Gilas advances to the gold medal match against Jordan.
Every Filipino basketball fan on Wednesday took to social media to express their delight after Gilas Pilipinas hammered out a come-from-behind 77-76 win over China in the Asian Games men’s 5x5 basketball.
Count Calvin Abueva among them.
Abueva posted an Instagram Story where he seemingly threw shade at NBA legend and Chinese Basketball Association president Yao Ming in the aftermath of the Justin Brownlee show.
“Ming-ming iyak,” he wrote in the caption laced with crying and laughing emojis.
Abueva was supposed to make a Gilas comeback for the multi-sport spectacle but the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (HAGOC) didn’t give him and three others the green light to play.
Apparently, they were not part of the 37-man lineup submitted by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas to the HAGOC months ago.
Along with Abueva, Terrence Romeo, Jason Perkins, and Mo Tautuaa also didn’t make it to Hangzhou, China. In their stead, coach Tim Cone called up Cjay Perez, Chris Ross, Kevin Alas, and Arvin Tolentino at the last minute.
Gilas pulling the rug from under the host team seemed like the perfect revenge for Abueva and company.
(CF)