicated mostly on defense and rebounding, Gilas has problems with scoring when he’s on the floor.

That’s why when he scored on a one-handed teardrop, that can only be called a YOLO drive, to break the momentum of Hong Kong, the crowd stood up and cheered. Pingris embodies everything that makes up Pinoy Pride: Hardwork, determination, and rising above situations.

Halftime

The halftime experience of FIBA Asia can’t be more different compared to a halftime experience of PBA. During halftime of PBA matches, you have cheerleaders gyrating to the latest #1 hit on the radio. You have the most dedicated fans parading around the court holding up their player-specific banners, screaming at the top of their lungs, and getting into dance-offs with their counterparts on the opposite team.

In FIBA Asia though, there's just dead silence. You just sit there, twiddling your thumbs and looking around for any possible source of entertainment.

3rd Quarter 7:00

Timmy Duncan Reid skies for a rebound over the outstretched arms of Marcus Douthit. Because the crowd is so silent in shock, you can hear 80 percent of the comments that people say. The person behind me says: “Sipag ni white boy ah.”

I find myself nodding in agreement. Duncan Reid rules.


3rd Quarter 5:48

Jeff Chan to the basket with the acrobatic layup, foul counted. I can’t say enough about what Jeff Chan has meant to Gilas thus far. He’s been automatic from outside (58.6 percent from 3pt), and has shown a sneaky-good ability to finish fast breaks with an array of floaters and layups.

Coming into the tournament, of the three designated  shooters of Gilas (Chan, Larry Fonacier and Gary David), who did you think would have the ability to get the crowd to stand up in anticipation of the beloved and elusive three-point shot? You’d think Gary David, right? Jeff Chan grabbed that title from David. Chan’s silky-smooth releases send the crowd frothing in anticipation, and defenders flying at him. It’s been so much fun to watch.

The only question that remains is whether Chan can reach the lofty heights set by the most feared shooter in Philippine history: Allan Caidic. That’s a tough comparison, for sure. Chan plays under Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao’s philosophy, which has always resulted in equal opportunity for anyone on the floor to contribute. As a result, Chan hasn’t been able to string together many consecutive high-scoring games. At least not yet.

However, by the way that defenders are collapsing and killing themselves to get at  Chan, he’s getting there.

3rd Quarter 1:38

LA Tenorio finally gives the lead to Gilas, as he scores on two straight drives to the basket. You’d think that would have given the momentum to Gilas. Nope. It’s overshadowed by Vic “Bossing” Sotto, as he catches the ball sailing out of bounds, and pretends to launch a shot from his seat. It gets the crowd howling in glee, and in a chant of “Bossing! Bossing! Bossing!”

End of the 3rd quarter

Gilas finally ends the quarter with the lead, 46-43. It’s not much, we’ll take it.

4th quarter 8:40

It’s easy to form our opinions on players based on box score stats, without watching a single game. It’s wrong, but possible. It’s a wholly different story though watching live. There, you can see so many intangibles that each player contributes to the team.

Larry Fonacier has been having a great tournament as the second-best shooter to Jeff Chan, and second-best perimeter defender to Gabe Norwood. He also excels at fighting through screens, which is easier said than done. It takes sacrifice, putting your body in the middle of bone-crushing screens from defenders. It also takes smarts, reading where the shooter intends to go, and having the right position to get there before him. It’s doubly crucial at this stage, because Hong Kong finally realizes that they don’t have a Magoo Marjon chance in hell of scoring inside, leaving Fonacier with the unenviable task of shadowing a host of shooters. Through Fonacier’s guile and high basketball IQ, he causes near-24 second violations for Hong Kong.

4th quarter 6:18

Marcus “Big Daddy” Douthit with the big boy move, plus the foul. Douthit has been everything for Gilas thus far. Playing through a calf bruise, the hopes were that he’d be able to rest against Hong Kong. But Gilas was so flat, he was forced to play extended minutes. He ended up logging 31, about 20 more minutes than what people wanted him to play. But he did so with no complaint, and gave everything he had on both ends of the floor. What a guy. Wonder if I can get him as a ninong for my wedding.

4th Quarter 4:07

Yik Lun Chan from Hong Kong is just unconscious from outside right now. I don’t know if it’s because he just looks so unassuming, like a foreign Rob Labagala that defenders are backing up and giving him space, but he’s just shooting it from everywhere.

4th Quarter 2:40

With the game still too close for comfort, Gabe Norwood does a spin move pull-up jumper, and a steal at the halfcourt line, which leads to a one-man fast break, plus the foul.

Norwood has defended everyone from Jimmy Baxter to Jarvis Hayes. He’s made outside shots, inside shots, and layups at the basket. Like Fonacier, he finds ways to lead his defenders to where the help defense is. He even dishes out extra passes that lead to treys. Douthit might be the MVP of the team, but he’s the “underground” MVP for Gilas Pilipinas, just like how Raymund Marasigan was for the Eraserheads.

4th Quarter 58s

Douthit is called for a foul on a rebound scramble. He does not agree, and spends 15 seconds staring at the ref who called the foul. He doesn’t even attempt to stand on the free throw line and try to get the rebound as Timmy Duncan Reid makes his charities.

In the PBA if Calvin Abueva attempted to do that, he’d probably be suspended without pay.

4th Quarter 16s

Off a missed Jeff Chan shot, Marc Pingris grabs the rebound over two exhausted Hong Kong players, Sakuragi-style. He spins and finds himself with two easy points. His hustle, determination and timing are the exclamation points for this win over Hong Kong.

Despite a brave challenge from Hong Kong, Gilas Pilipinas is too much. The game ends, 67-55. Our date with destiny and Kazakhstan is set.

Endgame

The biggest storyline of the game is that Gilas came in looking unprepared, lead-footed and unable to muster up the energy to dispose of Hong Kong right away. Chalk it up to fatigue because of six games in eight days or just a general lack of zippiness, but Gilas hardly looked like the dominant juggernaut we expected them to be against Hong Kong.

From a bigger perspective though, it doesn’t even matter. Gilas overcame Hong Kong, and ended up with the top seed after they gave their all against Qatar and Jordan, two dangerous opponents. In retrospect, perhaps a letdown, and a lack of energy, was inevitable. But as they say, a win is a win... is a win.

As Gilas prepares to face Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals, it’s an absolute thrill for all Filipinos in the stands to be able to witness history unfold in the motherland. And as we troop to the Mall of Asia again on Friday, rest assured that different stories of sacrifice, determination, humor and irreverence will unfold.

Just a shame that my guy Timmy Duncan Reid won’t be playing anymore. - AMD, GMA News