Keys to Win: Gilas Pilipinas over Jordan

Enzo Flojo

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Enzo Flojo talks about the keys to Gilas' important win over Jordan.

MANILA, Philippines — Looking back at Gilas’ exciting win over Jordan on Friday night, August 2, we look at three things that made the enthralling comeback and the ensuing victory happen.

The defense on Jimmy Baxter. The raucous crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena. And the solid guard play.

Enzo Flojo.Gabe Norwood was the man tasked to guard Baxter, Jordan’s naturalized player who dropped 30 points on Chinese Taipei in their first outing. One crucial factor that worked in the Philippines’ favor was the fact that Baxter played 36 minutes in their previous game and it showed here as he wasn’t as aggressive in attacking the basket.

Norwood capitalized on this, sticking to Baxter like leech for most of the game and using his superb timing to block or alter a few of Baxter’s shots. 

While Gilas came prepared against Jordan, the crowd came just as ready. With more people firing up the Philippine team on court, the squad obviously played inspired. The intense crowd chanted “DEFENSE!” in unison on a decibel level that shook the very foundations of the courtside stands. They cheered for every made basket or every favorable sequence, and booed big time when a referee makes a bum call or when Jordan was on the stripe. 

The energy was so infectious and it was most noticeable in the third quarter, when a “crowd wave” took the MOA Arena by storm after Gilas erected a double-digit lead for the first time.

By far the most critical reason for Gilas’ win, though, was the brilliant play of both Jeff Chan and Jayson Castro. Chan canned five triples on his way to a team-high 17 points while Castro wowed the crowd with his plethora of ankle-breaking-shake-and-bake moves that left all defenders just shaking their heads. Castro dropped a total of 16 markers to go with four rebounds and three assists.  

In all, Gilas made 12 of its 27 attempts from long distance and of that one dozen threes, nine came from the guards (the other three were made by big man Ranidel de Ocampo). 

Against Chinese Taipei, Gilas should, once again, benefit from the energy of the crowd — one that could be exponentially bigger than the one we saw Friday night. If the guards continue to hit their long toms, it will definitely give us a stronger shot at sweeping Group A.

However, the most important thing to do is to try to contain Chinese Taipei’s new import, Quincy Davis, who has been ultra efficient in his first two outings. – Rappler.com 

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