PH team loses to China 67-78; Taller rivals, short period to train mattered
It was 11 points short of a dream ticket to Rio.
Gilas Pilipinas last night won the silver medal in the 2015 Fiba Asia Men’s Championship after they lost to China in the finals, 67-78, at the Changsha Social Work College Gym in Changsha, China.
Ranged against the taller Chinese who fielded a front line dubbed “The Great Wall,” the Philippine team groped for form all night and fell short of an ambitious goal of making it to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The country last participated in the Olympics in 1972 in Munich, Germany.
Last night’s haul was the Philippine’s second straight silver medal finish in the competition after getting beaten by Iran in the finals of the 2013 tournament held in Manila.
Still, it was an impressive feat given the short preparation for the basketball team which included a week-long training camp in Lapu-Lapu City a week before the competition started.
Assembled just two months before the tournament started, the Philippine team had a slim chance of advancing deep into the tournament.
The national team struggled to recruit some of the country’s best players, including PBA two-time league Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo of Pinamungahan, Cebu, who is recuperating from a foot injury.
Gilas had three Cebuanos on board with Terrence Romeo, whose father hails from Boljoon town; Sonny Thoss who traces his roots to Talisay City and the ever-popular Dondon Hontiveros, the “Cebuano Hotshot.”
Their combined talents couldn’t sustain the winning streak that led them to the finals.
LANKY , YOUNG CHINESE
The team was outplayed by China’s lanky, not to mention relentless, defense.
After a lackluster showing in the 2013 tournament, the Chinese flourished last night with a squad teeming with young talent.
The 21-year-old guard Guo Ailun led the team with 19 points while 7-foot-1 Zhou Qi, 19, who sparked China’s early charge, finished with a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds. Former NBA player Yi Jianlian got the same with 16 points and 14 boards.
Naturalized citizen Andray Blatche led the Philippine quintet with 17 points. No other Filipino scored double figures. National team newcomers Calvin Abueva and Terrence Romeo followed with nine points each.
Sparkplug Jayson Castro struggled with finishing over China’s frontline and had just eight points while missing all but three of his 14 shot attempts. However, the Talk N Text guard got some consolation as he was still named to the tournament’s Mythical Five team as Asia’s Best Pointguard.
The Philippines was hobbled by poor free throw shooting, converting just 15 of 26 attempts from stripe.
STRONG START
The Gilas looked spry at the onset and led the game, 15-10, after a three-pointer by Gabe Norwood.
But the Chinese scored 12 straight points – seven coming from Zhou – to take a 22-17 lead. China increased the lead to 11, 40-29, before the Gilas countered with a spurt capped by a Sonny Thoss baseline jumper that trimmed the deficit to seven, 39-46, at halftime.
Time and time again, the Gilas had several opportunities to come close.
The last came at 42-50, after two freebies from Blatche. But China had an answer every time, as Li Gen hit back-to-back triples to raise the lead to 60-45.
Gilas sliced it back down to 10 points, 50-60, behind a Calvin Abueva-sparked run.
But that proved to be the Pinoys’ last best shot as China started the fourth with a flurry with Guo hitting a difficult leaner, Ding Yanyuhang canning a three-point play and Guo driving in for a left-handed lay-in that pushed the lead back to 15, 67-52.
After Romeo answered with a twinner, Ding cashed in another triple to give China its biggest lead of the game at 16, 70-54, 5:34 to go.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
