By: Anthony Don T. Marca
SMART-Gilas Pilipinas’ campaign
for championship ended last Sept. 21 as they fell short on the second half of
the semi-final round of the FIBA Asia Cup, leading to a 60-77 win by Iran.
The Philippine squad, led by L.A.
Tenorio, was still in high hopes because of a tied 30-all at the first half,
but the Iranians eventually swung the game in their favor on an 8-0 run to
start the third quarter.
During mid-way through the third,
both teams exchanged baskets before Iran burst for a 10-point lead, 46-36, but
Gabe Norwood answered with a back-to-back trey along with a split on the line
by Tenorio.
Goaltending was called on Iran’s
Jared Dillinger for his layup, making the Smart Gilas trail only by 3, 48-45.
Turnover became the highlight of
the game as the Smart Gilas trailed by the end of the third quarter, 53-47, and
the Iranians kept their explosive performance with a dunk by Asghar Kardoust at
the start of the final canto.
Marcus Douthit committed his
fourth personal foul with still 8 minutes remaining on the game clock and was
replaced by Sonny Thoss who got fouled out just after the substitution, making
the Iranians took the lead back to double figures at 15, 62-47.
With less than 2 minutes left in
the clock, and the Gilas still down by 18 points, 74-56, Coach Chot Reyes
decided not to put Douthit back in the game.
With 23 turnovers by the Smart
Gilas, Reyes took the blame on their loss. “Weren’t ready [to] play. I take
full responsibility,” he said in his Twitter account.
Road to FIBA Asia Championships
Gilas finished second in the
eliminations of Group A after losing their opening game against the young
Chinese squad, but they bounced back by winning three games in a row.
The players showed consistency in
the games they played, pummeling their last three opponents in the eliminations
with a double-digit lead, defeating Lebanon by 10, Uzbekistan by 35, and Macau
by 52.
Entering the quarterfinals, they
continued their winning streak by routing Chinese Taipei onward to the semis to
face Iran who defeated Uzbekistan.
Iran finished at the top of Group
B with an outstanding 4-0 win-loss slate, claiming Japan as its last victim,
who in turn went as the second placer of Group B with an identical record to
the Gilas at three wins out of four meetings.
If the Smart Gilas snatches the
third place win against Qatar, who lost to Japan on the other bracket, they
would automatically qualify to the FIBA Asia Championships, which is set to
commence next year.
Dispute with Lebanon
In the early minutes of their
game against Iran, Reyes was whistled for a technical foul for talking to
Norwood.
“I didn’t deserve the [technical
foul] for talking to [Gabe Norwood] two minutes into the game from the LEBANESE
ref,” read another statement from his Twitter account.
Before the start of the
quarterfinal round, Philippines bided to host the World Cup Qualifier next
year. The presentation went well as it was headed by Samahang Basketbol ng
Pilipinas president Manny V. Pangilinan, executive director Sonny Barrios,
former ABC secretary general Mauricio Martelino and Philippine Basketball
Association commissioner Chito Salud.
For some reasons, the FIBA Asia
executive committee gave the hosting job to Lebanon, guaranteeing home-court
advantage to the Lebanese.
The committee’s
secretary-general, Hagop Khajirian is a Lebanese.
“Pinapunta pa si [MVP] at si Com
Salud, [ibibigay] din pala sa lugar na malapit sa gyera at player lang ang nag
present,” the disappointed Reyes said.
Iran (77) – Afagh
14, Kardoust 13, Jasmshidi 13, Bahrami 12, Sahakian 12, Davoudi 6, Arghavan 6,
Foroutan 1, Aslani 0, Yahchali 0
SMART-Gilas Pilipinas (60) –
Tenorio 13, Dillinger 13, Douthit 11, Chan 5, Fonacier 5, De Ocampo 4, Norwood
4, Villanueva 3, David 2, Reyes 0, Rosser 0, Thoss 0
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