Well, the title of this post practically sums up what this article will be about. Is Gilas peaking too early before the actual FIBA Asia tournament?
You guys may ask, what made me ask this question that Gilas may be peaking too early? Well, let's go back to a certain statement Coach Chot made days before the much anticipated Lithuanian trip.
"We expect to get massacred."
To be honest, I WANTED Gilas to get massacred. I was actually EXCITED to see Gilas get massacred. Why? The true character of Gilas would show in these massacres. We would see if Gilas could rise and persevere amidst disaster.
Well, their trip is about to conclude, and Gilas hasn't gotten massacred. FAR FROM IT.
Gilas is 5 - 1 thus far in their Lithuanian trip. They beat 4th placers of the recently concluded Lithuanian Basketball League Klaipedos Neptunas 81 - 76 albeit the absence of their two American imports. For the next game, they would rally against Birstono Jazz Diremta to get a convincing 74 - 63 win. They would lose in their third game, however by three points, 89 - 86 against a hot shooting the Kaunas LSU - Baltai squad. They would go on and bounce back in their next two games against a loaded and much pressured U - 20 Lithuanian National Squad, by 7 and 3 points in their two games. Just recently, they had pay back against LSU - Baltai beating them 90 - 88.
To be honest, when I heard that Gilas won against Klaipedos, I was happy, REALLY happy at that. Of course, it was great to see Gilas beating a quality European squad, albeit depleted. Eventually though, when Gilas started to rack up on their wins, I started to get worried. Really worried actually. The question above started to echo in my head a lot, and I'm not even kidding. Is Gilas peaking too early? Or...
Iran, on the other hand, has had quite a fruitful training camp. They have beaten two quality African squads in Tunisia and Algeria. They beat Algeria by 5 points in overtime, 70 - 65. Reigning FIBA Africa champions Tunisia was handily beaten by the Iranians, 71 - 60. However, they lost against Egypt 66 - 49, although they didn't use their big three of Haddadi, Samad Nikkah Bahrami and Kamrani in that contest. Also missing in their preparations is Oregon Ducks forward Arsalan Kazemi, who is reportedly preparing for the upcoming NBA Draft.
They may not be participating in the Jones' Cup, but they will be competing against NBA Summer League squads this coming July 4 - 11. They will also have a series of games against the PBA Selection Squad this July.
The Lithuanian training camp is coming to a close. The past 2 weeks have been grueling for the Philippine five, and they must be excited to go back home to finally see their families. For sure though, much fruit has been gained. Gilas is slowly starting to master the FIBA way of playing basketball with the use of the Dribble Drive, thanks to the help of Coach Kestusis Kemzura. Their chemistry is getting better, not only because of the tune ups that they have played, but also because of the different team building activities that they have gone through with. That brings me back to the first and last question I asked earlier.
You guys may ask, what made me ask this question that Gilas may be peaking too early? Well, let's go back to a certain statement Coach Chot made days before the much anticipated Lithuanian trip.
"We expect to get massacred."
To be honest, I WANTED Gilas to get massacred. I was actually EXCITED to see Gilas get massacred. Why? The true character of Gilas would show in these massacres. We would see if Gilas could rise and persevere amidst disaster.
Well, their trip is about to conclude, and Gilas hasn't gotten massacred. FAR FROM IT.
Gilas is 5 - 1 thus far in their Lithuanian trip. They beat 4th placers of the recently concluded Lithuanian Basketball League Klaipedos Neptunas 81 - 76 albeit the absence of their two American imports. For the next game, they would rally against Birstono Jazz Diremta to get a convincing 74 - 63 win. They would lose in their third game, however by three points, 89 - 86 against a hot shooting the Kaunas LSU - Baltai squad. They would go on and bounce back in their next two games against a loaded and much pressured U - 20 Lithuanian National Squad, by 7 and 3 points in their two games. Just recently, they had pay back against LSU - Baltai beating them 90 - 88.
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| Coach Kestusis Kemzura has been of great help to Gilas. |
To be honest, when I heard that Gilas won against Klaipedos, I was happy, REALLY happy at that. Of course, it was great to see Gilas beating a quality European squad, albeit depleted. Eventually though, when Gilas started to rack up on their wins, I started to get worried. Really worried actually. The question above started to echo in my head a lot, and I'm not even kidding. Is Gilas peaking too early? Or...
No offense to the teams Gilas faced but, do they really just suck? Or....
Did the teams not take the skirmishes any seriously? Or, a question which I hope the answer is yes..
Is Gilas really this good?
Now, before I try to dig deeper concerning this little issue of mine, let's see how the other teams in the continent have been dealing with their respective training camps.
For China, they have long been training with each other already, and are currently in a 4 game series against the Australian National Team. Both squads are using depleted squads, with Australia losing the services of Patty Mills, and most of the top guns of China aren't playing. Australia leads the series 2 - 1.
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| China hasn't deployed their complete squad against the Boomers. |
Korea has already cut down their pool to 16 members. Present in the pool is KBL MVP Kim - Sung Hyung, and KBL Finals MVP Yang Dong - Geun. They are also in the process in deciding who their import will be. They are down to two choices; Lee Seung - Jun Aka Eric Sandrin, and Moon - Tae Young aka Gregory Stevenson. If you guys didn't know, top Korean forward Oh - Se Keun isn't included in the 16 man pool. He wasn't even included in the original composition of the pool. At least the memory of 2007 won't haunt us as much.
Lebanon well... they have been in disarray for the very least. It's sad actually. Most of their national team players don't want to play for the national team. There has reportedly been a lack of budget and preparation. The Lebanese Tiger Fadi El Khatib isn't joining the team for next week. He might not even join the team in Manila because of his son's sickness, even though he is very much eager to do so. Will Lebanon send another young and inexperienced team again to the Asian Championships?
Other teams haven't been as high profile though, but news will slowly gain steam come late June to July.
As you can see, the top three of Asian Basketball has been doing relatively well with their preparations. Iran looks like a terror to compete against, and they don't even have Arsalan Kazemi yet. China has been together for quite some time, and they have a proven coach in Panagiotis Giannakis, although he isn't even sure to coach China yet because of his commitments with his French squad... or is he? Korea looks primed and ready for the competition, having been together for quite some time as well.
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| Samad Nikkhah Bahrami will surely give Gilas the fits come FIBA Asia time. |
What about the Philippines? How are they? Are they even on the level of these three teams?
They may not be participating in the Jones' Cup, but they will be competing against NBA Summer League squads this coming July 4 - 11. They will also have a series of games against the PBA Selection Squad this July.
The Lithuanian training camp is coming to a close. The past 2 weeks have been grueling for the Philippine five, and they must be excited to go back home to finally see their families. For sure though, much fruit has been gained. Gilas is slowly starting to master the FIBA way of playing basketball with the use of the Dribble Drive, thanks to the help of Coach Kestusis Kemzura. Their chemistry is getting better, not only because of the tune ups that they have played, but also because of the different team building activities that they have gone through with. That brings me back to the first and last question I asked earlier.
Is Gilas Peaking Too Early? Or.. Is Gilas really this good?
Truth is, I don't know. I myself, am clueless to what Gilas really is. Honestly, I am itching to find out what Gilas really is. Are they for real, or are they just flukes?
We have 2 months to answer these questions. 2 more months of training.
Para sa bayan.
#LabanPilipinas #GoGilas
Para sa bayan.
#LabanPilipinas #GoGilas
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| "Focus on the big picture, but pay attention to the little details.." - Chot Reyes Para sa bayan, Gilas. |
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