Future Gilas teams need to develop passing, outside shooting, says PH's leading scorer in 1978 FIBA World Championship

1978 FIBA World Championship Philippine team player and leading scorer Ramon Cruz believes that the current Gilas Pilipinas squad and future teams should focus on improving two things: passing and outside shooting.

In an exclusive interview with GMA Integrated News, Cruz said that he feels like isolation play is still what prevents Philippine basketball from excelling in international competition such as the World Cup.

“Kasi ngayon para bang since ano, ‘yung one-on-one sa NBA, yun ang ginagaya ng PBA. Passing and outside shooting... yan ang dapat nating i-develop ngayon,” said Cruz, a 5-foot-11 shooting guard who led the all-amateur Pinoy crew in scoring with an average of 16.8 points during the 1978 edition of the World Cup.

("It's like, the one-on-one play in the NBA, that's what the PBA emulates. Passing and outside shooting, those are the things we should develop now.")

Even our big men, according to Cruz, should learn the European style of basketball.

“It's about time na dapat talagang gawing perimeter shooter ‘yung mga malalaking ‘to. At the same time ‘yung mga sentro din natin dapat marunong din maglaro sa labas.”

("It's about time we should develop our big guys into perimeter shooters. At the same time, even our centers should know how to play on the outside.")

Citing the first two games of Gilas Pilipinas against the Dominican Republic and Angola, Cruz said the other four players on the court also have the tendency to just watch Jordan Clarkson do everything.

“Since si Jordan Clarkson talaga ‘yung number one go-to-guy nila, wala na eh. Talagang ‘pag ano, binibigay na talaga agad ‘yung bola sa kanya,” said Cruz who once scored 33 points against Canada in 1978.

("Since Jordan Clarkson is the number one go-to-guy, they just give him the ball.")

Ball movement for him was the main issue for this current version of the Gilas team.

“Ang basketball ngayon, it really evolved on passing the ball e. Five or six passes, di ba? Now dito sa atin siguro mga hanggang three passes lang, pasa na kay Jordan Clarkson and then that’s it.”

("Basketball today, it really evolved around passing the ball. Five or six passes, right? For us, we'll have only until three passes, they just pass to Jordan Clarkson and then that's it.")

But Cruz reiterates that this current Gilas roster is a strong one.

“Siguro ‘yung expectation is really very high sa Gilas ano. Eh kasi kami noon talagang makikita mo naman ‘yung players namin ano, talagang ang liliit namin. Ngayon kumpleto na sa height nandiyan pa si Jordan Clarkson. So the expectation is very high.”

("Maybe the expectation is really very high for Gilas. Back in our day, you could see just how small our players were. Now, it's complete, with height and with Jordan Clarkson there. So the expectation is very high.")

—JMB, GMA Integrated News