Smart - Gilas, it's time

• This post will be sort of a mini play-by-play of the charity game yesterday. I'll try to be as comprehensive as possible but don't expect a lot from me. I'll also give my inputs while I'm discussing the game.
  
• First Quarter
  • Too much CJ Giles and Japeth Aguilar as the game started. Powerade has no one who can guard CJ. I'm in favor of naturalization of a foreigner but I would not like an american player to carry the Philippines to the Olympics.
  • Finally, a basket outside the twin towers, Japeth and CJ, courtesy of Andy Barroca hitting a jumper. The other guys have to contribute. You can't expect the twin towers to score every damn point.
  • Gilas struggling in the half court so far. They're being bullied physically by Powerade as expected.
  • Japeth Aguilar has a new weapon in his arsenal. The 3 point shot. He's been able to hit the 3 point shot consistently so far.
  • As I've said before, it has been the twin tower show so far. It's a little alarming as you can not expect to win a game let alone FIBA-Asia with only two players. The one good thing about this is that the 2 big guys are getting their points off movement without the basketball. Toroman's system is getting those 2 big guys a lot of easy looks either from the outside or inside. Toroman has not used any isolation or post-up plays. His main men will definitely benefit from this kind of a system because it does not require them to exhaust a lot of energy in creating their own shot.
  • Casio helped Gilas surge ahead (as Mico would say it) with a 5-0 run to end the 1st quarter. He drove down the lane that resulted to a wide open 3 for Japeth then he buried a 3 over Willie Miller in the next play. (I think one of those 3s was changed into a long two as one point was shaved from the score of Gilas.)
  • Gilas leads after the 1st quarter 23-19.
• Second Quarter
  • Casio and Giles are working quite well with each other. (mhazie)
  • Casio has been able to torch Arboleda with his speed and the screens set for him. I'm not really sure if he can expect the same in international ball though.
  • Mac Baracael has to play better. He has to catch that ball and drive down the lane hard. He has muffed a couple of opportunities in their fast break and half court plays. I expect a lot from this former Tamaraw as his versatility will be needed against the big boys of Asia.
  • Referees have been strict with players regarding their kicks after their shooting motions. Tiu and Ramos have been both called for offensive fouls because of their kicks. I'm not sure though if refs from international play are strict with this call.
  • Jason Ballesteros finally enters the game. I was worried Toroman would never replace his twin towers at all.
  • Powerade got a little but aggressive with Giles going to the bench. Can't say they're producing though.
  • 2 3s for my other man Dylan Ababou. (Andy's the man.) He's been able to get a couple of open looks because of Toroman's system. I'm sure he would've enjoyed a lot more open looks while he was still playing for UST.
  • Not a lot of fastbreak conversions so far. It's been either good transition defense or terrible fastbreak execution. This kind of a pace So far, Gilas has been doing a better job in setting up their half court sets. Powerade needs to create more transition opportunities as this will help maximize their advantage in terms of overall talent.
  • Casio has been the best PG for Torman's team both in this game and their match-up against the Singapore Slingers. He's not even a natural PG to start off.
  • So much cutting and hand-offs in the Gilas system. (mhazie) This kind of movement is very common in international ball and Rajko has now brought it here in the Philippines.
  • Jason Ballesteros provided a lot of quality minutes. He's been tipping the ball to his teammates. securing the defensive rebound and blocking or changing some shots.
  • Japeth Aguilar showed some signs of unselfishness as dropped the ball to Jason. Jason wasn't able to score but he did get 2 FTs. I'm not saying Japeth is a selfish player. It's just that we haven't seen him play much and we don't what kind of a player or a person he is as of now.
  • At the half, Gilas leads 49-36. The system of Toroman is responsible for this lead. Definitely not a two-man show anymore for Gilas. A lot more players have been able to contribute in this quarter.
• Third Quarter
  • I expect Powerade to come out strong in the 2nd half just like PBL-LP volunteers. These guys need to get tougher on the defensive end and push the ball to utilize their athletism.
  • Gilas starts off the 3rd a little bit surprised with the zone defense thrown at them by Yeng Guiao. Gilas players are not executing their plays well so far.
  • Guys from Powerade Team Pilipinas are getting a lot of good looks but they're converting.
  • 2 straight zone busters made by Gilas to force Yeng to go back to the man-to-man defense. Chris knocked down a 3 while Mac shot a long 2.
  • Ranidel just knocked down Jvee on the floor with an elbow. I don't know if it's intentional though. I'm sorry, I'm really bad at judging this kind of plays. Jvee! Stop being gay and stand up already! It's going to be a lot worse when you're up against Haddadi.
  • Mac just missed a open floater from 5 feet. He has to knock down those gimmes.
  • Finally, Mac converts on a fastbreak layup.
  • Dillenger lives up to his nickname, the Daredevil, as he drives hard and lays the ball in. He's been very aggressive in attacking the paint but he's not converting on a lot of his shots though.
