27th FIBA Asia Championship [Manila, Philippines, Aug 1-11]

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Against China’s Great Wall, Chinese Taipei leans on naturalized center Quincy Davis
Mikkel Bolante, InterAKTV · Friday, August 9, 2013 · 9:14 pm
FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

Chinese Taipei’s naturalized center Quincy Davis had a big task ahead of him against China, whose lineup featured not one, not two, but three 7-footers.

But instead of shying away, he played his finest game of the tournament, scoring 26 points on a near-perfect 12-for-13 shooting clip and grabbing 10 rebounds against a China frontline that featured Yi Jianlian, Wang Zhelin, and Wang Zhizhi.

“It’s a big challenge but that’s when I play my best game. It started with Qatar, they’ve got some big boys, some big strong guys in there. That’s when I play my best performance, when I see big guys, I get excited,” Davis said.

“No matter how tall or how strong they are. If they’re big, I wanna outrun them and just play tougher than them.”

That’s a good mentality to have, especially since his team is headed to a semifinal showdown against Iran and their star big man Hamed Haddadi in their next assignment.

“I’m looking forward to it. Haddadi is a great guy, a very strong guy. I’m looking forward to the competition. We played against them in the Jones Cup recently and I think we did pretty well, not settling, working hard on defense and just playing them tough,” he said.

“This is our rematch. This is our chance to get some revenge and show them what we got.”

Davis said is looking forward to matching up with Iran’s former NBA center, and gave a parting shot.

“They should be a little nervous after seeing this game against China.”

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Gilas Pilipinas explodes past Kazakhstan, 88-58, to march into FIBA Asia semifinals
InterAKTV · Friday, August 9, 2013 · 9:58 pm
FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

The Philippine national men’s basketball team rode on a hot start for a rousing 88-58 victory in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Championship on Friday.

With the victory, Gilas Pilipinas marched into the final four of the tournament, which serves as qualifier to the FIBA World Cup. The Philippines only needs to win one of its last two games to book its first appearance in the world basketball stage in four decades.

fiba-asia-bracket-iran-chinese-taipei--philippines-advance

Buoyed by a rowdy crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena, Gilas began the game on fire, running out to a 12-3 advantage. With Gary David exploding off the bench for three quick three-pointers, the Philippines opened up a 32-13 spread right in the opening period.

But Kazakhstan weathered the storm, cutting the deficit to just six points, 44-38, in the second quarter. Gilas responded with a 7-2 spurt to take a 51-40 halftime edge.

The Kazakhs continued to threaten, coming within nine points, 56-47, with 3:58 remaining in the third period. But a three-pointer by Larry Fonacier sparked a 11-2 blast that broke the back of the Kazakhstan cause, as Gilas headed into the fourth quarter ahead, 67-49.

In the face of a furious Philippine run, the Kazakhs seemed to lose poise, with Dimitry Klimov committing consecutive unsportsmanlike fouls. That allowed Gilas to take its biggest lead of 31 points late in the contest.

David finished with 22 points, finally breaking out of his tournament-long shooting slump after making four of his six three-point attempts. Japeth Aguilar, a source of energy and hustle once again, added 11 points and nine rebounds for the Philippines, which never trailed in the game.

Gilas played magnificent defense, holding Kazakhstan’s top guns Jerry Johnson and Anton Ponomarev to just eight points apiece. As a team, Kazakhstan shot a woeful 30 percent from the field.

The Philippines, assured of at least matching its fourth-place finish in the tournament two years ago, will play either South Korea or Qatar in the semifinals on Saturday.

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‘We haven’t won anything yet,’ reminds Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes
Mikkel Bolante, InterAKTV · Friday, August 9, 2013 · 10:41 pm
FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

The Philippine national men’s basketball team displayed great form in an 88-58 victory over Kazakhstan in the FIBA Asia Championship, but coach Chot Reyes is not about ready to rest on its laurels.

“We haven’t won anything yet. We haven’t done anything yet,” said Reyes, whose Gilas Pilipinas squad moved into the semifinals of the tournament with the victory.

“All we’ve done was get ourselves into a good position. And we are going to approach tomorrow, we don’t know who we are playing, hopefully, we can find a way to play even better tomorrow than tonight.”

