#unfortunately we lost malaysia and singapore along the way

[pestorik]

have not been in the hetalia fandom for many years but wanted to draw the new SEA characters

[dpinoycosmonaut]

ROUNDBALL KINGPINS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA

               The Philippines, through its Gilas Pilipinas Team B (that’s what we want to call it to distinguish it from our real senior team), reasserted its supremacy in Southeast Asian basketball with its resounding 94-55 victory over Indonesia in the finals Sunday night, August 26.  With that victory, Filipinos can rest assured that nobody else in the region can lay claim as the top power in the sport, no matter the dolorous performance of Filipino athletes in general in this year’s SEA Games in Malaysia where they’re bound to do even worse, in terms of gold-medal count, than they did two years ago in Singapore and in 2013 in Myanmar.

               Despite uneasy wins over Thailand in group play and Singapore in the semifinals, the Filipino basketeers proved to all and sundry that the region still has a long way to go to catch up with them in the sport that’s closest to the Filipinos’ hearts.  After all, how do you classify a 12th straight gold medal and 17th in 19 stagings of the event overall?

               Of course, this latest success is due to the perseverance and fine play of our young nationals, most of whom came from the Gilas cadets pool that has been formed precisely to serve as source of talent that will represent the country in competitions outside the FIBA Asia Cup – where we unfortunately finished a poor seventh just before the SEA Games – the FIBA World Cup and the Olympics, where we have not played at all for all of 45 years now (hey, have you been born when that happened?).

               As a recap of the Philippines’ latest SEA Games basketball victory, we tried to rate the individual performances of our 12-man team during its five-game unbeaten run.  Below are our individual ratings of the players, in alphabetical order:

               Baser Amer (Grade: C+) – One of two main ballhandlers for the Gilas squad along with Kiefer Ravena, Amer played just four games (he sat out the Myanmar game due to a thigh injury) and was thrown out of one, but he helped provide stability to the team’s offense, setting the plays and averaging 7.0 points during the tournament.

               Carl Bryan Cruz (Grade: C) – CBC, as broadcasters call him, missed the nationals’ first game against Thailand where he could have helped as he had to come from Lebanon where he played with the senior team, but he did help when he finally joined the squad, averaging 5.5 points in four games while providing strong defense.

               Kevin Ferrer (Grade: C) – The former Sto. Tomas standout did not quite stand out in the games here, but he did provide an outside threat and was productive enough when he was on the floor, turning in a scoring norm of 5.2 points in five games.

               Raymar Jose (Grade: B) – The 6-foot-4 Jose provided some firepower inside for Gilas Pilipinas as he normed 8.8 points and provided the third spoke in the team’s three-headed big-man frontline that also included Troy Rosario and Christian Standhardinger.  The PBA D-League Foundation Cup MVP did show some steady hand complementing the team’s top two bigs.

               Kobe Paras (Grade: A) – Kobe was the revelation on the national squad, averaging a team-third-best 11.4 points during the tournament and providing the games some of its biggest highlights with his slam dunks and tremendous jumping ability.  A previously immature operator on the court, Paras showed a growing maturity and savvy, as witness the gold-medal game against Indonesia where he went 6-for-6 from the floor en route to 14 points, against Malaysia where he turned in 16 points and eight rebounds, and against Myanmar where he collected 20 points, eight rebounds, seven steals, four assists and four blocks.  This 6-foot-6 19-year-old did show everybody the potential he has with his athleticism, deft touch and intensity.

               Bobby Parks Jr. (Grade: B+) – The defensive stalwart of the nationals.  Parks might have averaged just 5.8 points but he had to sacrifice his offense to serve as his team’s top stopper on the other end, serving as the neutralizer to Thailand’s vaunted naturalized import Tyler Lamb, a star on the ASEAN Basketball League champion Hong Kong ELL team whom he limited to 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the floor in the Philippines’ toughest game in the tournament.  Without Parks’ defensive work, the nationals would have lost right in their first game and the later draws would have been different.

               Von Pessumal (Grade: C) – The son of our eye doctor Chandru, Von showed flashes of his well-known marksmanship in his limited time on the court, which was reflected on his 4.4-point scoring average. Von though showed the skills he possessed to earn a slot on the squad, including an accurate outside shot, a strong defense and good passing skills.

               Kiefer Ravena  (Grade: B+) – Kiefer, the son of former PBA star Bong and former volleyball star Mozzy (a kumare), did not quite get into a groove with his offense but he did serve as the team’s floor leader and playmaker, norming 7.8 points that was just sixth on the squad.  No matter, Kiefer knew he had to sacrifice part of his game for the team to win the title, and he did just that to show the traits of a good leader.

               Troy Rosario (Grade: A) – One of the more experienced players in the Gilas program, Rosario did live up to his stature with a scoring norm of 12.8 points, which was second on the squad, and being one of its top two rebounders along with Standhardinger.  Rosario was Gilas’ top scorer and rebounder in its two toughest games against Thailand and Singapore, and if that doesn’t tell you his importance to the championship run, nothing else will.

               Christian Standhardinger (Grade: A) – The next most important player in the Gilas program after June Mar Fajardo if one is to base it on production so far, Standhardinger came straight from the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon and promptly showed he is a leader for this team, emerging as its top scorer with a 13.8 average as well as leading rebounder, grabbing 18 boards on top of 18 points, both team highs, in that important win over Malaysia alone.  We were tempted to give the 6-8 Christian an A+ if not for his woeful free-throw shooting in the tournament, which hovered in the 50-percent range and where, honestly, we think he’s better.

               Mike Tolomia (Grade: A) – Tolomia came off the bench most of the time but without his shotmaking and playmaking, it’s doubtful if Gilas could have fulfilled its mission.  A better version of his elder brother, former PBA campaigner Chester, Tolomia topscored in the championship game against Indonesia with 20 points, including five of eight three-point shots, and also helped spark a crucial run against Singapore in the semifinals to leave his imprint on the nationals’ gold-medal run.  He was one of four nationals who normed in double figures in scoring with 11.2 points.

               Almond Vosotros (Grade: C) – Perhaps the least heralded among the nationals in Malaysia despite a stellar collegiate career, Vosotros still did his part in the successful campaign, despite a 2.8-point scoring norm that was the result mostly of minimal playing time with Tolomia, Ravena and Amer playing ahead of him in the rotation.  No disgrace here though, as is true with all 12 players that kept Philippine basketball supremacy in the region. – Bert A. Ramirez (Photo by Sid Ventura)