CHICAGO - The rallying cry leading up to the New Zealand game at the Big Dome today was cute and catchy.
"Wear white for Gilas."
In hindsight, with the Kiwis favored to win by 10 and experts expecting a blowout, dark clothing would have been more fitting.
With little expectation of seeing a W, I watched the mismatch on Facebook livestream and hoped to catch only a ketchup on a white shirt smudge. What I witnessed instead was a Texas chainsaw massacre type of bloodletting.
New Zealand 88. Gilas 65.
On this night at least, our national team showed that it does not belong in the world stage. And the way things are going, with the program still reeling from the exit of Tab Baldwin, things will only get worse.
But first things first.
The beatdown New Zealand handed us proved once again that cramming for a tournament and picking players on short notice are recipes for disaster.
Gilas looked disjointed, disorganized and shot a pathetic 24 of 67 from the field (35.8 percent) and 5-of-25 from long distance (20 percent).
A sequence late in the third quarter told it all. With 1:56 left before the fourth period, Robert Bolick chucked an air ball from 3 that New Zealand turned into four points on the other. The lead swelled to 62-43 at that time and morale left the arena.
Sadly, Gilas couldn't guard the Kiwis, who made 31 of 67 shots (46.2 percent) and 9-of-29 from 3 (31 percent).
Ange Kouame was the only true representation of resistance on our interior defense and he looked uncomfortable down low as 6-foot-11, 245-pound Rob Loe abused him for 15 points and 10 rebounds on top of the 20 points and 10 boards that Tom Voldonovich had.
Gilas didn't have an answer to Dion Prewster, either. The slippery shooting guard ran rings around his defenders on the way to 20 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
New Zealand is ranked 33 in the world and we did squat against the Tall Blacks. Can you imagine us playing against the true powerhouses?
Lord have mercy.

SILVER LINING PLAYBOOK. I'm not into moral victories but I must admit that from the rubble of this horrible loss, I found a lot of solace in the All-Star efforts of Thirdy Ravena and Dwight Ramos
They combined for 41 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists, showing everyone how much their games have blossomed while playing in the ultra-competitive Japan B.League in lieu of the SMC-MVP intramurals that is the PBA.
Too bad, two is not enough.
Chants of "We want Tab" reportedly bounced off the walls of the Araneta Coliseum while the massacre was ongoing.
That's unfair to coach Chot Reyes, who I now know really had nothing to do with Baldwin's exit.
But the fans were not wrong to clamor for the American coach.
Unlike New Zealand's smooth and deliberate offense, the Gilas attack was flawed and the ball crawled.
You don't need to be a basketball genius to see that.
Obviously, the SBP has a problem.
And fixing it starts with picking up a Smart phone and calling Tab Baldwin.
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