Gilas enters killer stretch

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

TAIPEI—Chot Reyes played some of his aces more than he thought he should have on Tuesday afternoon against an enemy Gilas Pilipinas could have conquered rather easily.

And this is a concern as the Filipinos head into what the firebrand coach said is “the belly of our schedule” in the 39th Jones Cup Invitational here.

“My concern is (South) Korea,” Reyes said after a 100-85 decision of Japan, which the Filipinos were only able to fend off after a 12-0 run late in the fourth period as Gilas again labored under a bum start at Taipei Peace Basketball Hall here.

The Filipinos, after rising to 3-1, battle the Koreans at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, and Reyes would have wanted his men fresher because from there, Gilas takes on Iraq and then Atletas All Stars Lithuania in the next two days.

“We needed to rest more guys today and rest them for Korea,” Reyes said. “But we needed to play people extensive minutes (with the game being close). We don’t know how we will compete against Korea. But we will try our best.”

The Koreans, who have dealt the Filipinos numerous heartaches in the past, were set to battle the Lithuanians later on Tuesday. After victories over Chinese Taipei B, India and Iran, Korea went into that game still undefeated.

Bobby Ray Parks will be out for the third straight game for Gilas with a swollen left foot, giving Reyes one less reliable wingman on the floor.

The Filipinos were tipped as the heavy favorites against Japan’s Under-24 squad but trailed for most of the game, needing that one telling burst late in the final frame to snuff the fight out of the Japanese and win for the third straight day.

“We needed a lot of focus and we weren’t able to execute that in the first half,” said Christian Standhardinger, who is pondering on starting a PBA career when the team planes back home.

“We had the urgency in the fourth period and got going on defense,” he added after finishing with 22 points and 15 rebounds which he highlighted by finishing a fastbreak play with a two-handed dunk in that 12-0 run.

“In an elite tournament like this, there’s no such thing as an easy game,” Reyes said. “They (Japanese) gave us everything we could handle. In the end, we were fortunate to pull it off.”

Reyes pointed out that he used Kiefer Ravena, Matthew Wright and import Mike Myers longer than he had planned.

All three finished in twin digits, with Myers completing a double-double with 17 and 17 rebounds and Wright chipping in 15 and Ravena 11. Jio Jalalon also had 11 points and two steals in his finest game yet.