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Philippines, 25 Nov 2024 |
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GILAS PILIPINAS PROVES WE CAN PLAY WITH THE WORLD?S BEST DESPITE TWO TOUGH LOSSES By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Mon, 01 Sep 2014  Gilas Pilipinas has proven it can play with the best basketball teams in the world and hold its own against the giants of Europe in the FIBA World Cup in Seville, Spain after going down to Greece, the No. 5 ranked team in the world, 82-70 early Monday morning Manila Time. The heartbreaking overtime loss to the huge Croatians in the nationals opening game where a horrendous ?flopping? call on Jason Castro in the dying seconds of the 3rd quarter resulted in a five-point swing that gave Croatia a 57-49 cushion going into the final quarter, which effectively decided the outcome. TV replays showed that Castro was fouled on a desperate three-point heave aimed at sending the game into a second overtime but the referees ignored the contact to the bitter disappointment of coach Chot Reyes and the huge crowd of flag-waving Filipino supporters. A win over Croatia would have given us a shot at qualifying for the next round with one more win, but the loss made the task difficult and the second loss to Greece made it much harder. However, with Croatia having beaten Argentina and Senegal overcoming Puerto Rico, there is a quiet confidence in the Gilas camp that if the team can get the breaks and shoot well from the outside, there is indeed a chance of beating Argentina in a game which was scheduled to be telecast at 11:00 p.m. on Monday and hopefully come down to the last game in the Gilas Pilipinas Group B against Senegal. Prior to the start of the tournament Reyes told the Manila Standard/Viva Sports he was hoping to qualify by beating Croatia and Senegal. If not for some bad calls we could have beaten Croatia but it was not to be. Gilas Pilipinas battled Greece all the way but their disciplined game and the ability to hit big shots when they needed them, kept the nationals at bay whenever they threatened. The one positive coach Reyes can take from the Greece game in particular is the performance of PBA MVP Junmar Fajardo who has shown he could hold his own against the giants of Europe while the much smaller Marc Pingris proved his worth as he battled much bigger players inside with all the courage he could muster. Greece took the first quarter 20-10 which was marked by a Castro triple and the beginnings of a solid defensive effort by Gilas. Fajardo was held down by 6?9? power forward Kostas Kaimakoglou as his tough defense began to frustrate the Greeks resulting in an unsportsmanlike foul call. Junmar coolly sank both free throws before he received a pass from Andray Blatche who was fouled and once again made both free throws to make it 14-22. At the 6:49 mark Gabe Norwood was also called for an unsportsmanlike foul on 6?11? small forward Glannis Antetokounmpo who converted one of his two free throws to push the lead to 12, 16-28. Pingris on a fantastic baseline move scored under the basket before a triple by Norwood cut the lead to 8 at 31-23 with coach Fotis Katsikaris shouting at his players for allowing Norwood to score. Gary David saw action for the first time in the World Cup and scored off a precise Jimmy Alapag pass as David cut to the basket to make it 35-27 but a turnover by Gary who lost the ball at the sideline saw the Greeks go to the locker room with a ten point halftime lead 37-27. Blatche who continued to play through the pain and discomfort of a knee injury scored on an and one situation to hold the Greece lead to 10 before two successive blocks by Fajardo after Alapag buried a triple in transition, made it 58-45 at the end of the third. Jeff Chan connected on a triple and Pingris scored inside and picked up a foul on a Norwood assist but although he missed the free throw and Alapag grabbed the rebound the referee called an infraction against a surprised Alapag. Chan and Lee were blocked in successive offensives before a hobbling Blatche drove inside with 4:30 to go despite his injury. A baseline drive by Pingris and a triple by Paul Lee off a steal made it 72-61 with 3:35 remaining but an unsportsmanlike foul called on Tenorio stalled the effort to come back and when Blatche was called for a travelling violation all seemed lost , But Tenorio hit a three point shot to make it 76-66 after which Aguilar scored on a putback off a Tenorio miss to cut the lead to 8, 76-68 but a triple by 6?6? point guard Nick Calathes broke the back of the Gilas resistance. Greece which sandwiched a Fajardo basket ended the game with the Greeks winning their second game in a row to move on top of the Group standings alongside Croatia. In an overseas telephone conversation with the Manila Standard/Viva Sports coach Reyes said when he congratulated the Greek coach, he replied ?but your game is dangerous, that?s not basketball? which the Gilas coach didn?t take too kindly and when team manager Aboy Castro confronted the coach Greek?s 7?1? center Glannis Bourousis who had earlier shoved Tenorio also put a hand on the team manager which is forbidden under FIBA rules. Reyes said the Greeks ?were so frustrated because they couldn?t put us away and we had a chance.? He said they ?keyed in on Jeff and defended him very well? pointing out that so far ?we didn?t have our shooters all hit at the same time.? He was full of praise for Fajardo who was chosen by the TV5 panel as ?Player of the Game? and noted ?he?s truly fighting after I put him on notice? at the end of the tune-up games that he had to battle the big men of opposing teams. He also commended the remarkable attitude of Pingris who ?is battling players who are much taller.? Fajardo scored 10 points and pulled down 7 rebounds although he played only a total of around 10 minutes. Former PBA player Ali Peek who was on the television panel said Gilas Pilpinas ?showed a lot of fight? against top teams in the world and added, ?at some point we are going to find a way to win games.? Reyes revealed that when he wanted to pull-out Blatche in the fourth quarter the naturalized Filipino said ?no coach, just one more push? which promoted Reyes to pay tribute to Blatche said that ?if there are any doubts about his heart he has answered the doubts? with the way he played through the pain which tells Reyes that he has seen how players like Pingris ?battle players who are much taller? while the others have demonstrated their fighting hearts and Blatche has embraced this. The American finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds but coach Chot faces a dilemma on whether to play him in the Argentina game because of his nagging injury or preserve him for the final two games of Gilas against Puerto Rico who were beaten by Senegal and the African nation in the final game of Gilas. Reyes said he is worried ?if we go hard again tomorrow? because it is not in the character of the Filipino to give up a game adding that ?with a crowd like this when we play Argentina, we have a good chance? especially after Croatia beat Argentina. The scores: Greece 82: Printezis 25, Bourousis 12, Calathes 9, Papanikolaou 9, Zisis 8, Vasileidis 6, Kaimakoglou 5, Sloukas 3, Antetokounmpo 3, Vougioukas 2, Mantzaris 0. Philippines 70: Blatche 21, Fajardo 10, Pingris 7, Lee 5, Norwood 5, Castro 5, De Ocampo 4, Chan 3, Tenorio 3, Alapag 3, Aguilar 2, David 2. Quarters: 20-10, 37-27, 58-45, 82-70. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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