Newbies respond very well in first test

They were thrown into the fire right away but the fearless newbies of Gilas Pilipinas men’s team proved up to the task.

Diminutive SJ Belangel and RJ Abarrientos played solid at the point with high intensity and energy while bigs Kai Sotto, Ange Kouame and Carl Tamayo furiously fought American-born Ra Gun-A and company inside.

After 40 minutes of non-stop hard work, they were rewarded with a debut-to-remember: An 81-78 upset of fancied Korea.

“When you’re playing grown men, seasoned, experienced veterans, that’s a great baptism of fire for our players. And we managed to stand up to it,” said a proud Gilas coach Tab Baldwin.

Belangel made the marginal bucket from beyond the arc to cap a brilliant game of 13 points, five rebounds and two assists. Abarrientos accounted for six markers plus three feeds. Nineteen-year-old Sotto posted 117-2 while naturalized player Kouame had 12-6-1 and Tamayo scored 10.

They played key roles as the Philippines patiently rallied after Korea seized a 17-point lead.

“As a point guard, I should be a good role model. It’s not good if they see the point guard backing down. So my mindset was to fight to win. I reminded them to just run the system and trust the process because that will lead us to victory,“said Belangel.

“That was the toughest game of my entire career but I’m expecting to see more games like that. It’s an experience we have to learn from,” said Kouame.

Batang Gilas standout Sotto did well in 18 minutes of action despite lack of match fitness.

“We saw a very young player who wasn’t really prepared but what a heart he has,” said Baldwin of the 7-foot-3 Sotto, who joined the team late having to spend two weeks in quarantine upon his arrival from the US.

“You saw the determination in Kai to make an impact in the game but you also see the fatigue. I think it’s a pretty courageous effort by Kai but we’re going to see a lot better basketball from him as we move forward,” he added.

Meanwhile, Korea rebounded with a wire-to-wire 104-81 rout of Indonesia yesterday afternoon.

Hyung Jung Lee and Seoung Hyun Lee spearheaded a 12-0 start to set the tone for the 23-point demolition that put the Koreans back on track at 3-1.

Ra Gun-A made 23 points, seven rebounds, and three assists as he prevailed against Lester Prosper (2512-3) in a battle between two former PBA imports.