That mean yellow machine

I do not mean to be killing the party but yesterday’s 115-31 drubbing by Team Pilipinas of a hapless Sri Lanka side should not make us all thrilled.

Was I happy? Yes, I am a Filipino too.

Thrilled? No.

Come on, guys. We all know that Sri Lanka team is not the kind of test that we needed. Any UAAP team will probably beat the Sri Lankans on any given night. Unless they challenge us to play cricket.

But a win is a win is win. I won’t take that away from Coach Yeng and his boys. They may have started jittery, but I’ll take the excuses.

But not tonight against Japan (played late last night at 9 pm). That is the real deal.

If the Philippines will have to serve notice of a chance of making it to the top three, they must (with emphasis) win against Japan. When you test the capability of your team, you must get the desired result right there when the test happens in actual competition.

I saw a tentative, erratic team at the start of the Sri Lanka game and that should not be the case in bigger games like Japan and Korea. We had spurts late in the game and when it turned into a wide open ballgame, we tried to do some fancy stuff.

Off went dunking Japeth Aguilar, Gabe Norwood and Asi Taulava. Fine. That’s for the highlight reels.

What I am worried about is our same old perennial weak spot—perimeter shooting. We went 29 percent beyond the arc, and although we shot over .500, most of those came on fastbreaks and second chance points.

Remember that shooting is the key for us to make it in this stage. Against the Chinese and Middle Eastern giants, our lanes will be clogged and the chance of making our plays inside would be like wrestling against the Undertaker. Top open it up, we got to shoot well from the outside. Tht is sorely missing against Sri Lanka.

Again, I understand, they didn’t need to or they couldn’t try it out. There was no honest defense.

With the bank doors opened defenseless, our boys could have robbed the bank dry, stash all the cash. But they blinked in some ways. Complacent on the other. I think they could have had more figures on that board.

I am looking for the hungry gameface. Menacing, cold assassins. Merciless mercenaries.

Not bungling ballerinas.
Come on, boys. Our nation may be rallied these days by the magic of yellow power. So strong is the mean yellow machine that it could launch another Aquino kin to the presidency in 2010. Maybe not Kris. Pardon the pun please, that would make Boy Abunda the FG as in First Gay and Vicky Belo the Health Secretary.

Maybe Noynoy. We’ll see about that in the coming days.

But for now, in this tournament, our boys just can’t turn yellow. That includes James Yap.