Team Pilipinas Basketball

[darthblitzkrieg]

ang SEAG this year ang magiging barometer kung sino ang makakasali sa gilas 2 for sure

[TERRENCE34]

Excerpts from The DEan's article today at Philstrar:

 

Reader Brian Gan recently sent in an e-mail saying in his life, he has written formally only four times – to the United Nations (unspecified topic), then-President Estrada (also unspecified topic), this column (commenting on the Centennial team led by coach Tim Cone in 1998) and once more, this column. Gan described himself as a 38-year-old businessman. Here are excerpts from his latest letter:

 

"It was my father's birthday last Sept. 27 and as a family tradition, he always would make a wish. Year in and year out, his wish will always be to have better health. This year, he decided to think of country. A first from a man who stopped watching Philippine basketball since China crushed the Robert Jaworski team, 130-65, (at the Asian Games in 1990). My dad, who actually went to Beijing with his friends, felt embarrassed by the loss. They believed the Japanese head coach who boldly predicted the Philippines would win it all.

 

"So after 21 years, my father watched his first Philppine team game versus the NBA All-Stars and was very impressed with the system used by coach Rajko Toroman. Please bear in mind, MVP took a team of discards, not of superstars but players who wanted to play for country. He got a 6-10 guy who never made it to the NBA, used Taulava and three Talk 'N' Text players who practiced for the shortest possible time and gave us a chance to take third place (in FIBA-Asia). Do we need Rajko? We do. He is the second coming of Ron Jacobs who coached a team built around Mike Mustre and Art de la Cruz and made them finish third in the PBA. We need the PBA to lend players, train them for how long Toroman wants. Stop our crab mentality and make proper suggestions on how to be better. This is for our country.

 

"Jordan is the second best team in Asia. Toroman showed us we can beat this team. He actually did it in four instances. Japan is our long-time rival and Toroman is unbeaten against Japan. Did we actually think we can beat Iran? I didn't until Toroman showed his boys and our country that we can. We beat them in the Jones Cup. Against China, we lost by 15 with a 10-man team on China's home floor. Korea can easily defeat us by 15. Toroman and Smart Gilas led 85 percent of the way but it was not meant to be. Maybe it was good we didn't win so we can come together as a nation and realize we just need a little more push and cooperation.

 

"Toroman is like Freddie Roach. Manny Pacquiao is a great boxer, he listens to his coach. Lassiter, Lutz, Casio, Tiu, Marcus, Japeth, Mac and the rest all know the value of Toroman. This guy is more Filipino than many of us, he wants his players to sing the national anthem. The PBA's recent proposal to lend 16 players is flawed because the players can only play in one tournament, meaning FIBA-Asia. But we need to train them to play in other tournaments. Toroman wants to have three months to train his team. Look at Japeth, Lutz and Baracael, all fresh from Gilas, all leading their team in the PBA, an indication of how good Toroman is. I hope Toroman comes back. We need him."

 

Well said. +100

[JediMasterTebs]

i watched norwood in their game kanina and yes you're right he can play pg. baka this is one of the answers to manny pangilinan's search for tall guards.

 

yes ngayon may guys like Paul Lee, Jeff Chan, Ronjay Buenafe ang RoS I think Gabe will have a field day playing for the national team now that he plays a lot more better since he last donned the national colors imagine passing the ball to the likes of Parks, Ravena, and other collegiate stars and PBA Superstars!

[junix]

Excerpts from The DEan's article today at Philstrar:

 

Reader Brian Gan recently sent in an e-mail saying in his life, he has written formally only four times – to the United Nations (unspecified topic), then-President Estrada (also unspecified topic), this column (commenting on the Centennial team led by coach Tim Cone in 1998) and once more, this column. Gan described himself as a 38-year-old businessman. Here are excerpts from his latest letter:

 

“It was my father’s birthday last Sept. 27 and as a family tradition, he always would make a wish. Year in and year out, his wish will always be to have better health. This year, he decided to think of country. A first from a man who stopped watching Philippine basketball since China crushed the Robert Jaworski team, 130-65, (at the Asian Games in 1990). My dad, who actually went to Beijing with his friends, felt embarrassed by the loss. They believed the Japanese head coach who boldly predicted the Philippines would win it all.

