FIBA World Cup Preview: A Serbian correspondent breaks down Gilas Pilipinas vs Dominican Republic

For Gilas Pilipinas' campaign in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, GMA News Online connected with Milos Jovanovic, a veteran Serbian sportswriter with an interest in Philippine basketball, to help break things down from an outside perspective. Read his previews of the Philippines-Angola game here and the Philippines-Italy game here.

It was, truly, a sight to behold.

After the final buzzer sounded, the camera eye caught mercurial Facu Campazzo, a veteran of many battles – be it with Argentina, Real Madrid, or during his brief NBA spells – looking absolutely crestfallen, head in his hands. Behind him, Nico Laprovittola and Carlos Delfino – yes, the Carlos Delfino, the man with two Olympic medals (including the vaunted gold from Athens), 500+ NBA appearances and countless other honours on his resume – couldn’t believe it either. And neither could the throng of albiceleste supporters who gathered in the beloved Polideportivo Islas Malinas hall in the coastal resort town of Mar del Plata. Argentina was not heading to the World Cup – for the first time since 1982.

The judge, jury and the executioner, however, was at the premises and would have none of that grief. It was the unfancied Dominican Republic who delivered the knockout blow to the Argentines in a deciding FIBA World Cup qualifier, and they would not be denied their moment of glory.

After Jean Montero put his team four points up with eighteen seconds to go on a layup, it was just a matter of holding fast for one last onslaught. And once the triple hoisted by Laprovittola failed to find its mark, and Andres Feliz corralled his fourth and last rebound of the game, the celebrations were on. For the third time in a row, and only fourth time in the history, the Carribbean side will compete with the world’s finest. And by the looks of it, they won’t settle for nothing this time around.

So far, the Dominicans played a fairly unremarkable role in the worldly hoops history. Other than a spate of Centrobasket, a now-defunct FIBA biannual contest for the nations of central America, medals, their only major foray into the world of competitive international basketball came in 2011 – incidentally, at Mar del Plata – when they won bronze at the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship, now known as the AmeriCup. Back then, it was the likes of Charlie Villanueva, Cisco Garcia and, of course, Al Horford who kept the Dominican flag flying high – they lost to Brazil in the semifinal round, but prevailed over regional rival Puerto Rico in the struggle for the last podium place.

Al Horford won’t be around for this one – he was part of the extended roster, but ultimately had to cancel as the rigours of the NBA season caught up with his aging body. However, the Dominicans won’t be going to Manila with their guns unloaded, as the biggest asset they could possibly have mustered is fully commited and on board – Karl-Anthony Towns. The Minnesota Timberwolves franchise player - arguably one of the biggest names to don the Wolves’ teal jersey this side of certain Mr. Kevin Garnett - is with the squad and will be looking forward to making his mark in the world of FIBA basketball. Talk about a major league reinforcement for the tough, gritty bunch who went down to Argentina to claw out their World Cup ticket.

It wasn’t that long ago that Gilas Pilipinas faced the Dominicans in a meaningful game of basketball. Back at the Belgrade OQT in 2021, at the peak of COVID-crisis, the Tab Baldwin-led squad held their own for the first twenty minutes, and went into the halftime break with a slender two point lead. However, the floodgates truly opened in the third frame, and the Filipino backline had no answers for the likes of Victor Liz, Gelvis Solano and Michael Torres Cuevas, who combined for 64 out of 94 total points for the Carribbean side. The end result – a twenty-seven point blowout – was a harsh but fitting judgement for the young Gilas squad new to this level. The message was simple, but powerful – prolonged spells out of focus can and will cost you when you’re playing against experienced international sides.

The circumstances have slightly changed since then. For one, it won’t be the ghostly sight of empty stands which will greet the players once they grace the hardwood – with the times of COVID now firmly in the rear mirror (hopefully for good), the Gilas will count on a full house to cheer them on in their giant-killing task. And the “full house“ here means a lot – the opener is slated to tip off in the world’s largest indoor arena, the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, which holds a maximum seating capacity of fifty-five thousand people.

