Andray Blatche has been getting a lot of criticisms for his performance in the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, especially after his underwhelming output against Australia where he only produced eight points and seven rebounds. In Gilas Pilipinas' 89-84 victory over Japan on Sunday, the naturalized player redeemed himself in front of the home crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.
He finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds, to go with four assists and two steals - easily his best showing in the tournament.
Blatche let out his emotions and screamed in the middle of the court immediately after the buzzer.
"It felt great to advance -- definitely from being bashed for the last 36-48 hours -- just to get a win and get some of it off my shoulders, just to know I was able to help us get to the second round," he said.
While Blatche is relieved to rebound with a strong outing, he admits he is far from his peak form, especially coming off a hamstring injury.
"I feel like I could do a lot better. It's a rhythm thing. I'm starting to get my rhythm back, starting to get my legs back," he said. "It's been a long time since I've been playing on the court. It's just my second game since the first [window]. But this is big for us to advance in the second round."
Coach Chot Reyes defends Blatche, saying Blatche's value should not be judged based only on statistics.
"His value has always been beyond numbers and I know he got a lot of flak for the last game," Reyes said. "He scored eight points, seven rebounds, but his job was to guard [Daniel] Kickert, Australia's best player. Andray held Kickert to five points."
Reyes hopes Blatche's defensive efforts against Australia and his overall impact against Japan quiets criticism of Blatche and questions about being the right fit for the national team.
"Andray is our guy," Reyes said. "I don't think that playing a team like Australia... if we didn't have Andray, we would have lost 30 points easily. Andray makes us competitive, regardless of what the numbers or what the stats show."
The critics motivated Blatche in some ways but he insists that it's never part of his agenda to prove them wrong. Instead, he's focused on helping Gilas to more wins.
"I'm sure they're going to find something else (to bash about). But you know, all I can do is to continue getting better."