 

“So after 21 years, my father watched his first Philppine team game versus the NBA All-Stars and was very impressed with the system used by coach Rajko Toroman. Please bear in mind, MVP took a team of discards, not of superstars but players who wanted to play for country. He got a 6-10 guy who never made it to the NBA, used Taulava and three Talk ‘N’ Text players who practiced for the shortest possible time and gave us a chance to take third place (in FIBA-Asia). Do we need Rajko? We do. He is the second coming of Ron Jacobs who coached a team built around Mike Mustre and Art de la Cruz and made them finish third in the PBA. We need the PBA to lend players, train them for how long Toroman wants. Stop our crab mentality and make proper suggestions on how to be better. This is for our country.

 

“Jordan is the second best team in Asia. Toroman showed us we can beat this team. He actually did it in four instances. Japan is our long-time rival and Toroman is unbeaten against Japan. Did we actually think we can beat Iran? I didn’t until Toroman showed his boys and our country that we can. We beat them in the Jones Cup. Against China, we lost by 15 with a 10-man team on China’s home floor. Korea can easily defeat us by 15. Toroman and Smart Gilas led 85 percent of the way but it was not meant to be. Maybe it was good we didn’t win so we can come together as a nation and realize we just need a little more push and cooperation.

 

“Toroman is like Freddie Roach. Manny Pacquiao is a great boxer, he listens to his coach. Lassiter, Lutz, Casio, Tiu, Marcus, Japeth, Mac and the rest all know the value of Toroman. This guy is more Filipino than many of us, he wants his players to sing the national anthem. The PBA’s recent proposal to lend 16 players is flawed because the players can only play in one tournament, meaning FIBA-Asia. But we need to train them to play in other tournaments. Toroman wants to have three months to train his team. Look at Japeth, Lutz and Baracael, all fresh from Gilas, all leading their team in the PBA, an indication of how good Toroman is. I hope Toroman comes back. We need him.”

 

i'll have to agree with this too. very well written.

[BrightestStar]

We need to reactivate Slaughter and Ramos to add the height advantage.

[TERRENCE34]

Wala na masyadong balita tungkol sa Gilas camp. I hope MVP will still continue what he has started - with passion.

[freemantle]

Whatever happens I hope their will be continuity in the program. It all depends on SBP officials along with other stakeholders, PBA, NCAA, UAAP and etc., how they will unite as one and prioritize under one cause - our country's honor..

 

The real supporters, win or lose will continue to support the team.

 

 

PS

Sana may hype machine ang gilas tulad ng ABSCBN

[eduteodoro]

I hope that the PBA would allow the national team to compete for at least one WHOLE SEASON-- hindi isang conference lang. with that, malamang wala na munang AFC, para may import parati ang ibang teams. KI-adjust na lang sched nila kung may laban sa ibang bansa.. sana, BUOng team, ung mismong team na maglalaro sa Tournaments, hindi ung naglalaro ung mga gaya non-PBA players sabay isisingit weeks before ang actual tournaments ung mga gaya nina Taulava. Paglaruin na sila as a unit sa start pa lang.

[dunk]

mas magaling pa ang under 16 natin e. dapat sila ang idevelop.

[Droidz1979]

mas magaling pa ang under 16 natin e. dapat sila ang idevelop.

 

 

Nasa easy phase pa lang ang under-16 team natin since southeast asian countries pa lang initial na nakalaban nila sa first round. Even Racela was apprehensive by the large margin of wins that they've produced so far since it will be difficult moving forward pag the likes of China na ang makakalaban that features two 7'0' players. Good thing nga ay nag back-out ang team ng Iran and if am not mistaken our recent best finish here is 4th place so don't gloat early. We got lucky that we were not bunched to the group of death although 3 or 4 go-to players last time around was not able to join this team simply because of their commitment to their mother school teams Still, i must agree that their are good players that have the potential down here including the 6'1" Fil-Australian Jordan Heading and a 6'3" local player that played well also.

