GILAS PILIPINAS | VS JORDAN | KAI'S GAME-WINNING BLOCK!
It's a swat.
A F'N volleyball swat.
Despite an awful start and a Scottie Thompson inbound error!
And by the way, I don't entirely see this as Scottie's fault. Aside from the outstretched hands in front of him and the five-second violation, he also had to make sure he found an open teammate who could shoot the free throws.
And judging from the game, Gilas needs to work on its free throws because going 9-of-23 isn't exactly something to be proud of.
Anyway, I thought Gilas played poorly in the first quarter. That said, they were also able to draw fouls and force Jordan to settle for three-point shots. While triples are lethal weapons, going back to that offensive well is a double-edged sword, especially if you haven't really established your inside game.
Jordan had it coming.
At the start, it felt like Kai Sotto and Dwight Ramos were struggling. Ramos has been hampered by bad field goal percentages lately, and Kai may not still be in "Gilas shape." However, the entries of CJay Perez, Kevin Quiambao, and Scottie Thompson were just what the team needed to break out of that quarter-long slump.
Again, I know Thompson messed up on the overtime inbound, but for most of the game, he brought stability to the team.
And how about Baby Beast?
Oh yeah.
At first, you felt that Perez was hesitant to look for his shot because, for years, he was viewed as the team's ninth or tenth man. But once he got the green light, the dude was unstoppable.
I know we praise the international guys, as we should, but you also can't shrug off the contributions of the PBA players.
This is why I really want to see how Robert Bolick fares in Tim Cone's system.
Kevin Quiambao brought it. And it's not just because he hit the game-winning bomb and seconded the Kai swat to further secure our victory. KQ is solidifying his presence as our top local small forward.
This is why he's probably the last player I want to see go back home and declare for the PBA Draft. For me, he can play limited minutes and still get the job done. KQ is fearless; he can bang bodies, and he's a dead shot from the outside.
Juan Gomez de Liano had a great first half but a terrible second half, as he seemed more focused on looking for the passes rather than taking the shots himself.
I think Juan GDL's gunshy moments pushed CJay to go shot-crazy.
And I love it!
The Jordanians were expecting our guards to drop the ball inside to the established players. Jordan played well at the start, but I think they eventually got overwhelmed by the crowd and the aura of Kai Sotto.
And if the Middle East crisis continues to mess up the FIBA calendar, we might see more games being played at neutral venues. That would rob teams of their home-court advantage and all the perks that come with it.
And mind you, I thought we got a lot of perks that made a difference down the stretch.
There were calls that probably wouldn't have gone Gilas' way if the game wasn't played here. When the ball got stuck, you knew that would have been an automatic possession arrow, or whatever rule FIBA has for that situation.
If you're angry about what I said, well, don't be, because if a FIBA game is held here and we don't get the hometown calls, then that just means FIBA hates us.
And how about Freddy Ibrahim? Dude was talking smack to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson after hitting those threes!
And I don't know if it was Charlie Cuna or Quinito Henson, but one of those guys was banging his pen on the table every time Gilas threw down an emphatic basket.
As for JMF's proverbial last game this Sunday, I hope Tim Cone and Alfrancis Chua can talk him out of it.
Right now, JMF can turn over that 12th spot in case we need a tower.
When Tim Cone went small-ball at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, it felt like something was off. If we don't have a naturalized player, then we should at least try to win the battle in terms of size.
Kai Sotto made mincemeat out of the competition because he was a couple of inches taller than most of his opponents. This is exactly why Justin Brownlee was able to do good things for us, and having Sotto and AJ Edu at the same time feels like the team we had against Latvia.
And speaking of Edu, the fact that he is a game-changing big man who can dribble is a good thing for us. He can defend on the perimeter and crash the boards. That takes some of the responsibility off Kai, whom we can't realistically expect to score and defend for 30 to 35 minutes.
Yes, our triples were offline for most of the game, but at least when it mattered, the shots went in.
Just like what Kevin Quiambao did.
Now, all we need to do is hone those free throws.
But what are the other things worth noting heading into our next game against Iran?
Well, we need to find a replacement for Carl Tamayo.
Up until he twisted his ankle, he was playing well for Gilas. Again, because Jordan was so wary of our frontline, it left our wings open to do damage.
RJ Abarrientos could replace Chris Newsome, but I don't know if Justin Arana can provide what is needed from the small forward spot. This position, if we're without a naturalized player, is supposed to exclusively juggle the minutes of KQ and Tamayo.
Hopefully, Tamayo's injury isn't a big deal because the name I'm thinking of next is Rhenz Abando, and I don't know what his relationship is with the SBP bigwigs right now.
Again, Group A is hard, but the teams after it aren't as intimidating. I mean, who would ever want to survive a do-or-die game against Australia?
But that's the thing. Every game matters at this point.
One bad game could break our World Cup participation streak.
And in terms of highs, how awesome and ironic is it that we started on a positive note with our returning top guy blocking the shot of the son of the player who holds the NBA record for the most blocks all-time?
What a way to start.
GILAS PILIPINAS BEATS JORDAN | 82 TO 81
BOXSCORES:
GILAS PILIPINAS | GP | MP | PTS | REB | AST | FG | FGA | 3PM | TO |
SOTTO | 1 | 36 | 18 | 14 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 0 | 1 |
PEREZ | 1 | 30 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 16 | 0 | 1 |
RAMOS | 1 | 37 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 1 | 3 |
QUIAMBAO | 1 | 24 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 0 |
EDU | 1 | 29 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
TAMAYO | 1 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
FAJARDO | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
THOMPSON | 1 | 29 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
GOMEZ DE LIANO | 1 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
NEWSOME | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
BALTAZAR | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
KQ made a slight block at the end of the game. Nasira iyong momentum nung Jordanian player after getting the ball from Kai's block. Akala ko nga iyong anak ni Olajuwon is a seven footer but when I read his height hindi pala.