BIG, STRONG RUSSIANS BULLY RP SQUAD 21-9 IN FIBA 3X3 CHAMPIONSHIP
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 06 Jun 2015
A much bigger and stronger Russian squad effectively bullied their much smaller Filipino counterparts to register a lopsided 21-9 victory and dash the Philippine hopes of qualifying for the quarter finals knockout stage in Hungary early Saturday morning Manila time.
Not only did the Russians push our players around, one of them threw a punch but there was no indication he was penalized when he should have been thrown out.
The Filipinos refused to back down but were out-rebounded and out-shot in a dominating performance by the Russians which followed an earlier classic in which Argentina beat the United States 20-18 with a buzzer beating long shot that sent the players into a rare celebration.
It was a closely fought contest all the way but while the Americans were flashy the Argentines were solid and deserved the victory.
Kobe Paras who was dwarfed by the Russians was off and when he doesn?t click it's tough for his teammates to deliver although they tried their best against overwhelming odds.
The Russians capitalized on poor shooting and hurried shots by the young Filipinos and dominated the boards to race to a 6-0 lead before Paras was fouled and sank the free throw to put the Filipinos on board.
Rivero was fouled but failed to convert his charity and the Russians quickly posted a 9-2 lead which they made 13-7 with 3:48 remaining.
There was a near melee when a Russian player threw a punch and was confronted by Paras but cooler heads prevailed and the game resumed before the Russians coasted to a 21-9 victory at the buzzer.
Earlier the Filipino youngsters scored a fairly comfortable 13-8 win over Kazakhstan to move closer to earning a slot in the quarter finals late Friday.
The Filipinos lost a 13-15 heart breaker to Poland in their opening game when teenage sensation Kobe Paras who admitted he lost the game for the Philippines even though he scored with 9 points vowed to come back which he did leading the Philippines with 15 points in a close 19-18 win over hosts Hungary in their second game.
In Friday?s game against Kazakhstan, Nieto opened the scoring after a Paras block before an inside move gave Kazakhstan a 2-1 lead which was quickly settled by successive a Paras dunks which pushed us in frint 3-2.
Two baskets followed and with 6:47 remaining in the ten minute game, the RP boys raced ahead 5-2 and when Paras was fouled on a drive to the basket and sank the free throw the RP squad went ahead 7-2 but two successive baskets by Kazakhstan trimmed the lead to 7-4 with 5:13 to play.
After a good shot block a foul enabled the Filipinos to convert the free throw to move ahead 9-4 with 3:52 remaining in the game.
A wild attempt by Paras enabled the Kazakhs to inch closer at 10-6 before the Filipinos edged in front again 11-8 although Paras missed his free throw attempt.
Michael Nieto and Ricci Rivero who played his best game so far was fouled on a strong drive to the hoop and calmly sank both free throws to wrap up the contest 13-8.
The father of Kobe, Benjie Paras,the only PBA player to win ?Rookie of the Year? and Most Valuable Player awards in the same season in 1979 and another MVP accolade ten years later told the New Standard/Viva Sports that the win over Kazakhstan ?was expected because it was a comparatively weak team.?
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