Gabe Norwood shines on defensive end for Gilas Pilipinas

TOWERING NORWOOD The Philippines’ Gabe Norwood gets the ball as Jordan’s Ahmad Alhamarsheh and Jimmy Baxter look on in their game at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Friday night, Aug. 2, 2013. The Philippines beat Jordan, 77-71, for its second victory in as many games in Group A of the 27th FIBA-Asia Championship. They will face Chinese-Taipei, also unbeaten in their group, Saturday. Photo by NUKI SABIO/PBA IMAGE

MANILA, Philippines—With less than a minute left in the ballgame and after a particularly active night on the defensive end, Gabe Norwood sprinted down the court and urged an already electric crowd at Mall of Asia Arena to get even louder.

How could they refuse?

Norwood had just assembled a series of highlight defensive plays—chasing down an opponent for a fastbreak-nullifying block, pulling off a steal and getting a hand on a pass to force a turnover—to make sure that this night wouldn’t solely be about the big games Jeff Chan and Jayson Castro cobbled in a 77-71 Gilas Pilipinas victory over Jordan Friday night.

“Gabe Norwood played a helluva game against Jimmy Baxter,” said Philippines coach Chot Reyes. Baxter is Jordan’s top gunner and Norwood slowed him down to just 14 points, making sure he wouldn’t be as much of a factor against the Filipinos.

“For sure, it wasn’t just me,” said Norwood after the match. “I just tried to keep him in front of me because he’s a very strong player. But our bigs helped out a lot too. We had a great game plan against him and we played great defense. I can’t take credit for that.”

Norwood finished with eight points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks in 37 minutes of action—the most by any member of Gilas Pilipinas. When he saluted the crowd toward the end of the game, it was his own way of showing gratitude for what they did to him.

They made sure he had the energy to stay in front of Baxter.

“You can’t get tired with a crowd like that. If this keeps up, we will truly have that homecourt edge,” said Norwood. “[The win] was for everyone watching here.”

The crowd was certainly a factor. More perfunctory than anything else on opening day, the arena audience was a whole lot louder, even performing the wave several times, and merited a few post-game shoutouts from both coaches.

“The crowd really gave us a big lift,” said Reyes.

Jordan coach Alexandris Evangelos also gave credit to the crowd, or at least he tried to through an interpreter who couldn’t cobble up enough sense to provide a clearer context of what he was saying.

The message was clear, though.

“The fans, they teased us,” the interpreter said. “The atmosphere was against us.”

It got loudest in the third period. Down six after trailing by double digits in the first half, the Philippines engineered a 17-0 run to take a 53-42 spread with 2:12 remaining. Gilas Pilipinas forced turnovers and hit the open floor, a stark contrast to a first half where the Nationals had trouble finishing shots.

“After a tight first half, coach told us to run at every opportunity,” said Castro, who had seven points during that Gilas Pilipnas run.

That wasn’t the only thing Reyes told his players after the half.

“You cannot print what I told them at halftime,” said Reyes.

Whatever it was, the team was certainly fired up after the break, turning what started out as a bleak situation into a perfect set-up for Saturday’s crucial match against fellow unbeaten squad Chinese-Taipei.

The Taiwanese had earlier destroyed Saudi Arabia, 90-67, earlier.

The winner of the Gilas Pilipinas-Chinese-Taipei match takes a 3-0 card into the next preliminary phase, where the top three Group A teams face the three Group B squads.

Chan finished with 17 points, nailing five of seven triples for the Philippines, which finished with a 12-of-27 lip from beyond the arc. He also paid tribute to the crowd.

“They boosted our energy,” he said in Filipino. When we made shots, they got loud and that helped give us momentum.”

Castro finished with 16 points, punishing his defenders with his quickness.

“He struggled at the start that’s why I had to pull him out early,” said Reyes. “But when he settled down, he got his game back. Aside from the defensive pressure he puts, he also puts a lot of offensive pressure on the other team.”

Norwood is expected to play yet another key role defensively against Chinese-Taipei Saturday.

“They’re a tough team. They play fast, similar to us. Something’s gotta give,” Norwood said.