Gilas Pilipinas PBA ALL-STAR IMAGE by Nuki Sabio
MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas needed some challenge and it got one Sunday night.
The Nationals needed to fight off a game PBA Selection side, 101-93, in the main event of this year’s All-Star Weekend at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“I’d like to extend my appreciation to coach Tim and the PBA All-Stars for preparing hard,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes. “You could see that they were very well prepared, they defended us well and they kept showing us different combinations, different looks. They were able to run some stuff that we’re going to see in international competition.”
The game, which marked Gilas Pilipinas’ first since its historic second place finish in the Fiba Asia Championship last August, appeared to be a one-sided affair with the Nationals taking an 18-point lead twice.
But on both occasions, the PBA All-Stars mounted a comeback.
Gary David, who was named All-Star MVP, scored 15 points for Gilas including a shot clock beating 3-pointer that extended the lead back to 14, 98-84, with 4:47 left.
Jeff Chan topscored with 17 points, including seven straight points late in the third quarter that broke the game open.
Marcus Douthis asserted himself in the second half and finished with 10 points on four-of-four shooting from the field to go along with seven rebounds and two blocks
“We had Marcus and that’s kind of an unfair advantage on our part,” said Reyes, who was pleased with how his team moved the ball with 28 assists.
Though All-Star games are usually played with not much defense, this one was full of it as the PBA stars really made it a point to give the Spain-bound Gilas team the kind of workout it needed for its coming World Cup tilt this August.
“This game would definitely help us. It might be just one game but it means a lot to us and to the fans to be able to see the team again,” said Reyes.
“The idea of coming here was to challenge the Gilas team and I think we did that,” said coch Tim Cone, who mentored the PBA All-Star squad. “I thought we defended them well and gave them some problems.”
San Miguel Beer swingman Marcio Lassiter led the All-Stars with 12 points while Barangay Ginebra’s Greg Slaughter added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
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