Of Sportsmanship and Spectators

PASAY CITY — The crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena arrived with a bang and went home with heavy hearts after Gilas Pilipinas endured an 85-71 defeat against the bigger and taller team of Iran Sunday night.

Once the feature of every social network site, Gilas Pilipinas suddenly fell to the back-burner after they lost the gold medal to the FIBA-Asia Men’s Championship. Though donning silver medals, Gilas Pilipinas still ranked second and will still qualify to the FIBA World Cup in Spain in 2014.

Jason Castro vs. Kardoust and Kamrany. Photo by Nuki Sabio of FIBA Asia.

The Prognosis

Two key players of Gilas Pilipinas were not able to contribute full-force during Sunday’s game. Marc Pingris was nursing an injured leg, but still managed to play the game mostly relying on his good leg and warrior-like determination. Meanwhile, center Marcus Douthit is injured, leaving the rest of the Gilas Team fending off seven-foot-two center Hamed Haddadi the best way they know how. But without a legit center, Gilas’ defense ultimately crumbled under Iran’s towering assault.

Gilas’ Jean Marc Pingris against Hamed Haddadi. Photo by Dennis Sabangan, EPA.

Hamed Haddadi, Iran’s 28-year-old center, was the juggernaut that pummelled through the Philippine teams’ defense — hauling 29 points, 16 rebounds, and 2 blocks at the end of the game.

Meanwhile, Gilas top-scorer and point guard Jason Castro managed 18 points, and joined Haddadi in the FIBA-Asia Men’s Mythical Five. The other three members of the Mythical Five are Korean shooting guard Kim Min Goo, Chinese Taipei’s forward Lin Chih-Chieh, and Haddadi’s teammate power forward Oshin Sahakian.

“Puso!” Team Gilas Pilipinas donning silvers. Photo by Dennis Sabangan, EPA.

The Aftermath

As the Filipino heroes of the hardcourt rested their tired bodies and tried their best to look at the bright side (that of qualifying to the World Cup series, besting fierce rival Korea in the semis), a storm was brewing outside the court and on the screens in thousands of spectators’ homes.

Social media is now the medium of choice for protesters and haters and advocates. What was once taken to the streets is now taken online. The hands that once wielded banners and tarps and signs fighting to be heard now hold tablets and mobile phones.

After Sunday night’s game, many Filipinos took the loss too hard. Several Gilas supporters started bashing FIBA Asia Most Valuable Player Hamed Haddadi, Iranian center and former Phoenix Suns center, on his Facebook timeline.

The racial comments were in Filipino (Tagalog), mainly about Haddadi’s (or the Iranian people in general) characteristics that have very little influence on his performance as a basketball player. Fans flocked to Haddadi’s Facebook timeline to throw racial slurs and nasty comments about the player and not the game. In the end, Haddadi did not offer any statement about such derogatory slights against himself, his team, or his people.

Just two months ago, after a ‘friendly’ football match between the Philippine Azkals and Hong Kong team, HK locals deliberately threw debris and racial slurs against the Azkals and their supporters after the game. The untoward events happened after the HK team suffered a 1-0 loss against the Azkals. About a week after the match, the Philippine Football Association has asked Federacion Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to investigate the events that transpired during and after the said match. FIlipino supporters also filed a formal complaint to the proper authorities, citing that several HK locals assaulted them with water bottles, obscenities, and disrespectful gestures.

Putting the “man” in “sportsman”

The Gilas Pilipinas team is certainly heartbroken over the loss, but not totally defeated. In fact, as if hit by the nostalgia bug, Marc Pingris recalls huddling with his teammates for the last time and yelling “Puso!” (Heart!) right before heading into battle.

More than the loss, the teammates shared that they will miss working with each other on the hardcourt. After 11 days of hardwork, perseverance, dedication, and faith in one another — a silver medal hangs around each player’s neck, together with a sure ticket to the FIBA World Cup in Spain next year.

Ranidel de Ocampo helping out Hamed Haddadi. Photo by Dennis Sabangan, EPA

“Kung ako ang tatanungin mo, ayaw ko pa matapos yung pagsasama namin kasi kakaiba yung samahan na binuo namin lalung-lalo na nung ipinaglaban natin itong bansa natin at itong watawat natin (If you ask me, I wouldn’t want this bond to end just yet because we formed something special, especially when we were fighting for flag and country),” said forward Ranidel de Ocampo in an interview with Inquirer Sports. “Sana tumatak na kami sa isip at puso ng mga Pilipino na sa isang sandali sa 2013, nakilala tayo sa buong Asia at nakapasok tayo sa world basketball (I hope that it will be etched in the minds and hearts of every Filipino that for one moment in 2013, we were known in all of Asia and we made it to world basketball),” De Ocampo hoped.

More than the glory, it is evident that the Gilas Pilipinas players treated the games as a life-changing privilege to serve under one banner: the Philippine flag.

“We’re part of history,” said Gilas guard LA Tenorio. “This team is very special.”