[kenichi15]

Excerpts from The DEan's article today at Philstrar:

 

Reader Brian Gan recently sent in an e-mail saying in his life, he has written formally only four times – to the United Nations (unspecified topic), then-President Estrada (also unspecified topic), this column (commenting on the Centennial team led by coach Tim Cone in 1998) and once more, this column. Gan described himself as a 38-year-old businessman. Here are excerpts from his latest letter:

 

“It was my father’s birthday last Sept. 27 and as a family tradition, he always would make a wish. Year in and year out, his wish will always be to have better health. This year, he decided to think of country. A first from a man who stopped watching Philippine basketball since China crushed the Robert Jaworski team, 130-65, (at the Asian Games in 1990). My dad, who actually went to Beijing with his friends, felt embarrassed by the loss. They believed the Japanese head coach who boldly predicted the Philippines would win it all.

 

“So after 21 years, my father watched his first Philppine team game versus the NBA All-Stars and was very impressed with the system used by coach Rajko Toroman. Please bear in mind, MVP took a team of discards, not of superstars but players who wanted to play for country. He got a 6-10 guy who never made it to the NBA, used Taulava and three Talk ‘N’ Text players who practiced for the shortest possible time and gave us a chance to take third place (in FIBA-Asia). Do we need Rajko? We do. He is the second coming of Ron Jacobs who coached a team built around Mike Mustre and Art de la Cruz and made them finish third in the PBA. We need the PBA to lend players, train them for how long Toroman wants. Stop our crab mentality and make proper suggestions on how to be better. This is for our country.

 

“Jordan is the second best team in Asia. Toroman showed us we can beat this team. He actually did it in four instances. Japan is our long-time rival and Toroman is unbeaten against Japan. Did we actually think we can beat Iran? I didn’t until Toroman showed his boys and our country that we can. We beat them in the Jones Cup. Against China, we lost by 15 with a 10-man team on China’s home floor. Korea can easily defeat us by 15. Toroman and Smart Gilas led 85 percent of the way but it was not meant to be. Maybe it was good we didn’t win so we can come together as a nation and realize we just need a little more push and cooperation.

 

“Toroman is like Freddie Roach. Manny Pacquiao is a great boxer, he listens to his coach. Lassiter, Lutz, Casio, Tiu, Marcus, Japeth, Mac and the rest all know the value of Toroman. This guy is more Filipino than many of us, he wants his players to sing the national anthem. The PBA’s recent proposal to lend 16 players is flawed because the players can only play in one tournament, meaning FIBA-Asia. But we need to train them to play in other tournaments. Toroman wants to have three months to train his team. Look at Japeth, Lutz and Baracael, all fresh from Gilas, all leading their team in the PBA, an indication of how good Toroman is. I hope Toroman comes back. We need him.”

 

 

two thumbs up for this observation.

[rafael77]

this team is going somewhere

 

Energen Pilipinas U16 team downs Japan, faces Iraq in q’finals

By Sid Ventura | Sportsaholic – 15 hours ago

 

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The Philippine under-16 men's basketball team, known as Energen Pilipinas, streaked to its fifth straight victory in the ongoing FIBA-Asia U16 Championships in Nha Trang, Vietnam, beating Japan 83-72 to top its pre-quarterfinal group with a perfect 5-0 record.

The win over Japan set up a quarterfinal knockout match on Wednesday against Group E fourth-placer Iraq, the West Asian champion. Should the Nationals get by the Iraqis, they will advance to the semifinals and assure themselves of at least equaling the fourth-place finish of the 2009 team that was led by Kiefer Ravena.

After bamboozling their previous four opponents by an average of more than 70 points, the Filipino boys were finally up against an opponent that posed a challenge. Japan, which entered the game also unbeaten in four games, led 22-21 after the first period behind the 11 points of Yusei Sugiura. It was still a close 34-33 score in the Philippines' favor with 3:52 left in the second period when Jay Alejandro poured in 10 points in a 14-3 Energen Pilipinas run that gave the Nationals a 48-36 spread heading into the second half.

