Gilas ‘fortunate’ to beat Japan, but that’s better than being unlucky

Ignacio Dee

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Gilas ‘fortunate’ to beat Japan, but that’s better than being unlucky
"We were fortunate," admits Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin. The Philippines will hope to stretch their good fortune one more night against China

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine national basketball team, running on true grit, survived an error-laden game and overcame a fighting Japanese squad, 81-70, to enter the gold medal match of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China. 

“We were fortunate,” Gilas Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin admitted in a TV interview after the match that kept Filipino cage fans glued to their TV sets, reminiscent of the 1960s where people were glued to radio sets listening to the finals of the Asian Basketball Confederation championship, the predecessor of FIBA Asia. 

The victory came even as the Philippines faced a stark disparity in free throw opportunities, shooting only 6 while Japan hit 24 of 29 opportunities. The Philippines turned the ball 11 times while Japan had 9 turnovers. 

Accumulating turnovers instead of points and fouling too much, the Philippines drew on the gutsy veterans Dondon Hontiveros, Ranidel de Ocampo and Gabe Norwood in the final quarter to repel the hard fighting Japanese five. 

“The Cebuano Hotshot” Hontiveros shot 6-of-9 from the three-point area and Ranidel de Ocampo scored all his 8 points in the final canto – including two blocked shots on taller Japanese forwards – as the Philippines slowly pulled. 

De Ocampo scored on a followup to make it 74-68. Hontiveros buried the last of his 6 triples to stretch it to 77-68, forcing Japan to call their last timeout with 2:08 left. Norwood fished the ball out of the hands of a Japanese forward which went to Blatche, who was fouled by Joji Takeuchi. Blatche sank the free throws, 79-68 with 51.6 seconds left. 

The Japanese came to fight, but so did Jayson Castro and the Philippines. Photo from FIBA

Hontiveros, 38, is the second oldest player in the team which few thought will not get this far after losing several stars of their 2014 squad which played in the World Cup. De Ocampo, 35, was a member of that squad.

Blatche topped the team with 22 points and Jayson Castro, burying clutch jumpers after Japan fought to tie the game at 54-all as the third quarter ended, had 20. Hontiveros had 18. 

The Chinese coaching staff were seen taking down notes while watching the game from the stands where Japan coach Kenji Hasegawa saw the card he had played too often run out of success: making his star Joji Takeuchi and the team’s sharpshooter Makoto Hejima play the whole game. 

Hejima, who sizzled with 22 points in the first half, scored only 6 in the second half, limited mostly by Norwood and Calvin Abueva. His legs and shooting eye could no longer summon the streak shooting that rattled the Philippines in the first half. 

China, which crushed defending champion Iran, 70-57, is favored in the final set 8:30 pm against a smaller but gutsier Philippine squad. China’s average height is 6-foot-8 while Gilas’ height averages at 6-foot-5. 

“We were going to prepare for the game and make our players believe that we can do it,” said Baldwin. “I think after the game (against China), they will know we gave them a good fight.” 

China used its array of tall, rangy shooters to rain down clutch shots and shut down Iran’s dangerous shooting guards and forwards.  

The Philippines had qualified for the Olympic qualifying tournament by being among the semifinalists but Baldwin had said numerous times it would not settle for anything but the gold medal. The Philippines is a 5-time FIBA Asia champion but hasn’t won continental gold since 1985.

On Saturday night, Baldwin’s boys may be underdogs but they have made basketball fans proud that they surmounted the odds to reach this far. Next, they find out if they have one more trick up their sleeves to overcome the 15-time FIBA Asia champions. – Rappler.com

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