I mentioned earlier that I had been planning to write about the Smart Gilas victory in the recently-concluded pocket tournament over Jordan. However, like everything else, including her brother’s inauguration, it had to take a backseat to an issue concerning Kris Aquino. I apologize for that.

Anyway, here are the things we learned from the invitational, apart from the fact that Mac Cardona punches like a chick:

• Mac Baracael was the hero of the final game against Jordan, and at this point, I think we could safely say that he’s they key to Smart Gilas’ upsets. This was also the case during the team’s successful campaign last January in Dubai, when Baracael caught fire and led the team to several upsets. When he’s shooting well, he opens up the Gilas offense, which is predicated on spacing and ball movement, making the team very hard to defend.
  
  That said, I can imagine why Toroman is still looking forward to having Kelly Williams on the team; in the first Jordan game, the visitors repeatedly took advantage of Baracael in the post and off the boards, and Toroman was forced to take him out and go with an awkward twin tower combination of Marcus Douthit and Greg Slaughter. It’s feast or famine with Baracael, and we’ve been fortunate that so far, it’s been more feast.


• Marcio Lassiter is pretty good, reminds me of Jeffrey Cariaso.


• Dongguan coach Brian Goorijan gave high marks for the Gilas offense, but I think two things that really make the Gilas so effective on the offensive end doesn’t necessarily have to do with putting the ball in the basket: they never turn the ball over, and they always have floor balance. International teams like Jordan and Iran make a lot of hay off the break, but the Gilas offense is geared to prevent just that. This is also the reason the Powerade team looked so bad against these international teams in the Jones Cup; poorly-prepared teams tend to turn over the ball a lot, which leads to a lot of easy baskets on the other end.
  
  That’s almost never the case for Smart Gilas, or at least, its man-to-man offense. Their zone offense, however, could use a little more fine-tuning.


• Elsewhere on the Internet, people have been bagging on Gilas about their defense. I tend to disagree; I think they have a great defensive system in place, one that even Talk N Text has adopted too. They do a great job of cutting the court in half, preventing all-important swing passes from the strong side to the weak side, and clogging the middle effectively.
  
  They could still do a better job of cleaning up the defensive glass, and it would help if they forced a few more turnovers. But I’m not sure they can do that with the personnel they have on the team currently. They just don’t have the size or the length to do both at a high level.


• Sure, they only played against a Dongguan team that was still trying to find its way, but the Talk N Text Tropang Texters looked like the best team in the tourney; their offense was very crisp, and they were much more active and effective on defense.
  
  It makes me wonder: Are we underrating our PBA teams? Even Ginebra, which has been mediocre in the ongoing PBA Fiesta Conference, was able to stay toe-to-toe with Jordan, despite the fact that they looked like they were treating the game like a half-assed scrimmage. I’m not talking about star-studded PBA-organized national teams, but PBA teams per se. Are they better than we give them credit for?
  
  It also makes me curious about just how effective some guys who probably wouldn’t have a chance to get picked for Asian-level competitions would do. Will LA Tenorio be able to get in the lane and loft floaters against Asian teams? Will Marc Pingris’ madman act work against bigger and heftier opponents? Can Sol Mercado barrel his way to the ring? Will opposing point guards in Asia panic when Paul Artadi harasses them in the backcourt?
  
  The kneejerk answer is no… but unless we see it on the court, we’ll never know, wouldn’t we?


• Then again, JC Intal probably wouldn’t be able to get to the lane so easily if Jordan’s injured big men made the Manila trip. Rasheim Wright is reportedly also still recovering from a knee injury. The Gilas victory over Jordan is impressive, but I hope no one’s getting over-confident over the result.


• Also, the refereeing was clearly slanted in favor of the local teams; the foreign teams probably didn’t mind so much, because these things are par for the course for these types of tournaments. But for a country that always rails against bad officiating, man, we sure can eat up loads upon loads of lutong macao if it benefits our team.