The Philippines briefly went up by 15 points early in the third period after Rev Diputado's three-point play made it 51-36, but Yudai Baba scored 11 of his 26 points in the next six minutes, including a split that brought the Japanese to within six at 60-54, 3:41 left in the third. The Nationals responded by scoring 10 of the next 13 points to end the third with a 70-57 bulge.

Alejandro then put the finishing touches on his 36-point explosion by scoring seven straight points in the fourth, including a triple that gave Energen Pilipinas its biggest lead at 77-59 with only 5:32 left. Japan would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

A graduating high school senior at Malayan High, Alejandro went 16-for-28 from the field and helped out on the defensive end with a game-high seven blocks. Diputado, who hails from Cebu, added 14 points. NU's Hubert Cani was the third Filipino in double digits with 10 markers.

Energen Pilipinas is missing some key players from San Beda and La Salle Greenhills, the two schools that are disputing the NCAA juniors crown. But they haven't missed a beat so far in these championships.

Iraq, though, looms as a rather unpredictable foe. The team won the West Asian Championship, then lost its first game in the tournament to Korea, 70-73. After routing Uzbekistan by 68, the Iraqis fell to West Asia runner-up Lebanon, 68-75. In the second round, Iraq lost to defending champion China by 41, then needed overtime to repulse Group E cellar dweller Chinese Taipei. They clinched the last quarterfinal slot in their group by beating India, 72-64.

China was the only other unbeaten team left in the tourney after brushing aside the challenge of Korea, 73-42, in Group E to match the Philippines' 5-0 record. The Chinese will face Saudi Arabia in their quarterfinal match. The two other quarterfinal match-ups will see Japan tackle Lebanon and Korea take on surprise quarterfinalist Indonesia.

[BrightestStar]

Chris Tiu will remain the team captain of gilas 2.

[BrightestStar]

Nasa easy phase pa lang ang under-16 team natin since southeast asian countries pa lang initial na nakalaban nila sa first round. Even Racela was apprehensive by the large margin of wins that they've produced so far since it will be difficult moving forward pag the likes of China na ang makakalaban that features two 7'0' players. Good thing nga ay nag back-out ang team ng Iran and if am not mistaken our recent best finish here is 4th place so don't gloat early. We got lucky that we were not bunched to the group of death although 3 or 4 go-to players last time around was not able to join this team simply because of their commitment to their mother school teams Still, i must agree that their are good players that have the potential down here including the 6'1" Fil-Australian Jordan Heading and a 6'3" local player that played well also.

 

 

Some of these young kids will eventually be part of the Smart Gilas squad. That should boost our chances for the Olympics in the future.

[Droidz1979]

Some of these young kids will eventually be part of the Smart Gilas squad. That should boost our chances for the Olympics in the future.

 

I agree.. they just beat the Japanese team by 11 points (closest margin so far from ave. of 71.5 points for the 5 previous games) and topped Group F and will face the Iraqi team that is ranked no. 4 while advancing to the quarterfinals together with Lebanon and Japan. The team is also lucky to avoid an early showdown with China who has also a 5-0 record and has been very dominant against its opponents in Group E..

 

The 6'4" local player i was referring to is Prince Rivero who is a member of the National University team that won its first ever junior UAAP crown. Other notable players in the team that are potential Gilas mainstays are Kyles Lao, Rev Diputado, Henry Asilum (dished 7 assist against the Saudi team), Jay Alejandro (Mapua standout who scored 34 points against Japan), Fil-Am Nick Dalafu, Hubert Cani, Tomas Ramos and Fil-Aussie Jordan Heading.

FIBA-Asia U-16 notes*: India's 15-year-old, 7-1 Satnam Singh Bhamara has scored 73 points in the last two games, including 41 in a 78-66 loss to South Korea Monday and 32 in another 64-72 defeat to Iraq yesterday...Bhamara's father is reportedly two inches taller than him and his grandma is 6-9 tall...Korean sharpshooter Heo Hoon made his presence felt by firing a tournament best 31 points in a showdown with Bhamara. His father is Korean legend Hur Jae, who steered the Koreans to a bronze medal finish in last month's FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China.

