A six-decade gold drought finally came to an end in the Asian Games men’s basketball tournament as the Philippines finally emerged as the kings of the region after drubbing the Jordan Hollis-Jefferson led Jordan, 70-60 , Friday night at the Hangzhou Olympic Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
This batch of Gilas Pilipinas fulfilled a date with history as Justin Brownlee came out business as usual and the rest of the squad did a little bit of everything in winning the Asiad gold for the first time since 1962.
Scrambling for time to prepare for the quadrennial meet’s hoop fest brought about by player uncertainties, the Filipinos turned their adversities as motivation in completing one of the most remarkable feats in Philippine basketball history.
Everyone savored this sweet taste of success, probably the sweetest for returning Philippine team coach Tim Cone, who was able to achieve a personal redemption tour.
In 1998, Cone coached the Centennial Squad to a bronze medal finish, the highest-ever placing for any national men’s basketball team in the past 25 years, but the American mentor returned with a personal return to glory and towed Gilas in quest of history.
For assistant coach Jong Uichico, the gold medal feat is a fitting reward to erase the stigma of the heartbreaking loss suffered by a Philippine team he coached 21 years ago in Busan when the Filipinos missed an opportunity of playing for the gold medal but was deprived by a buzzer-beating sht from Lee Sang-min of South Korea in their semifinals match.
But this one is worth savoring for the entire basketball-loving nation waiting for this opportunity of finally winning the gold.
