Gilas struggles past Kazakhstan in final tune-up
Gilas Pilipinas needed some clutch baskets in crunch time to repulse a hot-shooting Kazakhstan side, 92-89, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in their final tune-up match before the 27th FIBA-Asia Championship.
Playing before a crowd that included the Big Difference Caloy Loyzaga, Gials and Kazakhstan engaged in an up-and-down game all throughout before the Filipinos finally pulled away in the last minute.
The Kazakhs were nursing an 87-86 lead with two minutes to go, but Jimmy Alapag hit two free throws to give Gilas back the lead. Jerry Johnson, Kazakhstan's naturalized player, then lost the ball, leading to a Jeff Chan triple with less than a minute left to make it 91-87 for Gilas.
Johnson cut the lead to 91-89 with a floater in the lane before Marcus Douthit split his free throws with 14.9 seconds left for the final score as the Kazakhs missed a potential game-tying triple.
But the victory could prove costly as forward Ranidel De Ocampo and point guard Jayson Castro both suffered sprained ankles, just six days before Gilas plays its first game on August 1 against Saudi Arabia.
Considered by many as the greatest Filipino basketball cager of all time, the elder Loyzaga, who was named to the Mythical Five of the 1954 World Basketball Championships, was accompanied by his son Chito and sat beside the Gilas Pilipinas bench.
The Main Man: Jeff Chan got the starting nod and he immediately repaid the trust given by coach Chot Reyes.
The 6-foot-2 Rain or Shine guard shot the lights out, hitting six big triples, none bigger than his timely bucket in the final minute.
Getting a good screen off naturalized center Marcus Douthit, Chan got the needed space and coolly drilled in the game’s biggest triple that extended the Nationals’ lead to 91-87 with 55.2 seconds left.
Honorable Mention: Called out by Reyes for having a dreary outing against his fellow pro league players the last time out, Castro responded big time.
Coming off the bench, the 5-foot-11 guard showed his quickness and explosiveness to the hilt in the second canto, firing away 11 of his 20 points while leaving his Kazaks defenders eating the dust.
Unfortunately, Castro rammed into a brick wall in the mold of Mikhail Yevstigneyev as he soared for a lay-up and tweaked his left ankle as he fell hard down to the floor.
Game Turning Point: The Nationals led by as many as 26-17 off a surprising Japeth Aguilar triple late in the first canto but suddenly trailed by five in the second quarter in the face of Anton Ponomarev's hot shooting.
Gilas Pilipinas then regained its bearings in the third canto behind skipper Jimmy Alapag, Larry Fonacier and Castro, turning a two-point halftime deficit into a 76-70 cushion heading into the fourth.
Things got tighter in the payoff canto, with Douthit and Yevstigneyev visibly getting under each other’s skin.
After the physical Kazakh forward put his team ahead 87-86 off a split charity, it was all Gilas in the final two minutes.
Two made charities by Alapag put the Nationals on top before a booming triple by Chan virtually sealed the deal 91-87 inside the final minute.
A floater by Johnson keep Kazakhs in the thick of things but Douthit restored the Gilas’ lead to three, canning the tail-end of his two freebies, time down to just 14.7 ticks.
The Kazakhs still had a chance to end the game into a stalemate but a last-gasp triple from Ponomarev went way short.
He Said It:
Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes: “‘Yan (to be scouted) ang hirap kapag pumukpok na tayo ng ganoon. Jayson and Ranidel both twisted their ankles. I hope slight lang and they can recover in a week’s time. I’m really worried about Kazakhstan. They were hitting one three-point shot after another. We know little about them. It’s a European style offense that the coach is running. Hopefully, we didn’t divulge so much. Kailangan meron pa rin tayong tinatago. From here on in, it’s really mental preparation and sharpening.”
GILAS PILIPINAS (92) - Castro 20, Chan 20, Fonacier 14, Alapag 12, Douthit 9, Tenorio 5, Fajardo 5, Aguilar 5, David 2, Norwood 0, Pingris 0, De Ocampo 0, Belga 0.
KAZAKHSTAN (89) - Johnson 17, Ponomarev 16, Kilmov 13, Murzagaliyev 12, Yevstigneyev V. 9, Dvirnyy 7, Zhigulin 7, Bondarovich 6, Yargaliyev 2, Sultanov 0, Yevstigneyev M. 0, Bazhin 0.
Quarterscores: 26-22, 51-53, 76-70, 92-89