I wasn’t able to tweet during the Team Pilipinas game versus Kuwait or post a quick report on it because I was out late partying with Lady Gaga last night. Just kidding. Anyway, this morning, my friends who went to the show couldn’t get over the size of her penis.

Oh, right, the game. Team Pilipinas won over Kuwait, 85-71, and the game was apparently so unremarkable that a minor commotion erupted on Twitter about the pronunciation of the Kuwait. I’m just glad Andy Jao wasn’t involved; otherwise, people would be flooding my email again demanding that I burn him at the stake.

Team Pilipinas now prepares for a tough quarterfinal outing against the loser of tonight’s showdown between China and Jordan, which is probably going to be Jordan. I don’t want to look ahead, and I feel like I’ve said enough about that match-up. I just think that while we would decidedly be underdogs, we have a fighting chance. That’s all we could hope for at this point.

Anyway, while we’re here, let’s talk about a couple of stories that came out this morning. There was this filler piece posted on GMA News titled “Wanted: Caidic-like triggerman for RP team.” I read that and thought to myself, “Wow, what an absolute piece of garbage.”

First, it’s unfair because since the Korea game, our perimeter game has been humming, and the outside shooting of our backcourt has been the key to our performance. It’s a slap in the face for Willie Miller, James Yap, Jayjay Helterbrand, and even Cyrus Baguio, who have been the heroes of this team.

Second, the Philippines will never run out of guards who can snipe; the 2002 Asian Games team and the 2007 Fiba-Asia team did fairly well from the perimeter, even if neither team had a gunner as good as Caidic on the roster. The writer could have written “Wanted: Kobe Bryant-like scorer for RP team” or “Wanted: Tim Duncan like inside presence for RP team” and he would have been more accurate.

Team Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao also made the sports headlines as he called for the PBA to continue representing the country in international competitions by forming a pool that would play regularly during PBA break. It's an idea with which I wholeheartedly agree. I believe that the best players in the country should represent us in international play, and with apologies to the Smart Gilas Developmental Team, they’re not the best players in the country. Who would you rather have taking the last shot for Team Pilipinas, James Yap or Chris Tiu? Mac Cardona or JV Casio?

Oh, and don’t throw the Northern Consolidated Cement national team analogy in my face. You know what else the NCC team had? Three imports: Dennis Still, Jeff Moore, and Chip Engelland. You could talk about the system till you’re blue in the face, but at the end of the day, between two teams with the same amount of preparation, talent wins.

Some random thoughts about game 5, where Ginebra beat San Miguel, 106-98, to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-7 series:

• I thought Ginebra would have had enough to win even without Ato Agustin Jayjay Helterbrand.


• Everyone talks about Willie Wilson, but really, the major adjustment of Jong Uichico has been to play three big guys all the time, to neutralize Marc Pingris and (to a lesser extent) Jay Washington. He always had three bigs all the time, which was why JC Intal and Sunday Salvacion were glued to the bench. The lineup works when Noel is busting his ass on defense and shooting well.


• I loved the Bonbon Custodio hugot by Siot Tanquingcen, and I don't understand why he didn't play more in the fourth quarter last night, or why he hadn't played much in the finals, especially with Olsen Racela turning 50 in this series. Did Bonbon pee on Siot Tanquingcen's Starbucks or something?


• Speaking of Racela, now that his career is finally winding down, how about this fun fact: Olsen Racela played more seasons in the PBA than legendary point guards Hector Calma, Ronnie Magsanoc, and Dindo Pumaren, as well as contemporaries Johnny Abarrientos, Boyet Fernandez, Richie Ticzon, Boybits Victoria, and Bal David. Amazing, considering that he was pegged as a career backup coming into the PBA. Awesome work for Rah-Rah Racela. I don't even blame him for missing those free throws back in the 2002 Asian Games.


