I GOT ALL MY PHOTOS FROM THE FIBA WORLD CUP WEBSITE
Just when you thought all talk about the 2023 FIBA World Cup is over, I am here to act like a vulture and salvage the information that I can extract.
This time, we are going to dive headfirst into the players that represented our brand of ball on the biggest stage of global basketball.
While Americans think that their basketball champions are the “world champions,” the FIBA World Cup is a tournament made up of the 32 best teams across six continents. And after the legendary core that prevailed against Korea in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, the Philippines is back to face the best of the best.
Of course, the teams we fought are more experienced and are considered powerhouses of their continents. From 2014 to 2023, Gilas Pilipinas posted a 2-13 record. We had close calls against Italy, Serbia, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Angola, and Argentina while getting the W against Senegal and Asian rival China.
Japeth Aguilar and June Mar Fajardo are the only players in the team to play in all three squads with Gabe Norwood, Paul Lee, Kiefer Ravena, RR Pogoy, CJ Perez, and Andray Blatche getting the call twice.
So it’s time to rank them all – from the cream of the crop to the bottom of the barrel.
Here are numbers 36 to 21.
Game starts now.
36 | GARY DAVID – 2014
2 GAMES | 1.0PPG
50% FG – 4.0MPG
Confession time - this is the only photo that I didn't get from the FIBA site and this is also unfortunate. Yes, while at least Gary David got to see action in the FIBA World Cup, his participation is a what-if if you think about it. El Granada played okay in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship but in the World Cup, he barely saw action. In fact, Gary David is the only player on this list to play in just two games. When we needed the offensive outburst in Spain, can you imagine if David was given the chance to explode?
35 | JAPETH AGUILAR – 2023
5 GAMES | 0.4PPG – 0.6RPG – 0.2BPG
25% FG – 4.7MPG
The national team fixture, Japeth Aguilar is finally the team’s captain ball. With that said, he couldn’t get his game going. His appearances were sporadic and he scrambled for opportunities. More on him later.
34 | RAYMOND ALMAZAN – 2019
5 GAMES | 0.6PPG – 0.6RPG – 0.2APG
25% FG – 5.3MPG
Rakenrol spent the 2019 FIBA World Cup as the backup of Andray Blatche. When Blatche sits, he gets up to defend the top inside monsters of our group. Blatche rarely sits down.
33 | JAPETH AGUILAR – 2014
4 GAMES | 2.5PPG – 1.5RPG
40% FG – 7.5MPG
The 2014 version of Japeth Aguilar is no different. With that said, at least he had a semblance of offense. His inability to get his game going with Chot Reyes as his coach started during his Talk N Text days. More on him later.
32 | SCOTTIE THOMPSON – 2023
5 GAMES | 1.8PPG – 2.0RPG – 2.2APG – 0.2 3PM
33.3% FG – 20% 3PT - 2.2TPG – 12.5MPG
In some ways, Scottie enjoyed a significant amount of playing time in the Dominican Republic match but his inability to translate his PBA game to the FIBA World Cup prompted Chot Reyes to slash his minutes. At least he provided significant support during the China match.
31 | GABE NORWOOD – 2019
5 GAMES | 1.2PPG – 1.8RPG – 1.2APG – 0.8SPG – 0.4 3PM
15.4% FG – 20% 3PT – 17.7MPG
Now seen as the team’s elder statesman, Gabe Norwood struggled in 2019. Yes, if you’re hitting 20 percent from the three-point area and that percentage is still better than his field goal percentage, then this is something that needs to be addressed. Norwood just had too many hats and became a master of none in the edition. I remember looking at him and saying “Why is Gabe Norwood playing power forward?”
30 | CJ PEREZ – 2023
3 GAMES | 2.3PPG – 1.7RPG – 1.3APG – 0.3 3PM
40% FG – 50% 3PT – 1.7TPG – 6.1MPG
Baby Beast only played in three games. I don’t want to critique Chot Reyes as much because it feels like it’s the “in” to mangle his psyche, but he could have used CJ Perez in the same way as he did with Rhenz Abando. After forgetting about his existence in the first game, Coach Chot fielded CJ in the Angola game where he erupted for 7 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Yes, he also had 4 turnovers but in a time when people are just letting Jordan Clarkson have all the fun, he could have been sent to at least have another fearless player run amuck on the other team’s defenses.
29 | KIEFER RAVENA – 2023
5 GAMES | 2.6PPG – 0.6RPG – 1.8APG – 0.8SPG – 0.4 3PM
23.8% FG – 16.7% 3PT – 10.7MPG
I learned to like Kiefer Ravena’s gameplay in this tourney. At least when he is inside the court, it feels like Jordan Clarkson isn’t as lawless with his plays. With that said, The Phenom is a 23 percent field goal shooter and it gets even worse in the three-point area. I think I would like his gameplay better if he does the Jayson Castro moves wherein he slices his way through the middle.
