GILAS-PILIPINAS CRUSHES KAZAKHSTAN, FACES SOUTH KOREA IN SEMIS TODAY
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 10 Aug 2013
It was the best game by the Gilas-Pilipinas national team in the ongoing FIBA-Asia Championships at the SM Mall of Asia Arena. The Philippine team annihilated Kazakhstan by 30 big points, 88-58 in the quarter- final round. They dashed to a 32-13 lead in the first quarter and never looked back.
Gary David played his finest game in the on-going tournament, coming off the bench, and sinking three successive triples, capping a 22-point performance. The PBA scoring champion, who made four of six attempts beyond the arc, set the tone of the Gilas exploding for 13 triples.
The Kazakhs threatened by pulling down the Philippines' lead to just six points, 44-38, in the second quarter. Gilas responded with a 7-2 burst to post a 51-40 halftime spread.
In the third stage, Kazakhstan again intimidated the hosts by inching closer, 56-47. A triple by Larry Fonacier triggered a 11-2 rally to close the third quarter with a big lead, 67-49.
In the final stanza, Team Pilipinas led by as much as 31 points amidst the collapse of the Kazakhs' offense following Gilas' amazing defense. The boisterous crowd inspired the Pinoy players as they came nearer to their goal of landing in the top three to book a ticket to the FIBA World Cup next year.
Japeth Aguilar contributed 11 points and nine rebounds engaging in battles underneath and executing hustles on both ends of the court.
"The Philippines showed tonight a great basketball made on defense,? commented Kazakhstan coach Matteo Boniciolli.
Gilas-Pilpinas will face South Korea today when the Koreans won over Qatar, 79-52 in the other quarter-final game last night.
South Korea dealt the Philippines several heart-breaking defeats including the disgusting "Busan Debacle" during the 2002 Asian Games when the Philippine team coached by Jong Uichico failed to enter the finals by a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Lee Sang Min.
In the 2011 FIBA-Asia, Korea overcame an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter and turned back the game for another sorry loss for the Philippines and denied Gilas of a bronze medal finish and a possible entry to the 2012 Olympic qualifier.
?Korea is an old team. This is a five-year old team, they play at our level. It?s time to beat them,? said former national coach Rajko Toroman as quoted by spin.ph. ?It?s about time we avenge whatever they took from us last time and all these years."
?We haven?t won anything yet. We haven?t done anything yet,? said coach Chot Reyes, as quoted by interAKTV. ?All we?ve done was get ourselves into a good position. Hopefully, we can find a way to play even better tomorrow than tonight.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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