A LOT OF things happened in the last two weeks, when Gilas Pilipinas went to Incheon in South Korea to play in the Asian Games.

First, the gritty Filipinos, after being the surprise package in the Fiba World Cup in Spain late last month, were the biggest underachievers in the Asiad, finishing a woeful seventh for the country’s worst Asian Games showing.

In-fighting also happened, with coach Chot Reyes publicly labelling Marcus Douthit as a quitter after the Filipinos lost to Qatar in the quarterfinals.

There was also the benching of Douthit in the next game, against no less than Korea, which got back at the Filipinos with a two-point victory. The Koreans came back from the dead, so to speak, in that game, by overhauling an 18-point third quarter deficit to win.

Korea ultimately went on to win the gold medal against Iran and after that, Korean basketball officials went out of their way to thank the Filipinos for benching Douthit in their game and allowing them better access to the gold medal match.

The country was in an uproar after that loss to Qatar. Fans, their expectations raised to the highest level after that moving performance by the Filipinos against world powers in Spain, were up in arms and wanted answers.

Fans who felt that Gilas Pilipinas owed them an explanation, want heads to roll. They want explanations on what truly happened and most of all, they want to know if they would continue to root for their National team who will play in full force every time.

That’s the downside of what Gilas had achieved — from finishing second to Iran in Manila to qualify for Spain and then making heads turn in Seville after dragging Croatia, Puerto Rico and Argentina to exciting endgames.

We really can’t fault the Filipino fans for doing that. Gilas is their team. Basketball is their sport and losing could be as satisfying as winning as long as it is done with honor.

What happened in Incheon has put coach Chot Reyes in a bad light.

The benching of Douthit and then his order on Douthit to shoot at the Philippines’ own basket in the game against Kazakhstan were the biggest reasons why the Filipino fans want his head.

I am sure that Chot has his reasons. He only wants to win because winning is in him. But the way things transpired in Incheon put him in a tight spot that he has very little room to wriggle out of.

He is answerable to the Filipino people — not just to Manny V. Pangilinan who bankrolls the Gilas Pilipinas program — and the PBA, which continues to lend its players to the National team.

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Pangilinan has reportedly said that Reyes still has his full trust and confidence. But the more important question here now is: will the PBA still want to support Gilas Pilipinas if Reyes will continue to coach?

Members of the PBA’s board of governors had their planning session in nearby Seoul, Korea just when the Asian Games’ basketball tournament was to reach its critical stages.

The board, made up of representatives of team owners, got to Korea and were greeted by the grim development that the Nationals were out of the running already, spending the afternoons of their stay there as tourists with Gilas already relegated to the classification phases.

Several of them confided to Arab News that they would want a serious review of who the coach will be if and when they continue to support the Gilas Pilipinas program. One was even very vocal in saying that his team owner does not want Reyes there anymore.

There were also others who had video clips of an incident where Reyes was heard shouting at Marc Pingris during a timeout, with Reyes even telling Pingris: “Kung gusto mo ikaw na mag-coach!”

That incident riled this particular board member, who accused Reyes of not having an open mind to take suggestions during games.

The Philippines will try to qualify to the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics in Brazil and the Filipinos, to be able to do that, would have to win the Fiba-Asia Championship that will be scheduled in China sometime in September next year.

Gilas will not be able to do it without the support of the other PBA teams.

Talk ’N Text, Meralco and NLEX are PBA teams owned by Pangilinan and even if they continue to lend their players, Gilas doesn’t stand a chance in Asia if the other teams don’t come in to help.

That’s less than a year away, and the earlier we prepare, the better.

One tournament — or one debacle for that matter — does not make up an entire program or its results.

If I can put in my two cents’ worth, I sincerely think that Reyes is still the man for the job. He has been studying amateur basketball for the good part of the last three years after leaving Talk ’N Text as its most successful coach.

What needs to be done is for everyone to sit down and iron things out. For everyone to swallow their pride and give way to national interest first and nothing second.

Andray Blatche will be with the Philippines for the next tournament and that’s a big plus, and Blatche respects Reyes and it would be quite a gamble if another man is named to coach the team.