*courtesy of Philstar.com

Another player to watch is from Team China is its agile 7'1" center, Zhou Qi (listed as just 15-year old) who is deemed as the next Yao Ming or the next Chinese basketball hope. He scored 19 points while dominating the Korean team with the final score of 73-42 and playing for 16 minutes only.

Edited October 25, 2011 by Droidz1979

[rafael77]

read this article in the papers too this morning. these are homegrown boys! except dalafu and heading.

 

I agree.. they just beat the Japanese team by 11 points (closest margin so far from ave. of 71.5 points for the 5 previous games) and topped Group F and will face the Iraqi team that is ranked no. 4 while advancing to the quarterfinals together with Lebanon and Japan. The team is also lucky to avoid an early showdown with China who has also a 5-0 record and has been very dominant against its opponents in Group E..

 

The 6'4" local player i was referring to is Prince Rivero who is a member of the National University team that won its first ever junior UAAP crown. Other notable players in the team that are potential Gilas mainstays are Kyles Lao, Rev Diputado, Henry Asilum (dished 7 assist against the Saudi team), Jay Alejandro (Mapua standout who scored 34 points against Japan), Fil-Am Nick Dalafu, Hubert Cani, Tomas Ramos and Fil-Aussie Jordan Heading.

FIBA-Asia U-16 notes*: India's 15-year-old, 7-1 Satnam Singh Bhamara has scored 73 points in the last two games, including 41 in a 78-66 loss to South Korea Monday and 32 in another 64-72 defeat to Iraq yesterday...Bhamara's father is reportedly two inches taller than him and his grandma is 6-9 tall...Korean sharpshooter Heo Hoon made his presence felt by firing a tournament best 31 points in a showdown with Bhamara. His father is Korean legend Hur Jae, who steered the Koreans to a bronze medal finish in last month's FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China.

*courtesy of Philstar.com

Another player to watch is from Team China is its agile 7'1" center, Zhou Qi (listed as just 15-year old) who is deemed as the next Yao Ming or the next Chinese basketball hope. He scored 19 points while dominating the Korean team with the final score of 73-42 and playing for 16 minutes only.

[rafael77]

read this article in the papers too this morning. these are homegrown boys! except dalafu and heading.

 

I agree.. they just beat the Japanese team by 11 points (closest margin so far from ave. of 71.5 points for the 5 previous games) and topped Group F and will face the Iraqi team that is ranked no. 4 while advancing to the quarterfinals together with Lebanon and Japan. The team is also lucky to avoid an early showdown with China who has also a 5-0 record and has been very dominant against its opponents in Group E..

 

The 6'4" local player i was referring to is Prince Rivero who is a member of the National University team that won its first ever junior UAAP crown. Other notable players in the team that are potential Gilas mainstays are Kyles Lao, Rev Diputado, Henry Asilum (dished 7 assist against the Saudi team), Jay Alejandro (Mapua standout who scored 34 points against Japan), Fil-Am Nick Dalafu, Hubert Cani, Tomas Ramos and Fil-Aussie Jordan Heading.

FIBA-Asia U-16 notes*: India's 15-year-old, 7-1 Satnam Singh Bhamara has scored 73 points in the last two games, including 41 in a 78-66 loss to South Korea Monday and 32 in another 64-72 defeat to Iraq yesterday...Bhamara's father is reportedly two inches taller than him and his grandma is 6-9 tall...Korean sharpshooter Heo Hoon made his presence felt by firing a tournament best 31 points in a showdown with Bhamara. His father is Korean legend Hur Jae, who steered the Koreans to a bronze medal finish in last month's FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China.

*courtesy of Philstar.com

Another player to watch is from Team China is its agile 7'1" center, Zhou Qi (listed as just 15-year old) who is deemed as the next Yao Ming or the next Chinese basketball hope. He scored 19 points while dominating the Korean team with the final score of 73-42 and playing for 16 minutes only.

