I SALUTE SMART GILAS PILIPINAS

After two and half decades, the Philippines reached to the semifinals of FIBA Asia. During the tournament Smart Gilas Pilipinas lost only one game against China on the first round and lost against Jordan on the semis. The last hope was for them to win the bronze medal against the Team of Korea.

It was a good start for our team. I even thought they will win the the third place. Here are their missed opportunities: low field goals percent of Korea, 14 point lead, 6 point lead within the last 5 mins, free throws of Williams, rebound and free throws of Lassiter. Korea succeeded to win the 4th quarter by a 2 point lead (Final score 68-70). And we lost for the third time against Korea. It was a heart breaking lost!

MY REAL EMOTIONS:

Sayang talaga! Naiyak ako sa pagkatalo ng Pilipinas dahil simula pa lang ng laban ay pinakita na ng Gilas na maipapanalo nila ang laro at maiiuwi ang Bronze Medal sa bansa. On the few seconds remaining my mom and I really cheered for our team. Pinagdasal namin na lahat ng free throws ay mashoot ng Pilipinas pati narin ang last 3 points shot ni JV Casio, yun nga lang di pumasok. At nakakapanghina na pati si Casio ay nghinayang sa tira na yun at napaiyak na lang siya.

"DEFEAT IS NOT THE WORST OF FAILURES. NOT TO HAVE TRIED IS THE TRUE FAILURE."

Nevertheless finishing 4th place in Fiba Asia is not easy and bad. The last time our country made it this far was in 1987.

On the brighter side, nobody expected Philippines to go this far. Hands down to the team for making it to the FINAL FOUR! I'm sure that all the teams who played against Gilas have a great RESPECT on the team. And I wish that ALL FILIPINOS will show the same. Those men showed that they can fight on the big teams in Asia. THROUGH SMART GILAS TEAM PILIPINAS we were able to be recognized once again in the map of world class basketball. 

I want to thank all Smart Gilas Pilipinas Players Team Captain Chris Tiu, JV Casio, Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams, Ranidel de Ocampo, Andy Barroca, Marcio Lassiter, Chris Lutz, Asi Taulava, Mac Baracael, Japeth Aguilar and Marcus Douthit FOR ALL THE HARD WORK, FOR THE HEART, FOR MAKING OUR COUNTRY PROUD! 

Also want to express thanks to Coach Rajko Toroman and all the assistant coaches Jude Roque, Chot Reyes, Charles Tiu and Ryan Gregorio.

#thankyouGILASPILIPINAS did trend.
All Filipino fans tweeted encouraging msg and support on our National Team.

MABUHAY PILIPINAS!

PROUD TO BE PINOY!

FOR ALL YOUR ENDEAVOR I SALUTE SMART GILAS TEAM PILIPINAS! 

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Here are the Highlights of the Game: 

- Philippines finished 4th place in the FIBA Asia Championship
- Marcus Douthit with 27 points and 22 rebounds
- Philippines missed 4 Free Throws at the end of the game; 2 by Williams, 1 by Douthit and 1 by Lassiter
- Jimmy Alapag 5/7 from three point range with 17 points
- Only 10 assist for Philippines and 13 turnovers that resulted to 13 points by Korea
- 3 point field goal percentage (35%) is higher than 2 point field goal percentage (33%)
- Kelly Williams with 9 points and 11 boards but missed 2 key free throws
- Marcio Lassiter with just 1 point but grabbed 9 rebounds
- Both teams with a low Free Throw Percentage, PHI (59%) and KOR (61%) but Korea made their free throws in the end game
- Biggest lead of Philippines was 13 points
- Chris Tiu and Chris Lutz fouled out of the ballgame
- Japeth Aguilar did not play this game

Game Scores:
Philippines 68 – Douthit 27, Alapag 17, Williams 9, Lutz 5, de Ocampo 3, Tiu 2, Casio 2, Baracael 2, Lassiter 1, Taulava 0, Barroca 0

Quarters: 14-7, 24-17, 47-36, 68-70

Source: Philippines finished 4th Place in Fiba Asia

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Smart Gilas Pilipinas International and Local Tournaments Recap

2009-2011 Smart Gilas Win-Loss Record

Overall Standing in 3 years: 47 wins, 32 losses
(Based on Major Tournaments only, not including Exhibition Games)

Note:
-Highest place finish in an International Tournament was 3rd place in 2011 Jones Cup (SEABA not included)
-Big leap in win-loss record from 2010 to 2011

2011 (28 wins, 13 losses)
-FIBA Asia Championship – 4th Place (6-3)
-Jones Cup – 3rd Place (6-3)
-SEABA Championship – 1st Place (3-0)
-FIBA Asia Champions Cup – 4th Place (5-2)
-PBA Commissioners Cup – 3rd Place (8-5)

2010 (14 wins, 17 losses)
-Asian Games – 6th Place (6-5)
-Jones Cup – 4th Place (3-3)
-FIBA Asia Champions Cup – 7th Place (2-5)
-FIBA Asia Stankovic Cup – 4th Place (3-4)

2009 (5 wins, 2 losses)
-FIBA Asia Champions Cup – 5th Place (5-2)

Source: Smart Gilas Win-Loss Record since 2009-2011