Stalwarts from the other sports have done their part in Team Philippines' gold-winning spree in the 30th Southeast Asian Games in the country and Tuesday night it's the turn of Gilas Pilipinas to take care of business in the sport every Filipino is passionate about.
The rampaging Gilas cagers gun for the country's 13th straight gold medal in the SEAG against Thailand in the 8:15 p.m. finale at MOA Arena, poised to live up to everyone's high expectations and join the Filipino athletes' record-breaking harvest in the biennial conclave.
Gilas coach Tim Cone expects his charges to be ready for the job at hand amid all the pressure and hype and the tough resistance from a challenger that's got nothing to lose,
"It's gonna be a struggle for us, I feel it. But the finals is the finals. I think the guys are gonna be all keyed up," said Cone.
Vic Manuel, the team's leading scorer with an average of 16 points on a 73 percent field goal through four games, said Gilas should set the tone defensively against the Thais, who are in the finals for the first time in six years.
"Kailangan namin start nang maganda, especially sa depensa namin," said Manuel, whom Cone described as a "perfect fit" for the SEAG.
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"Kailangang dumepensa talaga. Alam namin yung Thailand offensive-minded talaga sila so kailangan ma-stop namin ang execution nila," he added.
Gilas set itself up for another SEAG championship after disposing of Rajko Toroman and Indonesia in Monday's semis, 97-70, using a fiery third-quarter period to put the game out of reach. The vastly improved Indons stayed within eight behind until the Filipino shifted to high gear.
"The thing about these kinds of tournaments and games like this is that the more you play, the more chance the teams have to scout you. And you get a coach like Rajko Toroman, he's gonna have his team thoroughly prepared and they came out thoroughly prepared," said Cone.
"They knew who our shooters are, they had plans for our big men, they had plans for our ball screen and they knew how to attack our defense," he added.
The Thais earned the right to challenge powerhouse Philippines after rallying past semis opponent Vietnam, 101-95.
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Thai-American Tyler Lamb said they plan to make the most out of this opportunity and try to pull off a major upset.
"This is my first time playing for the gold medal. I am really excited and we are going to go out there with our best and get that gold," said Lamb.
"I want to bring that gold to end years of waiting. I want to give inspiration to the kids with that gold medal and give them a dream of playing for the national team. I want to raise the level of basketball in Thailand. We deserve to be in the finals. We just got play hard tomorrow, win or lose." (OL) / Photo: Freddie Dionisio (spin.ph)
