This just in.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Justin Brownlee was his usual self, playing in front of his proverbial Tim Cone import-ancestor, Sean “The Man” Chambers. Still, the Gilas’ starters unleashed hell on FIBA number 6 Latvia to score an Olympic Qualifier upset, 89 to 80.
The stadium was packed with little to no presence of Gilas fans (except for the old couple, a dude with a Latvian lady, and a Caucasian teen that had the Pilipinas jacket on) but Tim Cone and his boys silenced the crowd for three-quarters. Yes, they struggled in the final quarter, and Latvia tried to “home cook” their way to victory, Gilas’ lead was just that big.
And according to FIBA:
The Philippines wrote nothing but history in Riga tonight: this is their first victory against a European team in 64 years! It happened last during the 1960 Olympic Games against Spain, winning 84-82.
That team had Kurt Bachmann, Ed Ocampo, Narciso Bernando, Gerry Cruz, and Charlie Badion, among others.
Yeah!
Chris Newsome had a field day dribble-driving while CJ Perez had a couple of big plays, including a reverse alley-oop to Kai Sotto.
June Mar Fajardo also had his moment when he accidentally karate-chopped Davis Bertans’ neck. Again it was accidental, but JMF and Kai Sotto really used their bodies to tenderize the Latvians.
Brownlee led Gilas with 26 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. Kai Sotto finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, and a block of 70 percent shooting. Dwight Ramos also had a couple of good moves to end the game with 12 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. JMF had 11 points, five rebounds, two assists, and three steals, and Newsome had 10 points and four rebounds. Former Brooklyn Net Rodions Kurucs top-scored Latvia with 18 points, with Davis Bertans, Janis Strelnieks, and Kristers Zoriks combined for 30 points.
Of course, the game wasn’t perfect. When Tim Cone rested his starters, the second team was all over the place. CJ Perez had an insane buzzer-beater in the first quarter but he threw a lot of airballs. I would rather have Kevin Quiambao during that game over Carl Tamayo. And Calvin Oftana also had his spell of bad decisions.
With that said, it’s nice that Gilas is still stuck with old-school basketball. Look, I mean this in a good way because while most of the world’s basketball superpowers are employing positionless basketball, they forgot that the rest of the world is just doubling down on their size. Tim Cone has been employing his tried-and-tested formula since claiming the Ginebra helm. Kai Sotto is doing his version of Japeth Aguilar inside the court with June Mar Fajardo mimicking the gameplay of Greg Slaughter and Christian Standhardinger.
I LOVE IT!
Now we still have to unleash the same brand of awesomeness against the Georgians. Bannered by Goga Bitadze and Sandro Mamukelashvili, they need a win to salvage their Olympic hopes after their 83 to 55 loss to the Latvians.