Games on Thursday
(King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah)
2 p.m. (7 p.m. Manila time) – Iraq vs Chinese Taipei
6 p.m. (11 p.m. Manila time) – Philippines vs New Zealand
GILAS Pilipinas got off to a fumbling start in the FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, dropping an 87-95 setback to old tormentor Chinese-Taipei on Tuesday night (early Wednesday in Manila).
But the Nationals won’t let this deflate their spirits or diminish their belief in their capability to still go all the way.
“We felt that coming in, we would have a chance to go far and this has made a big roadblock for us up here. That’s something we have to overcome. If we have to come through the loser’s bracket, then we’ll try to do that,” said coach Tim Cone.
After the loss, Gilas found itself running third in Group D with one point and -8 differential behind New Zealand (NZ) (two points and +22) and the Taiwanese (two points and +8). Iraq brought up the rear with one point and -22.
Per competition rules, the group winner will gain a direct entry into the quarterfinals while the second and third-ranked squads will move to the playoff matches for the remaining Last-8 tickets.
Mr. Cone’s troops now have to pick themselves up quickly with the NZ Tall Blacks up next Thursday at 6 p.m. at the King Abdullah Sports City (11 p.m. in Manila). The Kiwis flexed their muscles in a 100-78 demolition of Iraq on opening day.
“We can feel bad about this one as much as we want, we can cry about it even, but the bottom line is we got New Zealand coming up and we got to get ready for them. This team has shown a lot of bounce-back in the past and I think we have a really good chance of coming out and playing a better, better game our next time out,” he said.
In a listless opening, Mr. Cone and Co. trailed early, 8-25, and Chinese-Taipei, led by the sweet-shooting Ying-Chun Chen (34 points on six-of-eight three-point clip) and 7-foot Brandon Gilbeck (16-9), kept them at bay the rest of the way.
Justin Brownlee shot 19 with seven rebounds before fouling out in the fourth. Kevin Quiambao rifled in 17, leading the fourth-quarter fightback that put Gilas to as close as four before the Taiwanese extinguished the threat for good.
“Obviously, (a) tough loss. I think we got punched early and we didn’t punch back,” said AJ Edu after Gilas failed to avenge its 84-91 loss to Chinese-Taipei back in the Asia Cup Qualifiers last February. — Olmin Leyba
The scores:
Chinese-Taipei 95 – Chen 34, Gilbeck 16, Lin 14, Hinton R. 14, Gadiaga 5, Hinton A. 4, Tseng 4, Ma 3, Hu 1, Liu 0, Gao 0, Chen 0.
Philippines 87 – Brownlee 19, Quiambao 17, Ramos 16, Thompson 16, Edu 8, Oftana 6, Newsome 3, Fajardo 2, Perez 0, Aguilar 0, Tamayo 0.
Quarterscores: 27-16, 43-34, 73-62, 95-87
