CHICAGO - When it was announced that Robert Bolick and Sedrick Barefield, alongside Zavier Lucero, would lead our Asian Games team to Japan, I was ecstatic.
Two gunners and a do-it-all forward made me harbor illusions of a golden finish to cap a successful Asiad title defense.
SCENARIOS: Gilas bid for a quarterfinal spot just got way tougher
But when the rubber met the road in Nagoya on Friday, only Lucero showed up with a 4-point, 9-rebound and 5-assist stats line while anchoring the defense.
Bolick and Barefield, meanwhile, flooped like a wet mop.
The star PBA duo, and that’s using the word “star” loosely, went a combined 0-for-10 from the field.
BOLICK AND BAREFIELD LACK FIRE.
Unlike Adrian Nocum, who repeatedly, relentlessly attacked the teeth of Bahrain’s defense, Bolick and Barefield kept a safe distance and elected to only misfire from 3.
As a result, they each had zero points in the 89-85 loss to the oil-rich kingdom in the Arabian peninsula.
If the flooding in Nagoya is near epic, so was the ineffectiveness of Barefield and Bolick.
Our bigs — Justin Arana, Justine Baltazar and BGR — did fairly well considering the NBA and G League experience of Bahrain’s JaKarr Samson and Elijah Thomas.
EASY MATH: CAN’T SHOOT, CAN’T WIN.
Calvin Oftana was a delight with 31 points despite joinning the squad on short notice and little, if any, practice time.
But Gilas’ lack of chemistry showed and they can’t shoot to save their lives — 10 of 34 from 3 and 31 of 81 from the field overall.
The numbers don’t lie. You can’t miss 50 shots and expect to win.
Gilas also can’t afford to keep playing with fire fighting through huge deficits without eventually getting burned.
Lesson learned against Bahrain?
They need to start strong and incorporate Lucero on the offense.
Coach Tim Cone’s blind trust on other players who aren’t performing is baffling.
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