I'm an avowed fan of Gilas. I can't deny it and I won't, but I stopped defending them since this article last year because I figured people have realized how good they are already, especially since they've dominated the PBA teams they have faced. Lately, though, the hatred for Gilas has been increasing and it's absolutely absurd. I list down the most common attacks on Gilas and let's see if they have merit.
Pros losing to an amateur Gilas team need a convenient excuse. They've been saying this even before the start of the conference, but PBA teams are better served practicing ball denial and boxing out rather than complaining. Yes, Douthit has dominating numbers, but it's not all his height; it's the system. A lot of Douthit's points are close in shots, put backs off offensive rebounds and short stabs off cuts. Neither kind is exclusive to overly huge players. His rebounds are the same. It doesn't hurt to be huge with long arms, but it also helps that all your teammates, even guards, box out all of the opposition to help things along. Blocks? It's the same story. Gilas plays a specific kind of defense. Guards lead all opponents to the baseline, where Douthit or any other center will be waiting for the block. At the baseline, offensive players are trapped because of the baseline and the backboard, making it easy to block shots or steal the ball.
Don't believe in the explanation? Find a way to get their stats from their last Middle East tournament and you'll see Douthit averaging close to the same numbers even ranged against NBA-sized imports of the Middle East. Over here, in the B Meg game where Douthit got hurt, even substitute Greg Slaughter tallied 7 (!) blocks.
