ANALYSIS: This Gilas Pilipinas team has already proven its worth

On a specific Saturday midmorning, Gilas Pilipinas assembled in a well-lit, air-conditioned fitness center six flooring up in a roadside constructing in Quezon Metropolis.

There have been 15 of them, dressed up for a scrimmage in opposition to a youthful however extra bodily and extra athletic squad.

Towards the tip of the match, up 11 and the clock dwindling to its last minutes, Gilas continued to use full-court stress. One of many crew’s guards, a star from Ateneo within the UAAP, practically compelled a turnover, solely to get clocked—arduous—within the jaw by an inadvertent elbow.

The Eagles’ playmaker shook the hit off, stood up and chased down the opposing participant and continued to hound him.

Later, after ditching the No. 15 Pilipinas jersey for a white shirt, the participant was requested in regards to the elbow.

The one reply supplied was a shrug and a smile.

“A part of the sport.” One other smile.

Besides that this was only a tuneup match and Gilas Pilipinas was nursing an 11-point lead and the participant was defending prefer it was the previous few seconds of a one-possession ballgame in an Ateneo-La Salle championship decider within the UAAP.

One other shrug. Within the dictionary of sports activities nonverbal language, the often means: “It’s nothing.”

This time, the participant meant: “It’s nothing new.”

That is how Gilas Pilipinas has been making ready for the Southeast Asian Video games. Our bodies crashing in every single place, lung-busting full-court stress from begin to end, everybody rolling up their sleeves and combating arduous for considered one of 12 slots within the last roster.

“I’ve been hit quite a lot of instances so…” Jhazmine Jason mentioned.

Oh, sure, that is the Gilas Pilipinas girls’s crew. The oft-ignored, out-of-spotlight, underfunded Gilas Pilipinas squad that would be the solely nationwide basketball crew defending a gold medal in Cambodia.

And there’s a purpose why the crew, a group of nonsalaried standouts exhibiting up for observe every single day, prepares with a way of urgency because the SEA Video games attracts close to.

“We’re the goal of each crew,” coach Pat Aquino informed the Inquirer. “We will’t even put together for one nation anymore. Everybody needs to beat us.”

“We all know it’s gonna be arduous, similar to each different 12 months, nothing’s gonna be given,” mentioned guard Ella Fajardo. “However the issues that we do behind the scenes, working towards every single day … it [will show] on the courtroom after we’re there [in Cambodia]. We’re doing all the pieces on our half to organize.”

Meaning taking part in in opposition to groups like a boys squad from highschool powerhouse Xavier and taking all the pieces thrown at them, and utilizing uncanny teamwork to negate their opponents’ energy and athleticism.

“These ladies are greater than prepared. They’ll combine it up no matter who you place in entrance of them,” Aquino mentioned.

In Cambodia, the ladies will face groups that want to cease the Philippines from finishing a “three-peat” and which have carried out intensive preparation—together with competing amongst themselves—simply to strip Gilas of its gold.

However ask the ladies in regards to the stress that comes with that and they’ll simply smile it off.

“Stress will at all times be there,” mentioned Jack Animam, whose return to the nationwide squad has generated an enormous wave of optimism amongst her teammates. “We all know that no matter we do, there’ll at all times be stress. However amongst ourselves, we maintain saying, ‘let’s not give it some thought, do what we’re imagined to do and simply comply with coach’s sport plan.’”

That final half is what thrills Aquino probably the most.

“You recognize, I’ve mentioned this earlier than, as a coach, no matter I train them, I see them doing it,” Aquino mentioned. “They’ll get actually bodily, generally extra bodily than males. In the event that they wish to seize for the ball they go on the market and simply dive for it. They actually wish to present everyone what they’ll do.”

“They’ve gained the gold medal back-to-back and but, there they’re, simply keen to point out extra and show themselves extra,” Aquino added.
That have to show themselves extra produces a lot of the stress the crew feels these days.

“It looks as if there’s quite a lot of stress from the skin as a result of we’re making an attempt to get help, to attempt to hype up that we’re making an attempt to get the three-peat,” Fajardo mentioned. “However I believe inside ourselves, we’re superb at staying collectively … and constructing our confidence every single day. We simply give attention to ourselves.”

“We simply ask the followers to proceed the help,” Animam mentioned. “Now we have one thing to show, we’re thrilling to look at and we’re doing this not only for ourselves however for our nation.”

“We hope to point out followers that we deserve their belief and that we are able to play at a very excessive stage,” crew captain Janine Pontejos mentioned.

And they also acquire ground burns whereas diving for free balls and get hit arduous within the jaw whereas making use of stress at rubbish time—all throughout an exhibition match—simply to earn a little bit of a rustic’s love and a focus.

These ladies don’t comprehend it but, however they’re not the Gilas Pilipinas that has one thing to show.

(Francis T. J. Ochoa is the sports activities editor of the Philippine Day by day Inquirer)

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