Good Enough for Gilas: Jared Dillinger

2014 is going to be a BIG year for Philippine basketball. This year will mark the first time two of our Philippine National Teams (Men’s and U17) will march onto the world stage and compete at the highest level of international hoops. Our very own Gilas Pilipinas squad will go to Spain and play in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, while the Philippine U17 Team, coached by Jamike Jarin, will troop over to Dubai for the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championships. 

It’s been reported that the Gilas Pilipinas brain trust is keen on tapping more players to join the pool, with the magic number pegged at 24. That means that there are still around eleven slots open. Take note that this does not YET include the two naturalized prospects of the team — Javale McGee of the Denver Nuggets and Andray Blatche of the Brooklyn Nets. We’re still not sure if their respective naturalization processes will finish in time for Gilas to include their names in the final 24-man pool.

As of this writing, the 2014 FIBA World Cup Draw is done, and the Philippines has been grouped along with Senegal, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Greece, and Croatia. That, in my opinion, is the second-toughest group of the lot, and making it into the second round will certainly be the tallest task coach Chot Reyes has ever faced. Needless to say, he’ll need all thew support he can get.

This is the sixth piece in a series of posts detailing the players who can be part of that pool. For each named individual, we will look at the good things he can bring to the pool, his probable role should he get named to the final Gilas lineup, and the possible match-ups he will have at the Asian and world levels.

Today, we’ll talk about someone who was part of Gilas in the 2012 FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo and the 2013 Gilas national pool. Unfortunately, he got into a vehicular accident and, consequently, was no longer able to be part of pool afterwards. Still, he’s one of the most talented and capable players at his position — Jared Dillinger.

Jared Dillinger has had a renaissance of sorts with Meralco.
(image by Pranz Kaeno Billones/Sports 5)

What he brings to the table:
Dillinger’s first and last tour of duty in the FIBA Asia Men’s Championships was way back in 2009, when Powerade Team Pilipinas finished eigth. The Pinoys advanced to the quarterfinals, but lost their last three games to Jordan, Qatar, and Korea. In that tournament, Dillinger was the team’s third-leading scorer (behind Cyrus Baguio and James Yap). His tournament-high was banging in 21 points against Sri Lanka in the first round. 

Fast forward to 2012 and Dillinger found himself in a Pilipinas jersey once more. This time, he was a major factor in Gilas’s campaign in Tokyo, Japan. Winning that joust would’ve given the Pinoys an automatic berth in the 2013 FIBA Asia tourney. Dillinger finished as the team’s second-leading scorer behind naturalized player Marcus Douthit. Dillinger netted 9.9 points per game in more than 18 minutes per outing as the Filipinos ended up in fourth place.

In both of those competitions, Dillinger’s main strength was his versatility. Just like Gabe Norwood, Dillinger can effectively play all three perimeter positions — point guard, shooting guard, and small forward. If coach Chot feels like he needs to push the pedal to the metal and play small-ball, then he can also force-fit Dillinger at the 4 spot. 

Even in the PBA, this is what Dillinger really brings to the table. So far in the 2013-2014 PBA season, the Meralco Bolt is averaging 11.7ppg, 6.3rpg, and 2.9apg. He has become the Bolts’ primary playmaker since Mike Cortez went down with an injury, often playing alongside shooters Gary David and John Wilson at the wings. 

Jared Dillinger drives strong against Iran in the 2012 FIBA Asia Cup.
(image from FIBAAsia.net)

Why he is a good fit for Gilas: 
Even in the practices prior to his getting injured, Dillinger already seemed like a great fit for coach Chot’s dribble-drive system. He has enough quickness to blow by most opposing wing players, and he can finish well close to the hole. His three-point shooting is not really his forte, but, still, leaving him open would be folly. He’s definitely not as streaky as, say, David or Larry Fonacier, but he more than makes up for that with better defense and ball-handling. Based on the early Gilas practices in 2013, in fact, I would’ve pegged him as Gilas’s top SF alongside Norwood. In my mind, I had him a little bit ahead of Fonacier, who played out of position at the 3 spot anyway.


Potential match-ups:
FIBA-Asia: Samad Nikkhah Bahrami (IRI), Jimmy Baxter (JOR), Sun Yue (CHN)
FIBA World Cup: John Holland (PUR), Konstantinos Sloukas (GRE), Maleye Ndoye (SEN)

Maleye Ndoye is one of the Senegalese's top guns.
(image from FIBA.com)

Whether in FIBA Asia or in the World Cup, Dillinger, should he make the final cut, will be in for some really tough competition. Bahrami is one of the craftiest scorers in the world, and Baxter and Sun Yue aren’t exactly pushovers, too. Holland and Sloukas are proven contributors for Puerto Rico and Greece, respectively, while Ndoye (there are two Ndoyes in the Senegalese squad; this one is the small forward) is a high-flyer who canned more than two triples per game in Afrobasket 2013. Basically, Dillinger will have his work cut out for him. Just like what Norwood did in 2013, Dillinger’s main goal will be to limit the opposing team’s wingmen from putting up their usual production.

In the next post, we’ll take a look at one of the members of Gilas 2011. This was a guy who struggled a little bit in that Wuhan joust, but he has been registering great numbers of late for the Petron Blaze Boosters — Chris Lutz.


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