While on the international stage,
Filipino basketball players have to fight tooth and nail for recognition, and
more often than not be sorely disappointed when competing against juggernaut
teams like the US, some European nations and squads like Iran, in the Southeast
Asian region the Philippines is the basketball king. This reality was played
out in the 4-medal basketball events for the 2019 SEA Games: two each for men
and women teams in 5x5 and 3x3 competition. The 3x3 games were dominated by the
host country, and the men’s 5x5 contest was a roaring rampage of revenge for
Smart Gilas. Hurting after FIBA 2019, they recovered to win gold here.
ESPN has it that the expected outcome played out the evening of
Tuesday, December 10, at the Mall of Asia Arena. The Philippine Men’s National Basketball
Team aka Smart Gilas was pitted against Thailand for the Gold-medal game. And
despite a somewhat worryingly sluggish first half the home squad did not let
the audience and the Filipino people down. Upon the start of the third quarter
the Gilas team bowled over the Thais and their naturalized American ace to
clinch the finals at 115-81, maintaining the country’s 13-SEA Game gold medal streak
in men’s basketball.
Under the brilliant coaching
leadership of none other than Tim Cone, the competitive halftime lead by Gilas
of 9 points over Thailand would balloon into an advantage of 88-54 in the third
quarter. This surge of baskets was courtesy of Fil-Canadian Matthew Wright, Jun
Mar Fajardo and Chris Ross. Their scoring led to the national team doing Q3 40
for the Thais’ 15. Cone mentioned the team was concerned by the single-digit
lead, but played like veterans to prevent any rally by Thailand from succeeding.
This gold-medal victory would be the legendary PBA coach’s first while leading
a national team.
Interestingly, the
Philippine-Thailand men’s 5x5 basketball gold-medal game was echoed that same
day by the women’s team, also called Gilas, which played the Thai women’s team
and won in similar fashion. Combined with the 3x3 gold medal finishes last week
by the Philippine men and women’s squads in those events, the Filipinos have
swept all the highest honors in basketball for the 30th Southeast
Asian Games. For Al Panlilio, president of the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas
(SBP), this was the best possible ending for the country’s basketball campaign
in the SEA Games. The Gilas Pilipinas men’s team has won a total of 18 Gold
medal finishes in SEA Games history.
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