The
world took notice again.
Sports
analysts, coaches and basketball fans from around the world stunned by the
Smart Gilas Pilipinas in their impressive performance in this year’s FIBA World
Cup- one of the prestigious events of basketball in the world.
The Philippine national men’s basketball team made heads turn
and showed the whole world what Filipino basketball has to offer. Armed
with the passion and heart to give pride once again to the Filipinos, the Smart
Gilas Pilipinas marked the first win in the World Basketball since 40 years of
the drought against Senegal.
The Gilas Pilipinas had an outstanding performance in a
wire-to-wire loss against Croatia in a tough overtime, the impressive “never
say die” attitude in a double digit loss against the Greece, the dog-eat-dog
game in a crucial loss against the rank 3rd team Argentina and the
nearly win against the standout team Puerto Rico.
It’s been 36 years, after all, since the Philippine
basketball team made it to the world championships. When the news first broke
that Gilas was headed to the world stage, all but those die-hard fans expressed
surprise at the fact that given the amount of determination and talent present.
A bronze during the 1954 FIBA and a fifth-place standing
during the 1936 Summer Olympics serve as the country’s top claims-to-fame.
Since then there’s been a drought in wins, if not actual participation in a
world-ranked arena. Subsequent suspensions in 1963, 2001, and 2005-2007 also
dampened any championships chances the country had.
The
social media hits up with the support of the Philippine National Basketball
Team that trend a week ago. The hashtags of #LabanPilipinas and #PUSO were
viral for almost a month.
Gilas Pilipinas may have walked off the courts with a loss
for now but certainly not out of the hearts of Filipinos. Both the country and
most of the world watch as they make a repeat performance at the FIBA Asian
Championship Game in the upcoming weeks.
The social media is expected to flood again by the all-out
support of the Filipinos around the world. The fight to bring back the
basketball supremacy continues as Gilas Pilipinas together with the millions of
Filipinos will unite.
The former University of Cebu standout June Mar Fajardo will expected
to carry the national squad in the international tournament as the mighty team
captain Jimmy Alapag will be retiring from his national uniform.
Known from a basketball country, the journey of Gilas
Pilipinas is a trend in Cebu as Cebuanos hand the full-support for Fajardo but
it doesn’t end there, it is a trend that every Filipino must be proud of and an
international trend as the world take notice of the Philippine basketball.
Indeed, forming the national basketball team has never been easy. This
is the starting point of stepping again to the world arena. We must support our
one and only team. It is the team that represents our passion for the game and our
dreams of doing well in a game more suited for giants and titans.
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