[Droidz1979]

read this article in the papers too this morning. these are homegrown boys! except dalafu and heading.

 

 

My worry comes from the fact the fact that our tallest and effective player is only a 6'4" kid while China has a 7'1" player on its wings and even India has a decent 7'1" player. Most of our U-16 kids are guards which we already have a glut of talent from the same position right now. Moving forward I think SBP has to start thinking long term right now, Marcus is not that young anymore and we should be looking for a tall back-up naturalized player who is still young and could play early with the core of the future Gilas team for better familiarization.

 

I've attached a photo of Zhou Qi of China who is listed as a 15-year old player although some are saying that he is already 18-year old.

 

[junix]

congratulations to olsen and his boys for another win. rp vs. south korea in the semis. makabawi kaya ang U-16 natin laban sa korea? sana kahit dito man lang makabawi tayo at mabawasan ang mga sama ng loob noon.

[Droidz1979]

congratulations to olsen and his boys for another win. rp vs. south korea in the semis. makabawi kaya ang U-16 natin laban sa korea? sana kahit dito man lang makabawi tayo at mabawasan ang mga sama ng loob noon.

 

 

Am hoping that they win against Korea too.. Almost the same dapat strategy nila against Japan which is to limit their shooters although Korea is the better team. Good thing din that paiba-iba ang players na pumuputok which means that we are not dependent to one person that makes it hard for our opponents to scout and for their defense to focus or settle into to beat us.

[Droidz1979]

FIBA-Asia U-16 notes: Despite their aura of invincibility, this Chinese team has one trait that is obviously noticeable – they’re rude. Without even waiting for the Filipinos to wrap up their alloted one-hour practice session, the Chinese just rudely entered the court and started shooting baskets to the amazement of Racela and his players, who just left the court in silence to avoid any confrontation. “They barged in the practice of Energen Pilipinas. Didn’t even bother to send someone in first and talk to the team. That’s rude,” said Ryan Lao, brother of guard Kyles Lao who watched the team practice.

*Courtesy of Philstar.com

 

Hopefully the payback would happen on the hard-court.

Pag nanalo pala tayo against Korea we are guaranteed to play for the U17 world championship since 2 slots was allotted from this tournament.

[TERRENCE34]

FIBA-Asia U-16 notes: Despite their aura of invincibility, this Chinese team has one trait that is obviously noticeable – they're rude. Without even waiting for the Filipinos to wrap up their alloted one-hour practice session, the Chinese just rudely entered the court and started shooting baskets to the amazement of Racela and his players, who just left the court in silence to avoid any confrontation. "They barged in the practice of Energen Pilipinas. Didn't even bother to send someone in first and talk to the team. That's rude," said Ryan Lao, brother of guard Kyles Lao who watched the team practice.

*Courtesy of Philstar.com

 

That's a sign of disrespect to our team and to our country.

[crispa18]

FIBA-Asia U-16 notes: Despite their aura of invincibility, this Chinese team has one trait that is obviously noticeable – they're rude. Without even waiting for the Filipinos to wrap up their alloted one-hour practice session, the Chinese just rudely entered the court and started shooting baskets to the amazement of Racela and his players, who just left the court in silence to avoid any confrontation. "They barged in the practice of Energen Pilipinas. Didn't even bother to send someone in first and talk to the team. That's rude," said Ryan Lao, brother of guard Kyles Lao who watched the team practice.

*Courtesy of Philstar.com

 

Hopefully the payback would happen on the hard-court.

Pag nanalo pala tayo against Korea we are guaranteed to play for the U17 world championship since 2 slots was allotted from this tournament.

 

 

Those chinese people!!!! Antay lang sila pagbalik ng Philippines sa Top of Asian Basketball

 

 

 

[Droidz1979]

Fiba Asia U16: PH Youth bows to Korea, ends world berth bid

By Jasmine W. Payo

Philippine Daily Inquirer

NHA TRANG,Vietnam—A familiar basketball nemesis dealt the Philippines another heartbreak.