The Philippines played its finest game in the tournament, shooting 48 percent from the field including 43 percent from beyond the arc. But Gilas was event better on defense, limiting Kazakhstan to just 30 percent shooting as stars Jerry Johnson and Anton Ponomarev struggled for just eight points apiece.

“It was a good game because we were able to execute our defensive gameplan very very well,” said Reyes, who paid tribute to his team’s opponents despite the lopsided result.

“We have very, very high respect for Kazakhstan basketball. And I have personally, very high respect for coach Matteo (Boniciolli).”

Reyes also paid tribute to the rowdy crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“I think the crowd really helped this team along and allowed us to play with a lot of energy. Yesterday in practice, I said through all of our defensive and offensive gameplans, the one thing that we had to bring to this game was a lot of energy. Because the team we’re playing is bigger than us, stronger than us, and more physical. So we gotta make sure we come in with a lot of exuberance and energy.”

With the victory, Gilas needs to win just one more match for a ticket to the FIBA World Cup in Spain next year.

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As he finally explodes, faith in Gary David pays off for Gilas Pilipinas
Mikkel Bolante, InterAKTV · Friday, August 9, 2013 · 10:58 pm
InterAKTV/Roy Afable

InterAKTV/Roy Afable

Until Friday night, people were still waiting for Gary David to explode for the Philippine national men’s basketball team in the FIBA Asia Championship.

The reigning PBA scoring champion broke out of his tournament-long slump, scoring 11 points on three bombs from long-range in the first quarter to spark Gilas Pilipinas to victory in the quarterfinals against Kazakhstan.

David finished with 22 points, and coach Chot Reyes paid tribute to his dedication to the national team.

“Gary David from Day One was there. Even in the Jones Cup last year, the Champions’ Cup last year, even with the cadets at the start of this year, Gary has not taken a day off,” said Reyes, adding he was bound to stick with the GlobalPort hotshot despite his recent misfires.

“It was something for me, personally, that I felt was just part of basketball. Shooters, their job is to shoot. But sometimes they will miss. The worst thing I could have done was to limit him, and stop giving him his minutes, as a coach.”

David’s struggles got so bad that during the team’s match against Japan, the crowd chanted his name to try to pick up the scorer’s confidence.

But Reyes said benching David was never an option for Gilas.

“I spoke to him briefly at practice yesterday. He did some extra work. I made a comment about something in his shot. And I said, you’re still going to get your time,” said Reyes.

When “El Granada” finally exploded, Reyes wasn’t the least bit surprised.

“That’s what he does. He puts the ball in the hole. That’s why he’s on this team. But I couldn’t abandon him after making himself available and giving up all his rest and vacation and family time to be with this team.”

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Japeth Aguilar finally living up to potential
Mikkel Bolante, InterAKTV · Friday, August 9, 2013 · 11:26 pm
FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

Last January, Philippine national men’s basketball coach Chot Reyes went on an epic Twitter rant directed at Japeth Aguilar.

At the time, the high-flying forward had just asked for a trade from the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters, hoping for more playing time.

Despite the public tirade, Reyes still named Aguilar to the Gilas Pilipinas lineup in the FIBA Asia Championship.

That decision has paid off handsomely, as Aguilar has stepped up as the team’s energy guy off the bench. He had 11 points and nine rebounds in Gilas’ rousing victory in the quarterfinals over Kazakhstan.

“I’ve always believed in his potential,” said Reyes after the game.

That’s why I went on that Twitter barrage, remember? When he was in the States, I went and told him to come back home. Because from Day One, not even in the national team, even with Talk ‘N Text, I really had very high hopes, tremendous belief in Japeth’s potential.”

Beyond his points and highlight plays, Aguilar has been a matchup nightmare for opponents, using his speed and athleticism to help out on offense and defense.

“But let’s stop complimenting him tonight. Because the last time we complimented him, he came back and played lousy the next day,” said Reyes in jest. “Let’s just keep it there.”

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Sixth man: Kazakhstan admits being rattled by huge crowd cheering for Gilas Pilipinas
Mikkel Bolante, InterAKTV · Friday, August 9, 2013 · 11:38 pm
InterAKTV/Roy Afable

InterAKTV/Roy Afable

The Philippine national men’s basketball team cruised into the semifinals of the FIBA Asia Championship after a rousing performance in front of their home crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena, defeating a tough Kazakhstan squad by a whopping 30 points.

