TOGETHER

SMART-GILAS PILIPINAS (philippinenewsdaily.com)

                    FOR a sports loving country starving for international sports success outside of Pambansang Kamao, Pound-for-pound King, and my main man Manny Pacquiao, the national football team Azkals what with their gritty defense and giant-killing ways fit the bill as the country's newest sports heroes. And hey, it helped that they were pogi too. It doesn't take much for the casual fan to really rally behind this team, which boasted of hungry vets and talented newcomers and truly exemplified team play, as required in football. Accolades well deserved, especially if you hear about what the team had to go through a few years ago when they had close to zero support.

Kinda lost in the mix was the Smart Gilas Pilipinas national basketball team. The Azkals were killin on the pitch, Manny still bludgeoned opponents to kingdom come, and the hometown crowd was lovin it. Gilas dominated in SEABA and their PBA guest stint, sure, but these weren't the giants the country wanted them to slay.

It's been years since the Gilas program's inception, and after gaining valuable experience playing against pro teams, veteran international teams, participating in the best camps overseas and finally having a naturalized big to equalize the opponents' usual height advantage, the team's best chance to test their mettle would be right now.

One thing I think the Gilas program wanted to rectify was lack of execution. With a solid pool and program in place, players developed chemistry. It helps to know exactly where you're shooters are going to be. It helps when you find the exact timing of a lob pass for a Japeth Aguilar jam. It helps to know that when the opposition gets too physical, your boys have your back. It helps when you have teammates you can clown with off the court, and men who will stand by you on the court.

The Gilas program also fine tuned players for their positions. This team can get a on a really hot streak with shooters across the board, they have the frontline size with Marcus Douthit and Japeth Aguilar, and when they get Kelly Williams and Jimmy Alapag, they'll have significant international and pro experience along with Dondon Hontiveros and the ageless Asi Taulava.

I always tell people us Pinoys probably have the best individual basketball skill set in Asia. We can play physical (Asi), pretty (Caguioa), above the rim (Aguilar), or we can play downright crazy (Willie frickin Miller!). No race does the kanto-ball-dipsy-do-alahoy-layup better than us Pinoys. While that shot might not be Coach Rajko Toroman's favorite, I'm sure he sees that our players have the skill, and now that we have that much-coveted pivotman to help our locals patrol the paint, all it takes now is to play hard, play smart, and play TOGETHER.

This Gilas team has the potential to be great. We saw how they shot their way to victory vs Hamed Haddadi and Iran, how they pounded Chinese-Taipei into submission, and how they fought Jordan to a close finish despite a 4-point loss in the ongoing Jones Cup. So what say you, sports fans? Why don't we get behind this team and show the world what we can do together?