Put 'Midnight Massacre' to sleep, please?
THE “Midnight Massacre” simply refuses to die down that easily. It has become like a gossip of scary proportions that it has taken the form of from a tiny spark transforming bizarrely into a wildfire engulfing an entire forest. I refer once again to that terrible 32-point blasting by South Korea of Gilas Pilipinas in the Fiba Asia Cup, the brutal butchering fashioned out when the basketball world was half asleep.
Before that grisly gore happened, Gilas was being mightily hailed as the team to beat in the Worlds qualifier in Lebanon.
After Korea’s killer of a win against Gilas in balmy Beirut, our squad was woefully reduced from title contenders to mere crumbs-seekers.
Suddenly, with the gold gone, Gilas was now only good for a consolation finish—thrown mercifully out of the medal race as even the bronze has become an unreachable piece of metal.
From potential champ to only a fifth finisher at best.
In one fell swoop, Korea razed the luster of Gilas’ four-team Group B eliminations sweep.
In a shocking manner, Gilas’ wins in succes-
sion over defending champion China, Iraq and Qatar were rendered meaningless by Korea’s clinical dismissal of its bitter rival for the longest time.
If there is one basketball crew we dread that much like the bubonic plague, it is Korea.
Not just “kontra-pelo” (jinx) for us but an almost perennial spoiler to a victory party in the offing.
That is why when we defeated Korea in the 2013 Fiba Asia Cup in Manila, it was like we had won the crown.
That win amounted to a return for us to the Fiba Worlds after almost four decades of waiting.
It also meant sweet revenge as the win eliminated Korea, the same country that stole from us a Finals appearance against China in the 2002 Asian Games.
We were then ahead by two in Busan when an improbable three-pointer at the buzzer from atop the key gave the Koreans an ego-shattering one-point victory.
But on hindsight, that game was not really meant for us—Asi Taulava and Olsen Racela both missing two free throws each in the dying seconds of the match.
Can’t forget. I was there covering the ill-fated match.
Coach Jong Uichico cried a tear. So did I.