  • These kids do not know James Yap. He's been getting open looks all game long.
  • Here's another sign of unselfishness from Japeth. He just gave up the ball to Mac on a 3 on 1 fastbreak situation even though he could have taken the ball straight to the hoop. It's a good thing Mac did not disappoint Japeth with a good looking reverse layup.
  • Dylan knocks down another 3 off movement without the ball. This offense is so damn fun to watch.
  • Toroman is gambling on Giles with his 4 fouls. I'm not really sure if this is really a good decision.
  • Japeth electrifies the crown with a breakaway slamajama off a steal.
  • Giles has been called for his 5th foul. How will the Gilas boys react?
  • Those screens are killing Andy Barroca. He's just too small for the big boys but I'm not going to take him off the team for that or for chemistry issues.
  • Jason again providing a lot of quality minutes. He just got 2 straight offensive rebounds.
  • The offense of Giles seems less pretty w/o Giles. Casio is resorting to a little bit too much dribbling.
  • After 3 quarters Gilas, 72-58.
• Fourth Quarter
  • Bad offense again for Gilas as they start the 4th w/o Giles
  • Giles returns to the floor for Gilas.
  • Andy scores on a fantastic play as he cut straight down from the the top of the key and received a pass from their import.
  • I think this is the 1st time that Gilas will not have any of their twin towers on the floor so let's see how will this affect their play.
  • Jason's working really hard crashing the boards but he needs to be able to score inside the paint.
  • Sloppy play so far for Gilas w/o the twin towers.
  • Jason scores on a open jumper in the paint. Gilas needs more of the that from him if they expect him to be their 2nd/3rd big man off the bench.
  • Wow. Asi just passed the ball outside when he had a clear mismatch against Chirs Tiu. Maybe Tiu is to cute to bang for the Rock.
  • With Giles back, player movement is back within the Gilas team.
  • You can see the frustration of the all-pro team based on their body language.
  • Barroca just took Miller to school with a spectacular move. He drove to his left and and followed it up with a spin move to his right for an open J.
  • Another alley-opp play for Giles. I hope we'll see more of that in the coming international competions.
  • Gilas wins the game, 98-69.
• Game overview
  • I feel bad for Powerade. Kerby's missed follow-up dunk in the 4th said it all. I know they're better than this. Whatever happened in this game, these players did their best when we asked them to represent our country. Their lack of preparation was evident in the game. Chemistry has always been the problem for Powerade. They're known for their individual talent and hard work but not their teamwork.
  • The future looks bright right now and I hope Gilas will continue to improve. Just like jaemark said, the players on the Gilas program have their own roles. Coach Rajko is using a system that utilizes the talent of his players to their utmost (thanks mhazie for the word) potential. He's using Casio as a shooter coming off screens, he's using Andy as an isolation player, etc. That's what I'm talking about before (Find Carmelo Anthony). You can't use the same system for every single damn player. You have to adjust to the players that are given to you. When Adelman got Ron Artest in his Sacramento days, he did not stay in his usual up-tempo style of play. He swichted to a half-court type of an offense that was best suited for Ron-Ron. Adjusting to your players is a great sign of a coach in my opinion. Another thing I noticed is Gilas is composed of great complementary scorers and it benefits them to be beside one another. When I say complementary players, I'm pertaining to guys who thrive when they have a lot more scorers around him so that he won't suffer under so much pressure. A great examples of this kind of player is Pau Gasol. Pau benefited so much of having a Kobe beside him. I guess you can say the same with guys like Casio, Ababou, and Tiu. I don't think it's a coincidence that these guys won a championship in the UAAP when they had teammates who can really score (Cardona, TY and Cholo for Jvee, Rabeh for Chris, Duncil and Cruz for Dylan) and failed to win the crown when they were the main man of their respective teams. I guess you can add Aldrech, Jason and Mac to that list as we can't expect these guys to carry a team on their shoulders. So who's the main man for Gilas? I'll give that title to Andy and CJ right now. Maybe Japeth can be a great go-to-guy one day. He certainly has the tools and he's showing a lot of signs that he can. In contrast to Gilas, Powerade has a lot of no. 1 guys who'll dominate the ball and have the ability to carry a whole team. Guys like Yap, Miller and Helterbrand are who I'm talking about. Unfortunately these guys also tend to be less effective if they don't have the ball and we all know there's only 1 ball in a basketball court. I think's that's one reason why Powerade seems to have chemistry issues. The pieces just don't fit.
  • The Gilas program is still in its early stages. I hope they won't get too excited over this game. The ultimate goal is still London and not beat Powerade. Jinno Rufino has a good point, maybe we should extend this program to 5 years instead of only 3. I paid so much attention to that game that I forgot this was for a good cause. Let us all hope that the 2M that they got will be put into good use for our fellow Filipinos.