Balls-Eye: Gilas' Small Squad on Extreme Pressure to Suffice Romeo’s Absence

Team Gilas’ small squad needs to step up to fill the gap left by Terrence Romeo being injured and unable to play for the country.

Though National Coach Chot Reyes said that they are not closing the doors for Terrence, the National team cannot afford to lose games without Terrence for his break is still indefinite in order to recuperate from his injury.

In that case, the ambitious Gilas Pilipinas needs an extra push to be provided by the small guys to make their world cup dream come true. This means pressure, a high level of pressure bestowed upon the shoulders of the small guys.

Ravena and Pogoy stepping up is a MUST do to secure victories especially when facing powerhouse teams. However, in their first game against the Japanese, we’ve seen both of them struggle. Pogoy merely made an outside shot whilst Ravena had a hard time in making plays when he switched against Castro as the primary point guard. Thanks to Matthew Right, the vulnerability of the small men was covered up.

Gilas must not solely rely on Andre Blatche. Blatche may be offensively unstoppable, or so it seemed. Andre shoots poorly from the free-throw line so it will be as easy as giving up a foul without leaving a door open for a three-point play to stop Gilas’ giant black beast.

Now if ever this happens that the Gilas inside and big men were outsized and overpowered, it shall be their outside gunners to be relentless in scoring and only then the defensive are will start to loosen, making it a bit easier for the Gilas’ bigs to help out the team better.

Romeo’s absence is not an excuse for the national team to throw in the towel too early. In fact, they have won their first game against Japan. Though failing to dominate, they managed to silence the loud throng of the crowd inside the arena cheering for their opponent.

It is a good start. It is a good ‘start’. And they must keep getting ‘better’ to achieve what’s best for the team with or without one of their best point guard Terrence Romeo.