Kazakhstan star forward Anton Ponomarev, who was limited to eight points by Gilas Pilipinas, admitted that he and his teammates were rattled by the loud, partisan crowd.

“Today was a great game for the Philippines. The Philippines national team showed what they’re capable of doing, with their potential. Today they were capable to score all the open shots,” Ponomarev said at the postgame press conference.

“Speaking about our team, unfortunately, we cannot deal with the pressure from the fans. Cause we rarely play in this kind of atmosphere with 16,000 spectators watching the game.”

The Kazakhs looked particularly rattled in the final period in the face of a furious Gilas run. Forward Dimitry Klimov showed his frustration with two unsportsmanlike fouls. Point guard Sultan Ibramov also committed a traveling violation when he was confused by the stadium announcer calling out the last two minutes of the match.

Ponomarev was clearly disappointed with his personal performance in the tournament.

“I would like to apologize to my team, my coach and my country because I cannot deal with the expectation and I cannot produce the best of my game on this tournament. I’m sorry.”

But Kazakhstan’s Italian coach Mario Boniciolli provided some context on what basketball is like in the country.

“In Kazakhstan, there are five professional teams. In each team there are six foreigners. That means this team is the product of the selection from just over 30 players who never played international competitions, except for two or three of them,” Boniciolli said.

He added that a player like Leonid Bondarovich, who was their starting center in the game, was “the backup of the backup of the backup of the backup of the center” in the Kazakhstan league.

“This is why I think that for my team, this is a great experience, first of all because we play great teams like the Philippines or China.”

Boniciolli is hopeful that their performance in the tournament — a quarterfinal finish despite only 40 days of preparation — could be the beginning of a new basketball program that understands the need to develop the sport seriously to keep up with the surrounding competition.

Kazakhstan is making its return to FIBA Asia competition after missing the 2011 edition of the tournament.

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BRACKET WATCH | FIBA Asia Championship Quarterfinal Results
InterAKTV · Saturday, August 10, 2013 · 12:13 am
FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

And then there were four. Here are the results of the four quarterfinal matches in the FIBA Asia Championship on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

• Iran 94, Jordan 50
• Chinese Taipei 96, China 78
• Philippines 88, Kazakhstan 58
• South Korea 79, Qatar 52

fiba-asia-bracket-iran-chinese-taipei--philippines--south-korea-advance

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FIBA Asia Championship: South Korea dispatches Qatar, sets up showdown with Gilas Pilipinas
InterAKTV · Saturday, August 10, 2013 · 12:03 am
FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

FIBA Asia/Nuki Sabio

A familiar foe will stand in the way of the Philippine national men’s basketball team in its bid to crash the finals of the FIBA Asia Championship.

South Korea dispatched Qatar, 79-52, in their quarterfinal matchup on the last match that tipped off on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena to forge a semifinal showdown against Gilas Pilipinas.

Defense has been South Korea’s calling card all tournament, and they continued to display their deadly form in the game, never allowing more than 14 points in any quarters. They pounced on Qatari ballhandlers, forcing 16 turnovers that they turned into 20 points.

Qatar tried to stay within striking distance through the third quarter, but suffered a blow when naturalized forward Jarvis Hayes came out with an injury late in the period.

Cho Sungmin scored 16 points to pace South Korea, whose only loss in the tournament came in the first round at the hands of top-seed Iran.

With the win, South Korea moves into the final four on Saturday against the Philippines in a rematch of the bronze medal duel two years ago.

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With Gilas Pilipinas win over Kazakhstan, fall of China, Tim Cone sees clear path to World Cup
Rey Joble, InterAKTV · Saturday, August 10, 2013 · 12:31 am
Sports5/Paul Mata

Sports5/Paul Mata

With the Philippine national men’s basketball team cruising to victory over Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Championship and defending champion China falling in an upset to Chinese Taipei, Tim Cone feels the goal of making it back to the world basketball stage is within reach.

“The minimum now of making it to the World Cup is beating a Chinese Taipei team or the Korean team,” the San Mig Coffee coach told InterAKTV.

Gilas Pilipinas is set to face South Korea in the semifinals on Saturday, with the other half of the bracket featuring Iran versus Chinese Taipei.

