They were branded as the Philippines’ own redeem team, whose mission was to reclaim relevance in a sport the country once dominated. After almost two decades of national teams backed by the Philippine Basketball Association failing to regain hoops supremacy in Asia, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas formed a young squad composed of amateur standouts to represent the country in Asian competitions.
The program took a page from the playbook of the Northern Consolidated Cement national team, a squad made up of young amateurs and naturalized players that won the last Asian championship for the country in 1986.
SMART-Gilas immediately paid dividends when, in 2009, only months after the team’s formation, it stunned its predecessor, the all-pro Powerade Team Pilipinas, in an exhibition game that served as its debut in front of the Filipino public that they were to represent.
After that win, the expectations skyrocketed. SMART-Gilas, with its disciplined execution, crisp defensive rotations, and total trust in the system of Serbian coach Rajko Toroman, looked every bit the savior of Philippine basketball that they were touted to be. Behind the hype machine of then-SBP executive director Noli Eala, the SMART-Gilas bandwagon was stuffed to capacity by raucous, exuberant fans that celebrated the new team’s every move.
Led by the charismatic Chris Tiu and an athletic frontcourt tandem in naturalization candidate CJ Giles, and top PBA pick Japeth Aguilar, the program looked set to develop college basketball’s finest into a new generation of Allan Caidics, Samboy Lims, and Hector Calmas.
The honeymoon didn’t last long, however. In a guest stint in the PBA, the team struggled heavily in its debut against the Burger King Whoppers, in a game that was marred by a fight between BK point guard Wynne Arboleda and a SMART-Gilas fan at courtside, who had been throwing taunts at the player all game long.
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http://www.interaksyon.com/article/5097/smart-gilas-pilipinas-hype-vs-hope
