Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, Inc. Chairman Emeritus Manuel V. Pangilinan believes Filipino creativity and speed will carry the day for Gilas Pilipinas in the current 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon.
In an ambush interview following the signing of a joint venture agreement between Metro Pacific Water and the Cagayan de Oro City Water District at EDA Shangri-La Tuesday morning (August 15), Pangilinan admitted he still didn’t know if June Mar Fajardo would be playing in today’s crucial quarterfinal match against South Korea.
“Alam mo hindi ko alam. Pero if I were a betting man, I think he would I hope he would,” Pangilanan said.
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Although Fajardo has already joined Gilas Pilipinas in practice since August 13, the 6-foot-9 still has to play. Pangilinan believes the Philippines team still has what it takes to take it all the way.
“I think the game is evolving to the point where height is still very important but slowly evolving towards advantages in speed and in shooting, particularly the 3-point shooting percentages. So, ganoon nag e-evolve ang game may pag-asa ang Pilipinas,” Pangilinan stressed.
June-Mar Fajardo (photo courtesy of FIBA.com)
“Sa laro ng mga Hapon at Koreano eh nakikita ko iyong laro nila parang hindi bagay sa katawan nila. Parang the plays are formulistic or formulae, which is good but the Filipinos are more creative,” he added.
“Take a look at Romeo right? We don’t know where he’s going. Of course, I dunno whether he knows where he’s going (laughs). Para bang kung sa entertainment mas spontaneous, creative at flexible, agile. Parang ganoon ang dating sa atin,” Pangilinan explained.
Although the Philippines had previously defeated South Korea in the 2013 Continental Cup. the Koreans got back with a close 67-65 win in the 2014 Asian Games and also defeated a team bannered by Gilas Cadets at the 2017 William Jones Cup, 83-72.
The Gilas Pilipinas-South Korea game is scheduled for Wednesday evening (11:30pm Philippine time), August 16, with the winner going to the semi-finals where they face the winner of the Iran-Lebanon match.
While there’s still no definite word if Fajardo will play tonight, Gilas big man Christian Standhardinger and Calvin Abueva, will be definitely returning from the injured list to add much needed depth to Gilas in this crucial game.
Asked about a possible match-up with Australia, Pangilinan replied; “I think Australia will be in the finals. Hopefully we will be playing them there.”