Yeng Guiao has kept his promise of steering Gilas Pilipinas to the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
“We are just glad that it’s over.
“We were feeling the pressure prior to this game – we really wanted to make it to the World Cup,” Guiao reflected after the Philippines’ 93-75 triumph over Kazakhstan in Astana, which booked the Filipinos’ ticket to China.
But for Guiao and this batch of Gilas Pilipinas, the road to China has been tough, arduous, and crazy – to say the least.
Before the final game of the first round of the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, Gilas sat atop Group B with a 4-1 record. During the battle between group leaders Philippines and Australia in Bulacan, however, disaster struck.
Instead of a battle for group supremacy, it ended up as a bar brawl – a dark moment in Philippine basketball history that resulted in 13 players suspended (10 from the Philippines), millions of pesos in fines paid, and a closed door home game to boot.
Under scrutiny after the incident, Chot Reyes – who was suspended for just one game – was asked to ‘step aside’ from Gilas. Guiao inherited the team in his stead, and he received the full backing of the PBA.
But Guiao’s campaign started on the wrong foot.
During the fourth window, he had only a few players at his disposal, as the veteran internationalists of the team were still serving their suspensions. Iran handily defeated Gilas in Tehran, 81-73, before the Filipinos picked up an escape win against Qatar in the closed door game, 92-81.
The fifth window, however, was a disaster.
Every PBA club team opened their squads to Guiao, who assembled a 20-man pool that was dubbed as ‘the best Gilas pool ever’ by SBP president Al Panlilio. Besides the likes of Greg Slaughter and June Mar Fajardo, top amateur prospects Kai Sotto and Ricci Rivero were also part of the ‘All-Filipino’ Gilas.
It ended up being a butt of jokes, as Gilas suffered two crushing home losses to Kazakhstan and Iran to drop to 5-5.
A loss in the final window would have spelled the doom for Gilas’ World Cup dreams. And Guiao was feeling the heat.
Having a team full of stars did not work. Moreover, Guiao needed the stars to align.
The first thing Guiao did was reconcile with Andray Blatche, with whom he had a misunderstanding during the fifth window. Then, he created a small, tight-knit 14-man pool who would put it all on the line – soldiers in their own right.
Blatche proved to be pivotal against Kazakhstan, dropping 41 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field and 12-of-14 shooting from the stripe. He also had 14 rebounds, four steals, three assists, and two blocks.
“Andray carried us on his shoulders in the first half. He was on fire.”
Everyone else picked up the pieces from there.
With a little help from continental rival South Korea, the Philippines punched its ticket to China. And Guiao, whose expertise had been questioned the last six months, could not help but breathe a huge sigh of relief.
“We are just happy that this is over and we are happy to make it to the World Cup.”
Yes, Guiao also gets to keep his arm.