• Most disappointing performance of the Finals so far: the San Miguel Beer crowd. Uhm, the Air 21 fans in last year's Fiesta Conference finals vs. Ginebra had more fight in them. What the hell happened to the SMB crowd that started the ridiculously entertaining trend of booing Mac Cardona last February? Are they afraid of the Barangay? The only time I ever hear fans jeering Ginebra on TV is when Ronald Tubid's involved. And there's a 50 percent chance those are just Gin Kings fans who can't stand his flopping.


• There's a 99.96547821 percent chance that Chico Lanete won't play like that again in game 6.


• I know I keep mentioning this, but how about the crappy month JC Intal has had? Carla Abellana breaks up with him, he gets abused by Pingris in the finals and gets benched the past two games, and last night, his biggest contribution to the team was lending Eric Menk his shoes.


• I don't know how to feel about San Miguel. On one hand they can trot out a lineup composed of Jonas Villanueva, Bonbon Custodio, Dondon Hontiveros, Marc Pingris, and Danny Ildefonso -- one of my favorite non-Purefoods lineups in the league. On the other hand, they could go with the brutal combination of Mike Cortez, Wesley Gonzales, Jay Washington, Mick Pennisi, and Dorian Pena, which is probably my least favorite lineup in the league. I'm confused.


• Can't say I'm too surprised about the boo-birds for Danny I. from the Ginebra fans. I mean, he did literally try beat up one of them.


• Anyone notice Quinito harping on and on about Noel's alma matter? Really, he's from North Carolina? And he won championship there? Wow, I've never fucking heard that before!


• Also, did anyone notice when Quinito ran out of things to talk about, so he brought up Jong Uichico and Siot Tanquingcen's relationship, only Sev Sarmenta cut him off, "Yeah, you wrote a column about it." I honestly hope to high heavens that Quinito won't be doing game 6.


• Oh, and I'm just here to remind everyone that I saw Ginebra winning the championship way back in April.

Before tonight's game 4, the PBA will have its annual awards (rechristened the Leo Awards in honor of former PBA commissioner Leo Prieto), where it'll announce selections for the season's Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, and a host of other awards.

Unfortunately, the whole thing has turned into a political exercise, with the biggest culprit being the PBA Press Corps, who decided to vote as a block, leaving the door open to influence-peddling. Yep,this is the same bunch of people who keep writing fluff pieces about their buddies like Ryan “The Genius” Gregorio.

(I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist, I’m only human. Check out this money quote from the Purefoods coach in the latest piece: “Talent alone is not enough to win games. Players must know their roles on the team. Otherwise, we will not succeed.” Gee, you think so, doctor? Wait, isn’t this your job?)

But I digress. The MVP vote is still up in the air, although early indications are that Ginebra’s Jayjay Helterbrand might be the favorite. Although it pains me physically to type this, but Talk N Text’s douchebag guard Mac Cardona is the most deserving candidate for the award. It’s a shame that he’s turned into his generation’s Nelson Asaytono (the most despised player in the league), although Asaytono never won an All-Filipino championship as his team’s best player.

(UPDATE: The Philippine Star's Nelson Beltran expects Helterbrand to walk away with the award. Beltran is the president of the PBA Press Corps.)

Some other thoughts on the awards:

• I hope they don’t overlook the fact that Dondon Hontiveros had the best season of his career. Sure, he still only plays well about twice every three games, but he’s also the biggest reason why San Miguel was the only team to make it to the semifinals in both conferences this year. And while he was beat out by Cyrus Baguio in the Powerade Team Pilipinas lineup, he got Baguio back in a more important category: Valerie Concepcion’s heart.


• I’m surprised that Sonny Thoss is not in the shortlist of centers for the Mythical Team selection. Thoss was the biggest reason why Alaska was so dominant in the Philippine Cup before falling to Talk N Text in seven games, and his injury in the Fiesta Conference submarined the Aces’ campaign.


• Rain or Shine and Talk N Text both each had a pair of rookies play heavy minutes this season. Here’s an interesting question: if Gabe Norwood and Sol Mercado switched places with Jared Dillinger and Jason Castro, (a) would Rain or Shine have been as good?; and (b) would Talk N Text still have won the Philippine Cup?