Some things, however, remain the same. The hero of the Belgrade win, Victor Liz, is captaining the squad. The 6’2“ thirty-seven year old veteran, currently on the books of the Puerto Rican side Capitanes de Arecibo, has now truly seen it all and the game holds few secrets for him. His pace might not be his strongest assett anymore, and his three-ball is not as stellar as it was, but make no mistake – he is the glue which keeps the squad together. He will take responsibility in the crunch and will not shy away from decisions, and the team respects his seniority and experience he brings to the table.

But Liz is not the only veteran presence on the squad. The 6’11“ pivot Eloy Vargas, who once played for John Calipari at Kentucky and won the national championship defending their ranks, is unsurprisingly there as well. If Liz has seen it all as I wrote above, then Vargas wrote a book on it – his professional career took him from Puerto Rico to Iran, with stops in Spain, Uruguay, France, Brazil, Greece and many others along the way.  Much like Liz, he will feature in his third World Cup – but this time, a bit out of the starring role, mainly spelling Towns when he’s in a need of a breather.

And what do we tell of Towns that you don’t already know? The New Jersey born seven-footer, who traces his Dominican lineage through his mother’s side, is a man of many talents. He can be a dominating presence in the post on both ends, either as a rim protector while defending, or a one-man wrecking machine when his teammates have the possession. While the injuries did slow him down massively in the recent few seasons (he suited up for only thirty-one game in the most recent campaign), he does remain fleet-footed and elusive should you attempt to outmuscle him and will resort to punishing you from around the paint. Most of all, he is not at all shy to showcase one of the deadliest additions to his repertoire – his three-point shot, which could possibly see him steal some time at the power forward slot in case the Dominicans opt to go big.

The rest of the squad features a neat mix of young and old. Forward LJ Figueroa parlayed his strong season at the South Bay Lakers into an European contract, and he’ll be featuring for the German side Ratiopharm Ulm once the World Cup wraps. Angel Delgado, who led the prestigious Spanish ACB league in rebounding while at Bilbao and had a spell with the LA Clippers, is also coming off a solid campaign in Turkey. It is also likely that Delgado will start at the power forward slot, with Towns manning the center position.

Lester Quinones, Andres Feliz and Jean Montero are the emerging forces. Quinones is not an unknown for the fans of lower-tiered North American basketball – the Brentwood, NY native has been bouncing up and down from Santa Cruz to the Golden State Warriors, earning a pair of ten-day contracts along the way. His shooting and youthful hustle from the small forward position mean a lot to this team, which can run into cold spells from the perimeter at times. Feliz and Montero will likely split point guard duties – and while the former will provide stable starting minutes, much is expected from the twenty-year old Montero, currently under contract with Real Betis of Spanish ACB. It was, after all, him who delivered the end verdict to the hapless Argentines back in February at Mar del Plata, capping his otherwise stellar 22-point performance.

The coach, Nestor “Che“ Garcia, warrants a special mention. The well-traveled Argentine, who has managed more professional clubs than a duck has feathers, and previously held national posts at Uruguay, Venezuela and his home country, has a point to prove as well. The miracle of Mar del Plata was one of the crowning achievements of his career – whatever happens in Manila will be just the cherry on top of his basketball cake. It will be up to him to seamlessly transition Towns into a dedicated team player the Quisqueyanos can rely on. If he succeds, this team might yet make some shockwaves in the tournament.

But before any of that, they will have to go past Gilas in the opener. Well, correction, not just Gilas... there will be this small matter of fifty-plus thousand loud Filipinos cheering their compatriots on to possible glory. And much like the Dominicans, the home squad has some new faces of their own – not many remain from the Belgrade campaign two years ago which focused on youth (in fact, only Kai Sotto and Dwight Ramos are held over).

The Gilas backcourt, which features some capable scorers of their own, can run with the best of them – and expect Jordan Clarkson to feature heavily. The coach is “new“ as well – if you can call Chot Reyes, the veteran nine-time PBA champion who led the Gilas during the 2014 World Cup and won the Asian Cup bronze in Wuhan in 2014, new.

The lessons, however, remain much the same. Drop your focus, and bad things will happen. Tab Baldwin’s boys saw the light briefly, but then it was curtains. If Coach Chot can make his troops linger in this game long enough, and they execute what they set out to do – the Dominicans might yet see their World Cup dreams fall apart at the first hurdle.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News