INCHEON, South Korea—An embattled Gilas Pilipinas makes its last gasp for what remains of its pride and what’s left of the glory it never saw in the 17th Asian Games when it takes on a dangerous Mongolia in the battle for seventh place in the men’s basketball competitions.
Relegated to the consolation round because of controversy-laced three successive defeats, the Filipino dribblers face a surprisingly tall and agile Mongolian crew at 3:15 p.m. on Monday at the Hwaseong Sports Gymnasium.
How and why Gilas fared terribly in the Games after a promising performance in the Spain Fiba World Cup early last month have made everyone wonder as to the judgment of Head Coach Chot Reyes.
And Reyes’s coaching skills will be pushed to the limit against Mongolia, as the country hopes to bow out of Incheon with some semblance of pride.
Mongolia appeared to have performed better in the Games. It ripped Hong Kong, 86-77; blasted the Maldives, 112-54; and stunned Jordan, 83-74.
The Mongolians also almost beat Kuwait, 82-81.
Gilas? It won only once—85-76 over India—and lost thrice already—63-68 to Iran, 68-77 to Qatar, 95-97 to South Korea and 71-78 to a team from China that is rebuilding with a new set of players whose average age is 22.
The Philippines fared no worse than sixth—1966 in Bangkok and a Gilas team composed of collegiate stars already reinforced by Douthit in 2010 in Guangzhou—in the last 16 Asian Games.
For these Games, Gilas is made up of some of the brightest from the Philippine Basketball Association who made the World Cup their biggest preparation for their gold-medal campaign in Incheon.
After having to settle for a much lower finish than a semifinals stint, the Filipino dribblers took a break on Tuesday and cheered the Blu Girls as they routed Thailand, 13-0, in women’s softball.
Beaten black and blue not only on the court but especially out of it—with Reyes getting flak from all over in the social media—the Filipino dribblers are focused on winding up their Incheon stint with a victory.
Their biggest benefactor, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President Manuel V. Pangilinan, stood by Gilas to the end.
“Quite a journey with its peaks and valleys; the road has been long and tough, the climb steep, the obstacles formidable from the get go,” Pangilinan said in a statement. “We report our results in Korea with heads bowed in sadness but not in shame. That said, we take pride in all that Gilas has reached thus far. We may have fallen short of what we all desired to gift to our people after years of desolation, but all of you persevered.”
Jun Lomibao