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 10 to 1.
Game starts now.
10 | JUNE MAR FAJARDO – 2014
5 GAMES | 6.6PPG – 4.2RPG – 0.4APG – 0.8SPG – 0.6BPG
54.5% FG – 81.8% FT – 12.8MPG
Here’s a spoiler alert. The next three names on this list are just the same guy. And in this version, he looked like an extra large version of Ervic Vijandre than his usual Boban comparison. In his three FIBA World Cup stints, JMF had three distinct roles. With that said, his 2014 stint is by far his worst because he rode the bench most of the time. And yet, his rank is deceiving because while he was used very sparingly by Chot Reyes, he got it going in their win against Senegal where he had 15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. In some ways, this game opened the conversation of having a scorer-type naturalized player as compared to our usual yearnings for an intimidating big man.
9 | JUNE MAR FAJARDO – 2023
5 GAMES | 6.6PPG – 5.0RPG – 0.4APG – 0.2SPG – 0.2BPG
65% FG – 70% FT – 1.0TPG – 19.0MPG
As mentioned, The Kraken’s time in Gilas is extremely deceiving. Based on the stats I calculated, this is his second-best performance. With that said, is it really? Because Chot Reyes finally understood what June Mar brings to his team. Against the Dominican Republic, JMF had 16 points of 5-of-5 shooting, 7 rebounds, and a block in 29 minutes of action. With a 65 percent clip from the field, he was virtually unstoppable on the inside. With that said, talent is the biggest problem of JMF as AJ Edu was Chot’s go-to guy in the tourney with Kai Sotto slowly getting his game in the latter stages. Still, JMF finished the tourney with 9 points and 4 rebounds.
8 | JUNE MAR FAJARDO – 2019
5 GAMES | 7.0PPG – 5.0RPG – 0.6APG – 0.8SPG – 0.4BPG
47.8% FG – 81.2% FT – 1.2TPG – 17.2MPG
With his golden hair tied up, most fans expected June Mar to follow up his Senegal performance and show the world that he is a bonafide international tourney stud. That did not happen – but only because he never really got his game going. Poor Gilas Pilipinas never stood a chance against their tormentors and while most of JMF’s numbers weren’t scored during garbage time, he also never had a game that stood out. I guess this is why this stint ranked this high. Except for the Angola game, most of his points are six points and up. In all of his games, his rebounds are four and up. It’s just unfortunate that our 2019 World Cup fails in comparison to 2014 and 2023.
7 | CJ PEREZ – 2019
5 GAMES | 12.6PPG – 3.2RPG – 2.6APG – 0.8SPG – 1.0 3PM
54.3% FG – 33.3% 3PT – 2.8TPG – 19.3MPG
As mentioned, if there is one reason to hate Chot Reyes, it’s probably the misuse of CJ Perez. Again, I am not using this as a platform to turn on Chot Reyes. I thought the online hate he got was the sole reason for him to resign and I am not that mad about his coaching. Yes, it’s frustrating at times but this is what you get when you give too much power to your naturalized player and the rest of the team is just letting the guy do his thing. With that said, I am critical of Yeng Guiao’s Gilas coaching but if there is one thing that he got right, it’s giving the chance to the fearless players. This is why Perez and Robert Bolick shone in 2019. Baby Beast, in particular, tore it up during the group stages. Perez averaged 15 points, 14-of-24 from the field, and 5-of-12 from the three-point line against Italy, Serbia, and Angola. With that said, if 2014 and 2023 are disappointing, 2019 was depressing.
6 | JIMMY ALAPAG – 2014
5 GAMES | 9.2PPG – 1.4RPG – 3.2APG – 0.6SPG – 2.2 3PM
42.3% FG – 45.8% FT – 86.7% FT – 1.4TPG – 21.2MPG
Confession time. I switched number 6 with number 7 because I wanted to. Anyway, before joining the 2003 PBA Draft, Jimmy Alapag had the chance to join the national team but unfortunately, injuries forced him to return to the United States. And while he was enjoying a great career with Talk N Text, it felt as if he had unfinished business with the national team. In the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship, Alapag scored 14 points – 12 of them from long distance – to help Gilas Pilipinas defeat Korea in what is probably one of the best matches that I have witnessed. Thus, the legend of Captain Jimmy is born and it’s awesome like hell. With that said, heartbreak after heartbreak, we all knew he was bound to get a win in Spain. Alapag might have scored 15 points and 5-of-7 from the three-point line against Argentina but against Senegal, The Mighty Mouse had 18 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal, and three triples to help give the country its only win in the 2014 World Cup.
5 | AJ EDU – 2023
5 GAMES | 8.2PPG – 8.6RPG – 1.4APG – 0.6SPG – 1.2BPG – 0.4 3PM
64% FG – 33.3% 3PT – 1.4TPG – 29.5MPG
We never really got to see what AJ Edu was like because he was either busy playing elsewhere or he was nursing an injury. But when we got the taste of what he is inside the court, we can’t just get enough. The 6’10 future star showed what he can do consistently. In five games, his points never went down to five, but this is an easy number to maintain. His rebounds never went down to five as well and this is exceptional in terms of PH big men. He also had a block in every game he played and had a 74 percent clip from the 2-point area. The Fil-Cypriot took the playing time meant for Kai Sotto and ran away with it. His best game is definitely Gilas versus South Sudan, where he had his only double-double in the tourney at 12 points, 14 rebounds, and two triples.
