It’s bad.
But not as bad.
I hate the fact that eight minutes left in the game and it feels like the starters have given up. June Mar Fajardo is still his June Mar Fajardo self but Scottie Thompson and Dwight Ramos need to earn their minutes. I know Chot Reyes likes the game of Tab Baldwin’s favorite guy but he gets his praise because he gets a lot of minutes. When Gilas Pilipinas needs the baskets the most, he dribbles a lot, he takes errant shots, and he loses his guy. Meanwhile, inasmuch as Scottie Thompson is one of my favorite Ginebra players, he has yet to find his game. Chot Reyes’ Gilas teams have a token monster point guard that iso his defender and just goes insane with a penetration. Clarkson is that guy now but Thompson can also be that guy.
Thompson plays scared and this was clear with the breakout moments of CJ Perez, Kiefer Ravena, and Rhenz Abando. If Thompson can’t pass the ball properly, can’t defend well, and can’t do his trademark Scottie ways, then he needs to ride the bench. I would rather start Kiefer right now because he played like a traditional point guard when paired up with Clarkson.
No question, Clarkson is the main guy here. However, with their current offensive sets, they need a point guard that would step up.
There, I said it.
It’s crazy to think that for a team yearning for size, at a time when we got what we wanted, we lost our big-brained point guards. Chot Reyes is using Kiefer Ravena as his code red. When Ron Jacobs had Hector Calma, Rajko Toroman had Chris Tiu and Jimmy Alapag, Tim Cone had Johnny Abarrientos, Reyes had Alapag and Jayson Castro, and Baldwin had his non-PBA players, they were using these players to further the lead or strengthen our hold.
Angola had one so-so NBA player in Bruno Fernando. But this so-so NBA player delivered during the match. The scary thing about teams with no big players is that they are a team with insane chemistry. Angola displayed the drive and determination to withstand an eleven-point lead with their starting core when Gilas erected the lead with their bench mob.
The PBA players prefer the homecourt advantage – especially at the Araneta Coliseum. Reyes, Cone, and Jong Uichico had high-IQ basketball moments inside the facility.
It’s insane that we can’t use our advantage other than those FIBA hometown freebies. Nonetheless, the game wasn’t as bad as the Dominican Republic game. Yes, this was still winnable but we were outrebounded here and they had better shot selection.
Italy is the biggest fish amongst our group mates and I hope the squad can combat their frustrations.
It will take a miracle for Gilas Pilipinas to save their World Cup. And I guess this is how we should end it.