Every tournament, win or lose, came with a caveat. Every high and every low were taken with a grain of salt.

The SEA Games, the Asian Games, the FIBA Asia Champions Cup, the Jones Cup, the PBA second conference — none of those tournaments mattered, truthfully. Their only real value lay in being barometers for how far the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team had come.

Because the mandate for SMART-Gilas, from the very beginning, was clear: to qualify for the London Games.

And now, in the third year of the three-year program, the time to put up or shut up is finally here.

Marcus Douthit has truly blossomed into the ideal reinforcement for the traditionally height-challenged Philippine national team. His legitimate NBA size translates into easy buckets in the low post, and into a strong defensive presence on the other end. He has earned himself an appropriate nickname — ‘Kuya’ Marcus — both by being physically bigger than the rest of the Filipinos and by providing the steadiness only an experienced older player can.

The bench that has so often looked inadequate when Douthit takes a breather is now bolstered by three PBA Most Valuable Players in Jimmy Alapag, Kelly Williams and Asi Taulava.

The unstable power forward spot, previously filled by the undersized Mac Baracael and the talented but inconsistent Japeth Aguilar, is now reinforced by Williams and Talk ‘N Text teammate Ranidel De Ocampo, who looks tailor-made for the system installed by SMART-Gilas head coach Rajko Toroman.

And the collegiate stars that once defined the SMART-Gilas program are still mostly there; the team chemistry, the familiarity with the system and the experience on the international level all in full display whenever they take the floor together.

Jayvee Casio, the newly-minted first pick of the PBA draft, continues to provide a consistent scoring kick despite his diminutive size. Chris Tiu is still a solid presence in the backcourt; a thinking, steady leader that knows to give what the team requires of him. Mark Barroca still alternates between shaky and absolutely spectacular in his stints at point guard.

Baracael, with the eligibility concerns of teammates Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter, was moved to the three-spot, where his size does not put him at a disadvantage. And the talented Aguilar, whose minutes have been reduced with the influx of veteran talent on the team, provides a big spark from off-the-bench in spurts whenever he’s allowed.

Lutz and Lassiter, the 3rd and 4th picks in the 2011 PBA rookie draft, are strong, hard-nosed defenders and quality offensive threats who give the team a different dimension.

In this tournament, there have been few surprises for SMART-Gilas, having faced the best of Asia so many times in the past. The team maintains a level of familiarity with the Middle Eastern powerhouses, having faced them all – Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the others – in battles through the past three years. The East Asian nations got a look-see during the Jones Cup, though Japan has come with a much-stronger team than they did in that tourney.

The level of preparedness for an international competition is at an all-time high for our national team. The talent level, a big question mark during the start of the SMART-Gilas program, might be right up there compared to PBA-backed squads, especially with Douthit manning the paint. All of the weaknesses that critics had pointed to in the past are gone, or at the very least, significantly lessened.

By all indications, former national team head coach Tim Cone might be correct in saying this is the best national team we have ever sent into international competition.

Ultimately, though, even that might not matter. The mandate remains: qualify for the 2012 Olympics. Win or go home.

The program has made great strides since its inception. It has admitted when it was wrong and adjusted when something wasn’t working,
The level of commitment it required from the players — an issue that necessitated hiring collegiate and newly-graduated players — the near-epic amount of preparation, the constant exposure to international play, and the naturalization of a center are all great ideas for the national program that the country should be taking with it moving forward.

And really, that should be the legacy of the SMART-Gilas program, whether or not they win the FIBA Asia Championship for Men. That this here was the first step that returned as to relevancy in Asian basketball. That this here was the move that set us back into right direction.

That if ever the Philippines makes it back into the world stage, this here was where it all began.

SMART-Gilas might not win the tournament where, it should be noted, there is only one guaranteed Olympics slot up for grabs.

Yes, the Philippines performed admirably in the FIBA Asia tilt, winning five of six of games, including a sweep of the tournament’s second round where SMART-Gilas pulled off victories over tough Group C survivors Jordan, Japan and Syria to qualify 2nd in their combined group.

But the SMART-Gilas campaign from this point on will be far from a walk in the park. Qualifying with a higher seed from the group stage allowed them to avoid the top seeds from the opposite group in the quarterfinal, but Chinese-Taipei, a talented team that the Filipinos beat twice in the Jones Cup, will prove to be a tough enough match-up for the Philippines in the last eight.

And if they survive that, a semifinal pairing against powerhouse Iran and their star center Hamed Haddadi looks likely before a possible rematch against China, who dealt SMART-Gilas its lone loss, a 75-60 beatdown in their second game, in the tournament final.

But even if they don’t win, a medal would send them to another tournament, the 2012 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where they will face more teams that feature NBA players like Andrei Kirilenko and Timofey Mozgov (Russia), JJ Barea, Charlie Villanueva, Carlos Arroyo and Renaldo Balkman (Puerto Rico), Greivis Vasquez (Venezuela) and Al Horford (Dominican Republic).

And there is no shame in that. A trip to the Olympic qualifiers would be a spectacular feat in today’s basketball landscape. And even if they fail to accomplish that, it certainly looks like we’re much closer to achieving that than we’ve had in the recent past. Win or lose in the tournament, the SMART-Gilas program should be judged as a resounding success.

For now, though, the mandate remains: win or go home.

The moment of truth is come.

source: Mikkel Bolante -InterAKTV