PATRICK Aquino (center) and his Gilas Pilipinas women’s team are serious to regain the throne in the Southeast Asian Games.

There is no doubt that Philippine basketball is all about Gilas Pilipinas.

Naturalized player Andray Blatche is billed as the greatest gift to basketball-crazy Filipinos as his all-around brilliance during the FIBA World Championship in 2014 served as a source of pride and joy to a country desperate for modern-day heroes.

Local stars like Jimmy Alapag, Gabe Norwood and Ranidel de Ocampo were also revered.

In fact, their bravery and determination prompted the Filipinos to end the Korean curse and propelled them to a world-class tourney for the first time in nearly four decades.

The new era of Gilas stars are equally popular.

Kiefer Ravena, CJ Perez and Robert Bolick were tapped in the final roster that will see action in the FIBA World Cup starting this weekend in China to give them massive experience in preparation for the next edition in 2023 while June Mar Fajardo is the center of the future after winning five Most Valuable Player crowns in the Philippine Basketball Association.

Save for a minor hiccup in 1989, the men’s team has been undefeated in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, a testament of its dominance in the region.

But one team is willing to steal the thunder from these flamboyant stars.

The team has yet to prove anything, but it will soon will when it spreads its wings in the biennial meet this year.

And for its head coach in Pat Aquino, they will settle for nothing but gold.

“We are working hard while nobody is looking,” said Aquino, a star player in his collegiate days before leading National University (NU) to five straight titles without a single loss in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.

“We want to make an impression that we can play — and win — as well.”

Unlike its men’s counterpart, the gold medal has been elusive to Gilas Pilipinas women’s team.

Sure, they won a bronze medal in the 24th edition in Nakhon Ratchasima and silver medals in Jakarta and Naypyitaw, but the gold remains out of reach.

In the previous Games in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur a couple of endgame blunders doomed their chances, reducing the Filipinos into a huge mass of tears as they bombed out of medal podium.

Aquino said they are about to break their string of misfortune.

“The team is doing well,” said Aquino, whose wards saw action in the recent Jones Cup in preparation for the biennial meet that the country will host in November.

“We have some advantages and disadvantages heading into the SEA Games. The advantage is that we’re fast and we have Kelli Hayes. But the disadvantages are that she just came in and we can’t force her to adjust to local brand of play in a snap.”

The Filipino-American Hayes is a gem of a recruit.

She is a 6-foot-1 who can basically play all positions on the floor. Although she turned in only 4.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists during her final year at University of California-Los Angeles, it doesn’t matter as she was basically made to serve as role player.

Aquino said Hayes is training with NU in preparation for the SEA Games.

“She’s doing well with the team,” he said.

“At first, she was still adjusting. She said she’s not used to it. But eventually, after training with NU Lady Bulldogs, she slowly got into the flow and learned the Filipino brand of play.”

The Nationals will participate in the FIBA Asia Cup from 24 to 29 September and would invite Shu Univeristy from Chinese Taipei in a series of friendly matches.

“We need to deliver the gold medal this time. I can say that the girls are sacrificing everything for that elusive title.”