SMART GILAS PILIPINAS ROUTS UZBEKISTAN 85-50
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 16 Sep 2012
Obviously buoyed by its smashing victory over tough Lebanon who beat them in the recent Jones Cup which Smart Gilas Pilipinas eventually won, the Philippine National Team routed hapless Uzbekistan by 35 points to score its second win in three starts in the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo.
A stifling defense which has been the hallmark of the nationals who have been coached brilliantly by Chot Reyes and torrid outside shooting by lefty Jeff Chan plus some highlight reel shots by Fil-Am Matt Rosser provided the Filipino fans at the venue something to cheer about.
Smart Gilas limited Uzbekistan to a mere 5 points in the second quarter after a fairly even first to set the stage for a romp with 39-21 lead at the half. The Filipinos held the Uzbeks scoreless for almost 8 minutes in the second ten minutes of the game in which Douthit who had a spectacular game against Lebanon with 25 points and 21 rebounds totally outplaying his Providence team-mate and naturalized American Garnett Thompson who was limited to 15 points and 6 rebounds sitting on the bench.
Douthit started the 3rd quarter with LA Tenorio who immediately drew shouts of ?Ginebra! Ginebra!? the moment he touched the ball.
A slam dunk by highly-flying Gabe Norwood over an alleyoop, a reverse layup and a triple by Jeff Chan followed by a Douthit slam off a Chan pass broke the game wide open after Douthit converted 2-of-4 free throws on an unsportsmanlike foul called on an Uzbek player to open up a 50-23 lead before another Chan triple made it 53-23. Chan finished with 20 points.
Douthit sank one of two free throws to make it 54-25 before Reyes decided to rest the hardworking center who was replaced by Enrico Villanueva who made his presence felt with a basket followed by a Fonacier hit to make 60-25 with 2:20 left in the third quarter.
Ranidel de Ocampo buried a three-point shot to answer a triple by Rahimov before Denisov also nailed a three to end the third quarter with Smart Gilas up by 30 big points 63-33.
Back-to-back baskets by Jared Dillinger and a reverse layup by Villanueva off a steal and a big three by Gary David opened up a 72-38 spread with 6:20 to play.
JR Reyes also got into the scoring mode with a shot from the right corner before Matt Rosser who showed boundless energy at both ends of the court made a basket but failed to make a three-point play after which Villanueva also added to the free throw woes when he missed two.
Rosser soared high much like Gabe Norwood does but missed a follow-up slam before Reyes nailed a three to make it 79-44 with 3:31 remaining.
David scored off a Rosser steal before Rosser went sky high for a slam which drew cheers from the fans before another remarkable basket which AKTV IBC 13 TV commentators Mico Halili and Ronnie Magsanoc described as a hang-time dipsy-doo gave the nationals a commanding 85-48 lead with just over two minutes remaining before one last basket by Uzbekistan made the final tally 85-50.
Rosser had 11 rebounds including 7 at the defensive end while Dillinger also scored in double figures behind Chan.
For Uzbekistan Vyacheslav Denisov was the leading scorer with 16 points while Samender Juginisov had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.
Smart Gilas which lost a 71-68 heartbreaker to China on opening day play lowly Macau in its final game on Monday and will move into the quarter finals with an almost certain 3-1 card.
Coach Reyes told the Manila Standard that if the Philippines finishes in the group standings behind China or Lebanon, Smart Gilas will play the winner of the Qatar-Chinese-Taipei game in the knockout quarter finals. But emphasized ?its still a hard one because there are no easy games in the other group.?
Reyes revealed that after watching a tape of the game against China, Douthit told him he was ?very upset about how he played and conceded it was one of the poorest games he played.? But Douthit came back with a vengeance and more than proved his worth against Lebanon.
He said after a hard game against Lebanon he told his players ?lets focus on our defense and continue staying with our habits. I was pretty pleased with the performance.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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