Gilas falls short, yields to France

FRENCH star Tony Parker squeezes in between Gilas Pilipinas’ Jason Castro and teammate Joffrey Lauvergne for a drive in last night’s game at MoA Arena. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

WITHOUT the razzle-dazzle and despite the enemy enjoying the backing of the country’s most powerful man, France proved too much to handle as it fried Gilas Pilipinas at the start of the Manila Olympic Qualifying Tournament last night.

Tony Parker played through the jeers and his supporting cast never wavered as France bounced back from a bum start and played tough in the stretch to pull off a 93-84 victory, frustrating a virtual sea of humanity clad in white at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

With President Duterte making the ceremonial toss and watching the action at ringside, the Filipinos got off to a hot start and led the French, 28-18, on a three-point play by Jason Castro off Kim Tillie with 23.9 ticks left in the first period.

Sensing that the Filipinos had the talent to beat them, the French came out a far better team in the second period, overhauling a seven-point deficit at the start of the quarter with Parker leading the way.

And when the French pulled in front, 43-41, as Parker got away from Terrence Romeo on a drive to the basket, the highest-ranked team in the tournament at world No. 5 never looked back.

“Tony Parker was a handful,” Gilas coach Tab Baldwin told reporters. “He read our defensive scheme very well and once we lost the lead, we were searching for answers.

“France didn’t panic, they pounded us,” added Baldwin, whose wards coughed up the ball 18 times. “We had too many turnovers and France did a good job forcing us into those turnovers.”

Despite the setback, the Filipinos showed they belonged in this tournament by letting the game hang in the balance going into the dying minutes.

Andray Blatche scored the first five points for the Filipinos and finished with 14 of Gilas’ 30 points in the first period. But he clearly lost steam after that, looking like one spent man in the fourth.

The Philippines came within 81-85, time down to 3:14, after a Gabe Norwood followup of a Blatche miss, but Boris Diaw, the grizzled NBA veteran and tested internationalist, scored on a layup.

Then a spate of errors did Gilas in.

Gilas is now faced with a must-win game against New Zealand at 9 p.m. today in order to have a shot at advancing to the Final Four.

Nicolas Batum, who agreed a day ago to a five-year $120-million contract with the Charlotte Hornets, didn’t play. He could be available against New Zealand at 9 p.m. tomorrow.

In the first game, Canada used its quickness and all but sealed safe passage into the Final Four after blasting Turkey, 77-69.

Corey Joseph scored 11 points in the third quarter when the Canadians wrested full control as they put the Turks in a must-win situation against African powerhouse Senegal tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.

But before that, the Canadians will try to seal the No. 1 ranking in their group against the Senegalese at 6:30 p.m. today.

The scores:

First Game

CANADA 77—Joseph 21, Scrubb, P.10, Thompson 10, Scrubb, T. 9, Ejim 7, Ennis 6, Heslip 6, Birch 4, Bennett 4.
TURKEY 69—Guler 14, Osman 10, Mahmotuglo 9, Erden 8, Batuk 8, Salvaz 7, Geyik 4, Asik 4, Korkmaz 2, Sipahi 2, Ali 1, Arslan 0.
Quarters: 21-17, 39-30, 59-47, 77-69

Second Game

FRANCE 93—De Colo 27, Parker 21, Tillie 10, Lauvergne 10, Diaw 9, Gelabale 8, Diot 4, Heurtle 2, Moerman 0, Pietrus 0.
GILAS PILIPINAS 84—Blatche 21, Romeo 19, Castro 14, Chan 9, Rosario 6, Norwood 4, Parks 3, Reyes 3, De Ocampo 3, Pingris 2, Fajardo 0.
Quarters: 22-30, 45-43, 77-66, 93-84