Jeff Chan vs Jaber Kabe FIBA ASIA PHOTO by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines— With seven-tenths of a second left in the first half, Jeff Chan rose for an unnecessary challenge on Aymam Almuwallad, fouling Saudi Arabia’s best shooter from beyond the arc.
It was that type of a game for Gilas Pilipinas.
Larry Fonacier blamed it on a case of jitters. Chot Reyes said it was more disappointing than anything else. Ranidel de Ocampo said it was time to move on. The Philippines turned back Saudi Arabia, 78-66, Thursday night to open its Fiba Asia championship bid but could not get any traction at all in the game.
And neither did the Nationals build enough momentum for a testier challenge Friday. Jordan, which had earlier lost a 91-87 decision to a hot-shooting Chinese Taipei squad, is Gilas Pilipinas next opponent.
“I think it’s an ugly win, but it’s still a win and we have to move on,” said De Ocampo, the stretch four whose health was in question after tweaking an ankle during an exhibition match.
The team started its campaign with two-near turnovers before nailing eight straight points to get into an early rhythm. But in what seemed to be the theme of the night, the Nationals snapped out of it on their own, allowing Saudi Arabia to even take the lead on several occasions.
“Maybe we had the jitters,” said Fonacier, who finished with 12 points after struggling early on.
It was certainly not the performance the team needed. It could hardly get the crowd—not as packed as expected—really going. Whatever noise was generated from the audience seemed perfunctory. It hardly was the rock-and-roll type of atmosphere one expected from a crowd that was supposed to act as some sort of a sixth man.
Gilas Pilipinas worked up its supporters early in the third period. Coming out of a locker room with a seven-point lead—nine if not for that ill-advised foul by Chan that had Almuwallad draining two of three free throws—the Nationals assembled its first electric run: a 9-0 exchange that built a 44-32 cushion.
The crowd certainly got into it. From its amusement over the coliseum barker calling Jayson Castro his state-registered name, Jayson William, to two blocks and a slam from Marcus Douthit to a fastbreak play that ended with a de Ocampo layup, there were enough reasons to get loud.
But then Saudi Arabia got to within three again and the audience retreated to obligatory applauses against the backdrop of choreographed drums.
“It was never supposed to be easy,” said Fonacier. “We played a quality team tonight.”
The Philippines opened the final quarter strong again, taking a 66-50 lead halfway through the period but inexplicably eased up on the gas pedal, particularly on the defensive end, where Gilas Pilipinas allowed three open triples to give them a slight scare.
A final run finally put the game away, but by then, the team looked more relieved than anything after a winning margin well accounted for by Saudi Arabia’s 13 missed free throws.
“We’re happy to come away with this game with a victory but the real battle is [Friday against Jordan],” said Reyes, the national team head coach who admitted that the Saudis were a complete mystery.
“We hadn’t seen them at all,” he said.
He certainly saw plenty of them Thursday night.
And even if the team is slightly favored against Jordan, the Nationals will see an even more spirited fight Friday.
There certainly wasn’t any need to reach for panic or worry just yet. After all, anybody who has seen a Gilas practice or two knows that the five players Reyes normally groups into a unit hardly played together Thursday night.
Still, in a tournament where heavy favorite China made just 38 percent of its shots and missed all its 14 attempts from beyond the arc in a surprise 63-59 defeat to South Korea, anything can happen.
“Our objective is to keep getting better,” said Reyes, whose team committed 14 turnovers.
After that kind of a game, they certainly need to.
Originally posted at 11:47 pm | Thursday, August 1, 2013