We pumped our firsts from the upper box, cheering hard as Jimmy Alapag hit a trey with three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Gilas just took the lead back from South Korea, and the visitors would later know how heartbreak feels like. (Read Carlo Pamintuan’s pre-match article here)
Nadz (painstakingly) got us semis tickets online as everyone gunned for quarterfinals seats last Thursday. “Tiwala lang, mapapanood natin ang Gilas.” She was the bigger basketball fan between us two. Before the Heat-Spurs series, the last NBA Finals I watched from start to finish was Chicago Bulls versus Utah Jazz. UP beat UE 63-48 when I last saw UAAP basketball live in Season 75. You can typecast me as a football person with all those “wrong sport” tweets, nung nasipa nung Korean player yung bola, tinawag ko pa nga yatang handball. Pero joke lang yun, malamang. Masama tuloy tingin sakin ng katabi ko. But I watched every Philippine group game in the FIBA Asia Championship 2013 on TV.
On Saturday night, I was at MoA Arena with thousands of believers.
Never mind that I sang the national anthem louder than the person to my right. Never mind that I barely know from which PBA team each Gilas member plays (I’m getting there). Never mind that I didn’t think I’d get to watch a basketball game of this caliber from the stands. I wanted to see history happen, so I can potentially tell my future hypothetical kids that daddy was there when the Philippines made it to the FIBA World Cupin Spain. Then I’ll show them photos that will be low in quality for their standards.
On Saturday night, history did happen.
“Laban Pilipinas! (Puso!)” was the cheer of around 25 teens in blue at upper box during the first half. Led by San Beda Red Corps chief Benson Garin, they are the boosters of Gilas Pilipinas.
“Challenging yung mapasabay mo mag-cheer yung mga Pilipino,” said Garin.”(pero) masaya to cheer for our country.”
And cheer for the country we did.
We booed when the referees took back the goaltending call, then we cheered when Alapag made up for it with a three. We loved when it Ranidel de Ocampo and Alapag made it rain treys at endgame as we showered the players with “yays.” And that last goal from Pingris, damn! We all sang “we will rock you ” at the break and that “tonight’s gonna be a good night” after the win, and there was even a human wave that went around thrice during the game.
Watching the match on TV was exciting, but being there live was ecstatic.
Qatar and Kazakhstan already warmed up as Gilas members were mobbed by the patron area crowd. We sat on our spot after the all shouts have been exhausted, waiting for the win to sink in. If we were already this high, we can only imagine how it is for hardcore basketball fans. As for the actual feeling of the players, staff, and their families, we can only approximate to the nearest superlative.
There were no more finals seats when my friend tried booking late on Thursday. “I should have gotten tickets,” said Nadz. “But we saw the game that booked Gilas their trip to Madrid. I can take that,” I argued. (Napa-iHala Madrid! ko ang isang Barca fan. Achievement unlocked!) It was an unfamiliar feeling: with no cameras, no laptops, no photos or quick stories to break, the win hits you hard and knocks you out. “Now you know understand how fun it is,” said Nadz.
Also, kilala ko na rin daw si Jimmy Alapag.
Saturday night will be retold, with witnesses recalling where they were and who they were with when Gilas secured a FIBA World Cup slot and a FIBA Asia Championship finals date with Iran.
But tonight is going to be the bigger story.
Like millions of Filipinos, I’m setting for the TV broadcast. From sports bars and sidewalk carinderias to those lucky folks who got game tickets, we will all cheer and watch as Gilas goes for gold.
We will remember tonight, where we are, and who we are with, and tell our own stories about that game where Pilipinas played hard for basketball glory.