28 | MARK BARROCA – 2019
4 GAMES | 3.8PPG – 1.0RPG – 0.3APG – 0.3SPG – 0.2 3PM
46.2% FG – 20% 3PT – 1.0TPG – 11.3MPG
Part of the original version of Gilas Pilipinas, Baroks did actually well despite being under the radar. Unlike most players, his 46 percent FG clip is high for a point guard. With that said, he also fails in the three-point area with a disappointing 20 percent clip.
27 | JAMIE MALONZO – 2023
4 GAMES | 2.8PPG – 2.3RPG – 0.3APG – 0.5SPG – 0.3BPG – 0.2 3PM
45.5% FG – 25% 3PT – 11.7MPG
He got overshadowed by the other bigs in his debut but there were moments wherein he shone. I do think that they need to find a better way to use Malonzo. The only way they got to properly use the former DLSU player was when they played South Sudan but it’s also hard to maintain his spot in the lineup given that he is an undersized big man. Nonetheless, if he can develop a credible outside shot, we might see him as the second coming of Ranidel De Ocampo.
26 | PAUL LEE – 2019
5 GAMES | 5.2PPG – 0.6RPG – 0.4APG – 0.4SPG – 0.6 3PM
33.3% FG – 16.7% 3PT – 12.9MPG
After an exceptional 2014 tenure, Paul Lee was invited again to the pool. Not only is he seen as one of the main guns of the squad, but he is also a “Yeng Guiao guy.” Lee struggled in 2019 with an abysmal 33 percent field goal clip and an even unattractive 16.7 clip from the three-point area.
25 | TROY ROSARIO – 2019
5 GAMES | 2.8PPG – 4.6RPG – 0.2APG – 0.2BPG – 0.2 3PM
28.6% FG – 10% 3PT – 19.6MPG
Troy Rosario is seen as an important player in the 2019 edition. He has skills inside the paint and he can stretch his range to the three-point area. However, he can’t translate his game inside the court. Rosario was only shooting almost 29 percent and his three-point numbers are even worse because he went just 1-of-10 from the three-point range.
24 | RR POGOY – 2019
5 GAMES | 4.0PPG – 2.0RPG – 0.8APG – 0.4SPG – 0.6 3PM
33.3% FG – 25% 3PT – 18.2MPG
The RR Pogoy we saw in 2023 is an improvement to what we saw in 2019. The Chot Reyes guy was almost 42 percent from the 2-point zone but was just 25 percent from the long-distance area. He averaged 7.5 points when he faced Angola and Iran but was only held to five points in the other three games.
23 | JEFF CHAN – 2014
5 GAMES | 4.8PPG – 0.8RPG – 0.4APG – 0.8SPG – 1.0 3PM
34.8% FG – 33.3% 3PT – 1.0TPG – 16.0MPG
Jeff Chan was seen by many at this point as the second coming of Allan Caidic. In some ways, he lucked out against his comparison because Chan was able to play in the World Cup while Caidic’s chance got ruined because of the political unrest in 1986 that caused the team to withdraw from the Spain tournament. Unfortunately for The Negros Sniper, he just couldn’t get his shots to the target, going almost 35 percent from the field and 33 percent from the three-point area.
22 | KIEFER RAVENA – 2019
5 GAMES | 4.8PPG – 1.4RPG – 1.6APG – 0.6SPG – 0.8 3PM
19.4% FG – 21.1% 3PT – 1.2TPG – 17.7MPG
I think this is the reason why most Gilas fans are indifferent to Ravena. Yes, he improved in 2023, but he also played in small doses here. To say that Ravena struggled in the field is an understatement. Kiefer finished the tourney with a 6-of-31 field goal record which included a 4-of-19 clip from the three-point area and a 2-of-12 clip from the 2-point zone. Remember, Jayson Castro tormented his opponents with his drive-and-slash to the basket and we blindly expected that he would do the same. But with that said, you can’t discount the fact that Ravena is a good quarterback.
21 | RR POGOY – 2023
5 GAMES | 6.0PPG – 1.2RPG – 0.6APG – 0.8SPG – 1.2 3PM
41.4% FG – 33.3% 3PT – 1.0TPG – 16.1MPG
As I said, RR Pogoy’s 2023 numbers are an improvement to what he had in 2019. If you exclude the South Sudan game where he was held scoreless in three attempts, Pogoy had 7.5 points in four games. He also posted a 41 percent clip from the field – including 4-of-7 from the 2-point zone because he was posting on Angola’s smaller opponents. Pogoy also went 6-of-18 from the three-point area and went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc against Italy.