Gilas Pilipinas lost again on Sunday, this time an 87-70 blowout at the hands of the Tall Blacks in New Zealand to conclude a winless third window in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. It was the Nationals’ fourth straight defeat—three by routs—dating back to last week’s 2nd Doha International Cup.
Unsurprisingly, armchair analysts had a field day on social media. Many vented their ire on Scottie Thompson for his supposed lack of shooting and shot creation. Just as many questioned Tim Cone’s tactics and player usage. Others rued Justin Brownlee’s 10-point outing. A few demanded changes to the pool of players and the program itself. Some points were valid and maybe even well-warranted. Besides, all that criticism comes with the territory in basketball-crazed Philippines.
Chris Ross Makes His Own Valid Point
But 10-time PBA champ and former Gilas captain Chris Ross took a different tact. Instead of criticizing Cone and his wards, Ross shared a powerful message about Gilas in the wake of the team’s recent struggles, calling it as adversity and encouraging the Nationals to “fight” in the midst of challenging times.
“Gilas had their guys & were winning games it was all good. Now their main guy goes down & they lose a few games and now all y’all so called “experts” want changes to the program,” Ross wrote on X on Sunday afternoon. “That’s the problem. There is too much change instead of fighting adversity. Life/ball has adversity.”
Ross, of course, is right as well. People were singing hallelujahs for Gilas when they were making history and conquering world-beaters. Now, many are hating on that same team for struggling as they try to adjust to life without arguably their best local in Kai Sotto.
Gilas and Chris Ross Are No Strangers
Adding more weight to Ross’s message is the fact that he played with the core of this same under siege squad—Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, Chris Newsome, CJay Perez, Calvin Oftana, and June Mar Fajardo—at the 2023 Asian Games and won gold with them.
The two-time PBA Finals MVP also won gold for Gilas in the 2019 and 2023 SEA Games, which means his roots with the program run quite deep. And if there’s anyone who knows this program well enough, he’s probably one of a select few.
So, yes, it might be a case of Chris Ross coming to the defense of his Gilas Pilipinas brethren. But he does make a valid point, doesn’t he? The Nationals are down at the moment. But they’ll have a chance to fight back.