For Cone, not having to go up against China, a 15-time champion and a perennial powerhouse, takes a load off the Phiippines

“It’s a mental lift more than a physical lift,” said Cone, who said he likes the chances of the Philippines to nab one of the top three spots, which comes with it a World Cup ticket.

“Wow. It goes up. You don’t have to battle the side of China, the reputation, intimidation or whatever. Now you have teams you really feel you can beat.”

Like other basketball enthusiasts, Cone was stunned by the poor performance of China in its elimination match against its cross-strait rival.

“It’s shocking that Chinese Taipei played that well and China played that poorly. I just can imagine what’s going on back in Beijing and Shanghai. Oh, wow!” said Cone, who gave credit to the Taiwanese.

“Chinese Taipei played really well throughout the whole tournament. They’re no pushover. We already lost to them once. I always thought that China was beatable the whole tournament. Watching them, they’re very beatable.”

Cone, who helped Gilas prepare by visiting practice a couple of times before the tournament, almost couldn’t contain himself while thinking of the prospects for the national squad.

“I cannot say it’s gonna be home free, but it just get better. It was exciting before, I don’t know now. I got goose bumps for Chot (Reyes) and his team.”

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Nemesis Korea stands in Gilas' way in Last Four

By Gerry Ramos

August 10, 2013, 12:54 am
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South Korea's Kim Min Goo goes for a drive against Khalid Suliman Abdi of Qatar. Jerome Ascano   South Korea's Kim Min Goo goes for a drive against Khalid Suliman Abdi of Qatar. Jerome Ascano

A FAMILIAR nemesis responsible for breaking the hearts of this basketball-loving country so many times once again stands in the way of Gilas Pilipinas’ bid for glory in the Fiba-Asia Championship.

South Korea set up a semifinal showdown with our own national team after disposing of Qatar in their quarterfinal showdown on Saturday, 79-52, in a match-up that relives once more the colorful rivalry between the two old basketball powers in the region.

Their inside and outside game both clicking, the Koreans raced to an early 24-14 lead, and all but wrapped up the win entering the fourth when they led the Qataris by as much as 61-42 before a still sizeable crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena that included the coaching staff of Gilas Plipinas led by Norman Black and Nash Racela.

Now, it’s the Philippines and Korea all over again for a place in the finals of the qualifier for the World Basketball Championship, with the winner clinching an outright berth to Spain next year.

The 8:30 p.m. encounter is a rematch of the 2011 battle for the bronze during the Wuhan, China edition of the meet which the Koreans won, 70-68, after storning back from a huge first half deficit.

Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes has made no effort to hide his respect for the dreaded Korean team, whose 69-68 heartbreaker of a win over Philippines during the semifinals of the 2002 Asian Games in Busan remained embedded in the memory of every Filipino cage fan.

“Koreas plays with a lot of precision,” said Reyes. “I think among other teams, they play the best defense.”

Seung Jun Lee, who had 12 points for Korea, said the crowd factor will definitely work in favor of the host.

“They (Gilas) play with a lot of energy because they’re at home,” he said.

Qatar never really got into the game after falling behind by double digit deficit in the first half.

Its woes were further compounded when naturalized player Jarvis Hayes sprained his ankle in the third period and was not fielded back again by coach Tom Wisman.

“We just couldn’t match the young legs and the intensity that they played,” said Wisman.

The scores:

Korea (79) – Cho 16, Lee SJ 12, Yoon 10, Kim M. 9, Kim S. 7, Yang 7, Kim T. 6, Kim J. 6, Kim JS 4, Lee J. 2, Choi 0.

Qatar (52) – Hayes 10, Saeed 10, Daoud 9, Saad 6, Abdi 6, Elhadary 3, Musa 3, Mohammed 2, Saleem 2, Ali 1, Mohamed 0, Saleem 0.

Quarterscores: 24-14; 40-28; 61-42; 79-52.

[raisingsun]

Now we will see if the gilas could give korea a dose of their own medicine.............


 
 
 

[McLovin]

tingnan natin kung san aabot ang swerte ng taiwan against iran hahahaha

[tonistork]

It's payback time for Philippines against our old tormentor South Korea, hopefully.

It's OPM versus K-Pop.

[henu]

kung dala pa ng RP team ang momentum ng last win nila sa next game against South Korea, may laban. goodluck Gilas Pilipinas!

[fayt]

Ayos ang performance so far ng gilas... Sana magtuloy tuloy...

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