Team Pilipinas Historic Run

SMART Gilas Team Pilipinas

After a long... long... long drought.

FINALLY!

The Philippine Team broke the elusive Final Four in the FIBA ASIA. It has been 24 long years when we had a chance to enter the Top Four in the FIBA Tournament. The last time we got it was in 1987.

Even it turned out to be not quite pretty for the team, still it could be considered as a success.

We beat Chinese Taipei in the Quarterfinals, 95-78 but we were beaten by the Jordan Team in the Semi Finals, 75-61. Again, we had a chance in the Bronze Medal Game, but unfortunately, Korea beat us in a thriller, 70-68. This achievement for the Philippine Team was a Milestone for everyone. Although, we didn't get any medal, the fact that we made it in the top four was already a huge accomplishment for the program.

Now we can say that Filipino Ballers have the ability AGAIN to play in the world division. We can beat international teams and play in a high level of basketball.

It was an overwhelming experience for the team that we became part of the top four for the first time in a long time. That probably add up some pressure on the team and it might be one of the reasons that disrupted the focus of the team in the competition, we couldn't blame them because it was already a big achievement not just for the team but also for the whole country. 

We could actually won the whole tournament, but maybe this was not yet our time.

Nevertheless, all in all it was a great run for the Philippine Team, and it just showed us that we could do it again! We are near to our main goal and it seemed to be achievable after we broke to the top four of FIBA ASIA 2011.

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