BOCAUE -- Gilas Pilipinas began the sixth and final window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers with a 107-96 drubbing of Lebanon Friday at the Philippine Arena as Justin Brownlee donned the national colors for the first time and NBA legend Carmelo Anthony watched from courtside.
Six Gilas players finished in double digits in what was one of their most impressive wins since Chot Reyes took the coaching reins once again a year ago. If their first meeting in August in Beirut -- an 85-81 Lebanon win -- was a grinding, physical affair that went down the wire, this one was an offensive showcase for the home team. Even with several name players missing, Gilas put on a show for the home crowd.
"It's hard to win the game when the opponent scores 107," Lebanon coach Jad El Hajj said. "And we had many turnovers. We made a lot of mistakes offensively and defensively. Honestly they played today as a team. Last time they played more as individuals. Today they shared the ball, they played more as a team."
Gilas buried 17 triples and had 31 assists, yet no one scored more than 17 points. The teamwork was there, even as several players were playing together for the first time.
"We spoke about it a lot that we had a lot of missing pieces and maybe we were not as individually talented as the previous lineups," Reyes said. "I told them in situations like this, the best way to address it is to come together and to lean on each other. I'm very glad the players took that to heart and I think you saw that today."
Brownlee debuts in style
Brownlee's first Gilas appearance was a resounding success. He hit his first two shots - both 3-pointers - on his way to a team-high 17 points. More importantly, he blended seamlessly with the team.
"We know him" Hajj said. "He played in the Lebanon league. He's a great player, especially he likes to play with the team. He's not the type who likes to play one on one."
Brownlee also knew how important those two triples were for his rhythm.
"When you make a shot the crowd gets going," Brownlee said. "Filipino fans, they really appreciate basketball, and that's what I appreciate as well, too. I wanted to get the team off to a good start, and being one of the older guys, I just felt it was important."
Soon-to-be Famous Amos
Mason Amos wasn't supposed to be here. But an injury to Japeth Aguilar coupled with the unavailability of Kai Sotto and Carl Tamayo forced Reyes' hand. At 18 years, Amos was one of the youngest players to make his Gilas senior debut. To his credit, the kid wasn't overcome by the moment and played like a veteran, especially in the third quarter where he buried 11 points, including three triples. He eventually finished with 13.
"Just energy coming off the bench," Amos said. "It's good representing the country. I'm thankful. I came into the game really nervous, but I got used to it eventually."
"Mason is 18 years old," Reyes said. "He still has a lot to learn, he still has a lot to develop especially on defense, but you can see his shooting prowess for a big man. That's a weapon that we feel we can continuously exploit and we can use moving forward."
However, Reyes would not commit to playing Amos against Jordan on Monday.
"A lot is going to depend on how the Jordan roster will look like before we make a decision."
Malonzo, Heading lead Gilas bench
Jamie Malonzo's Gilas debut last year was shaky. He was obviously nervous and couldn't throw a rock into the ocean. But several months and one Ginebra championship later, Malonzo is now playing at a high level internationally. He finished with 15 points, including two powerful jams that got the crowd on its feet.
Together with Amos, Malonzo provided a spark off the bench, providing quality minutes as chief relievers of Brownlee and June Mar Fajardo.
"We really thought that was going to be key off the bench, those two guys, because they were basically our bigs off the bench after June Mar and Justin," Reyes said. "Basically it was only Mason and Jamie that we had because we were decimated. The fact that they both played well was a big factor."
Heading left Gilas in 2021 to play professionally in Taiwan, a move that upset the PBA and SBP since he had been drafted by the Terrafirma Dyip. But he finally returned for this window, and like Malonzo and Amos, gave some scoring punch off the bench with 10 points.
"He was huge because we don't have Roger Pogoy, one of our consistent scorers," Reyes said. "That's how we're trying to build the program. Just constantly getting players into the system, so that when somebody goes down, we just go through the depth chart."
All in all the Gilas bench chipped in 58 of the team's 107 points, with Ray Parks being the third sub to hit double digits with 10. Reyes sees this as the culmination of the vision he has for the Gilas program.
"That's really the program that we want to build. We have a core group of guys who are familiar with each other. They already understand the system. And then putting in a few guys here and there."