4 | DWIGHT RAMOS – 2023
5 GAMES | 13.2PPG – 5.6RPG – 2.4APG – 1.6SPG – 0.2BPG – 2.2 3PM
38.2% FG – 40.7% 3PT – 86.7% FT – 1.4TPG – 30.8MPG
In the three editions of Gilas Pilipinas, never have the Philippines had a pronounced main secondary option to the naturalized player. In 2023, Dwight Ramos was that guy. He’s a hit or miss for me at times – especially since he had big shoes to fill. But you can’t discount the fact that the things he did worked. He is a 41 percent three-point shooter considering this percentage would have been higher if he didn’t go 2-of-8 against Italy. He was two points away from scoring in double digits in every game of the tourney as well. His best game in the tournament was when he scored 20 points and 12 rebounds against South Sudan where he also scored seven straight points at the start of the second half. Heck, we could have won the game if he became the primary scorer of that match. The 25-year-old could see more Gilas time as long as his career permits it and he’s probably going to be one of the catalysts if and when we finally get back to the Olympics.
3 | ANDRAY BLATCHE – 2019
5 GAMES | 15.8PPG – 8.4RPG – 3.4APG – 2.4SPG – 0.6BPG – 1.8 3PM
40% FG – 28.1% 3PT – 62.5% FT – 4.4TPG – 32.9MPG
The final three spots are, of course, meant for the naturalized imports. And the lowest-rated performance is obviously the one Andray Blatche had in 2019. In this tourney, the Philippines were battered, bruised, and beaten convincingly by the basketball superpowers and you can see Blatche huffing and puffing in a combo of frustration and desperation. Yes, we can see Dray coming in as if he’s out of shape but we can also see how out of place the other pieces were. His 15.8 and 8.4 numbers are a super step down from what he had in 2014 and there was even an instance where he just scored 5 points of 2-of-10 shooting across 4 rebounds and 5 fouls against Serbia. He also had a 12-point and 5-rebound performance against Iran that pained us the most because it was against our Asian rival. It’s normal for Blatche to have his insane foul trouble and turnover combo but he had a plus/minus of -24.4 in 2019 as compared to his -2.6 in 2014. He just couldn’t get his game going in 2019.
2 | ANDRAY BLATCHE – 2014
5 GAMES | 21.2PPG – 13.8RPG – 0.8APG – 1.6SPG – 0.8BPG – 1.2 3PM
44.2% FG – 27.3% 3PT – 80% FT – 5.0TPG – 33.8MPG
In 2014, the Philippines finally got to see action in the World Cup and our opponents were in for a treat because we brought Andray Blatche in. The thing about the international game back then was that most players wanted to act as position-less players. Meanwhile, the thing that was holding us back is a certified stud in the middle. Andray Blatche is an upgrade to Marcus Douthit. Yes, he wanted to play like a point center but he was so thick and so accomplished as an NBA player that most frontliners couldn’t keep up when he wanted to bully his way to the ring. It also helped that most local players in the 2014 Gilas roster have leadership genes in their system and Chot Reyes had his complete trust. Again, the Clarkson plays were an offshoot to Blatche’s plays but the difference between the two is that when he does this, the rival big man meets him outside the paint which gives the attackers a chance for a drop pass. His three-point clip of 27 percent is something we can live without but he also finished 50 percent from the 2-point area. He finished all of his matches with a double-double including a 25-point, 14-rebound, and 2-block game in our sorry loss versus Puerto Rico.
1 | JORDAN CLARKSON – 2023
5 GAMES | 26.0PPG – 4.6RPG – 5.2APG – 1.2SPG – 0.2BPG – 2.4 3PM
41.1% FG – 29.3% 3PT – 83.3% FT – 4.2TPG – 35.9MPG
The Utah Jazz guard went full-on Kobe Bryant, playing for the home team in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Fans were in for a treat – seeing their kababayan razzle and dazzle his way to the basket as we once saw during his Asian Games stint. With that said, it felt like Clarkson tried waaaayyy too much to do it on his lonesome. Again, Chot Reyes’ play is to have Clarkson do his thing (like most PBA imports) and let the locals help him out. The difference between him and Andray Blatche’s 2014 version is that it’s an automatic turnover when Blatche tries to dribble the ball outside the paint and he can get the opposing big man to guard him. When Clarkson tries to bring the ball to the halfcourt and takes an ill-advised shot, the big men are still there to claim either a rebound or force a heave en route to an opposing team’s fast break. Kobe Bryant’s Redeem Team averages are only 12.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists because he tried to let his teammates shine. It took a lot of games for Clarkson to trust his teammates and when he did, he wasn’t forcing his shots and committing as many turnovers. This could have been attributed to his unforgettable third-quarter run where he scored 20 points in four minutes against China. This was enough to give Gilas Pilipinas a comfortable lead heading to the fourth quarter and it gave the fans something to be happy about at the end of our World Cup stint.
Again, I made this list regarding the stats more than anything (except for the part where I switched number 6 and number 7). Also, it's really hard to create a list that you know you'll have more criticisms on the top three guys - but I guess this is because we set high expectations on their gameplay. I thought the Blatche of 2019 had the most expectations because of what happened in 2014. In some ways, I also thought the first FIBA World Cup of Blatche could have been the number one on this list because it set up the things that happened in 2019 and 2023.
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