PHILIPPINES UNDER 18 TEAM MAULED BY CHINA
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 24 Aug 2014
Awesome defending champions China proved to be far too big and essentially too good for the Batang Gilas Under 18 team and mauled the Philippines by 42 big points, 91- 49 before a predominantly sell-out crowd of flag-waving Filipinos in the FIBA Asia Under 18 basketball championships at the Al Gharafa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
The Filipino fans who thrilled at the epic comeback against Qatar when the Under 18 squad clawed back from a 15 point fourth quarter deficit to win 82-79 watched helplessly while the Chinese ran roughshod over the much smaller Filipinos as the game progressed.
The Philippines enjoyed a 4-2 lead early in the first quarter on two converted free throws by Kobe Paras and a strong drive to the hoop by Mark Dyke after Sun Minghui opened the scoring for China before the defending champions behind Minghui and Shao Yinglun opened up a double ? digit lead after only seven minutes of the quarter and never looked back.
The closest the Filipinos came was 22-15 at the end of the first quarter. While the Filipino fans cheered themselves hoarse, nothing could stop China from running away with the game behind solid point guard Zhao Rui who led all scorers with 25 points in addition to pulling down 8 rebounds and issuing 5 assists.
Zhou Qi who was sent in by coach Fan Bin in the closing minutes of the opening quarter soon joined Zhao Rui and Yang Kai and according to Fiba Asia ?took turns in running circles around the rival defense? and sparked a 15-0 run that enabled China to enjoy a comfortable lead at the half.
Zhou Qi who was inducted only in the closing minutes of the first quarter ? and was used very sparingly ? joined Zhao Rui and Yang Kai and three took turns in running circles around the rival defense. The trio contributed equally in steering China?s 15-0 run which helped them close the first half with a sizable lead.
Although it was obvious the writing was on the wall for the Philippines, FIBA Asia reported that at least off the court it was ?an out an out Filipino party all the way.?
Zhao Rui had a game-high 25 points for China. No Philippine player scored in double figures with the leading scorer being Brandrey Bienes who contributed 9 points in just over 13 minutes of action while Dave Wilson Yu added 8 points along with Paul Desiderio.
Kobe Paras had 4 points and 4 rebounds with one steal in almost 16 minutes on the court with the Philippines shooting a forgettable 26 percent from the field converting on 21 out of 82 attempts which was much more than the Chinese who converted on 33 out of 65 attempts for a high 51 percent.
China used its height and heft to dominate the boards with a 57-29 spread in rebounds giving the Asian Under 18 champions a whopping 54 to 26 advantage in points in the paint.
Twice reigning gold medalists China and Korea two teams who have played the gold medal games of the last two editions of FIBA Asia U18 Championships are certain to set up a collision course for the top spot in Group E of the 23rd FIBA Asia U18 Championship after both maintained their winning run in the competition on Saturday and are almost certain to vie for the gold medal.
FIBA Asia reported that Korea were up against Qatar and brooked no challenge sweeping aside the hosts 102-49 . The Philippines will face Malaysia who beat Qatar on opening day, on Sunday.
Jeon Hyunwoo?s back-to-back treys opened the scoring for Korea and the game against Qatar and the three-time former gold medalists never looked back. Jeon Hyunwoo himself went on to finish with a game-high 27 points with a staggering 7/13 return from beyond the arc in an overall 10/19 field shooting.
Park Junyoung added 13 points in a rotation that saw all Korean players score.
Mohammad Abdulrahman Saad gave a good presentation of his capabilities while scoring 15 points to lead Qatar.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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