HISTORY unfolded just when majority of Filipinos were fast asleep, except for true-blue cage fans who must have thought they were about to witness another slaughter.
In the wee hours of a balmy Thursday, Gilas Pilipinas defied the greatest of odds and authored what could be the Philippines’ greatest win in the sport treated like religion.
Proving they wanted it more to fuel a decades-long desire to return to the Summer Games, the nationals essayed a stunning 89-80 upset of world No. 6 and host Latvia in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament before a flabbergasted crowd at the Arena Riga.
Gilas coach Tim Cone dedicated the victory to fans back home.
“Anytime you can get to the international arena and have success, that’s a huge feather in your cap–not just for me, but also for the players and everyone back home,” Cone said. “I grew up in the Philippines, so I’ve been there my whole life since I was nine years old.
“They know that I’m basically Filipino, even though I have brown hair and green eyes,” he added.
The shocking triumph, carved out before predominantly 8,835 Latvians, broke the ice for the Philippines, which finally beat a European squad in a FIBA tilt since 1960 when it nipped Spain 84-82 in the Rome Olympics.
“I’m totally shocked to be sitting in front of you guys after winning this basketball game,” Cone said. “This is not something we thought we would be able to do, to be honest with you.
“We just wanted to come in, compete, and put on a good show.
Gilas battled world No. 23 Georgia at press time last night at the same venue, eyeing another win and a slot in the crossover semifinals. Even if Cone’s charges lose, provided it’s less than 19 points, they will still advance due to point differential.
Naturalized star Justin Brownlee barely missed a triple-double with 26 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists while 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto ably backed him up with 18 markers and eight boards.
Dwight Ramos also had 12 points, seven caroms, and four dimes while June Mar Fajardo and Chris Newsome added 11 and 10, respectively, for the Philippines which enjoyed as much as a 27-point lead before thwarting repeated comeback tries by Latvia.
“The world doesn’t really know much about Justin Brownlee, but for me, he is the Michael Jordan of Philippines basketball,” Sotto said of Brownlee. “That’s what we expected him to do and that is what he does every night.”
It will be tougher, according to Cone.
“Whenever you win a game, the expectations go up, so you have to keep chasing the expectations. Hopefully, we won’t feel that, and hopefully, we can communicate to our team — that we don’t play into expectations and just play the way we can play,” Cone said. “Like I said, our country is so passionate about basketball that there is a lot of intense pressure to succeed.
“It seems like we haven’t been successful, but that doesn’t mean anything to our team. They want us to be successful all the time.”
Whatever happens in the game against Georgia last night, Gilas’ awe-inspiring win over Latvia will mark a milestone in the country’s rich tales of cage glory.
Cone stressed just one thing.
“We are not here to win (just) one game,” he said. “We really want to try and get to the finals and see what would happen. That’s really the goal.”