 

The Energen Pilipinas Under-16 team's bid for a historicworld berth came to an end as South Korea handed the young Nationals its firstloss, 67-58, in the Fiba Asia U16 semifinals Thursday night at the Khanh HoaSports Center here.

 

In a run fueled by Henry Asilum, the Philippines came withina basket twice, the last at 58-60, after trailing by as many as 13 points,44-57 in the second half.

 

But Korea held the Philippines scoreless in the final sixminutes as the young Nationals also started missing even at close range.

 

Asilum and Jay Alejandro paced the Philippines with 12 pointseach.

 

The loss relegated the Philippines to a bronze-medal battleagainst Japan on Friday afternoon.

 

Hoon Heo torched the Philippines with a game-high 22 points,while Nakhyeon Kim and Gookchan Kim had 16 points apiece.

 

Heo, son of the legendary Hur Jae, drilled seven points in a12-2 tear that gave Korea its first double-digit advantage, 37-27, after adeadlock at 25 late in the first half.

 

The hot-shooting Koreans continued to sizzle in the thirdperiod, extending the lead to as many as 13 points, 57-44.

 

Defending champion China, the only unbeaten team inseven games, and South Korea will dispute the crown Friday in a rematch of the2009 edition's championship.

 

Both finalists will represent Asia in the 2012 Fiba U17 WorldChampionship from July 17 to 26 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

 

Boasting a pair of seven-footers, China downed Japan, 82-43,in the other semifinal match last night.

 

A win by the young Nationals could have been historic as noother Philippine basketball team in any division has reached the WorldChampionship for over 30 years.

 

Manila's hosting of the 1978 Fiba Worlds was the last time aPhilippine team reached this lofty stage, where American coach Ron Jacobssteered the country to an eighth-place finish.

 

An all-amateur National squad (National Consolidated Cement)also qualified in the Worlds after topping the 1985 Asian Championship in Kuala Lumpur, but the team disbanded due to the 1986 People Power.

 

The boys' loss added to the many heartbreaks that South Koreadealt the Philippines in past international campaigns.

 

Just last month, Korea pulled off an incrediblecome-from-behind win over Smart Gilas Pilipinas, 70-68, in the battle for thebronze in the Fiba Asia Men's Championship in Wuhan, China.

 

The Philippines also had a meltdown in the 2002 Asian Games whereOlsen Racela—now the youth team's coach–bungled two crucial free throws beforeLee Sang-min buried a triple at the buzzer that spoiled the country's bid toadvance to the gold-medal match against China.

 

Theseeming jinx continued in the 2009 Fiba Asia in Tianjin, China where theNationals blew the lead and lost seventh place to the Koreans.

 

Lastyear, Smart Gilas also absorbed a Korean setback in the quarterfinals of theGuangzhou Asian Games.

 

"Ireminded the players that I've played Korea in the past, I've seen them playour recent teams and we know we cant relax," Racela said the night before histeam's crucial match.

 

"ThisKorean team is no different from the others. Their three-point shot is a bigfactor, that's what we have to contain."

 

Beforethe Korean loss, the young Nationals were on a a six-game roll, the last an82-69 stunner over West Asian champion Iraq in the quarterfinals.

 

An upsetover Japan (83-72) also capped the team's 5-0 sweep of the first two rounds.

 

ThePhilippines, the reigning champion in the Southeast Asian BasketballAssociation (Seaba), routed Indonesia (93-30) and Vietnam (111-25) in thepreliminaries, before cruising past Qatar (107-28) and Saudi Arabia (100-42) inthe second round.

 

The scores:

SOUTH KOREA 67–Heo 22, Kim N. 16, Kim G. 16, Kim M. 7, Lee 2, Yun 2, Park 2,Koh 0, Shin 0,

PHILIPPINES 58—Asilum 12, Alejandro 12, Javelosa 7, Diputado 6, Ramos 6, Rivero6, Cani 5, Lao 4, Heading 0.

 

Quarters: 19-21, 37-29, 58-50, 67-58

Deja vu tsk tsk i think a team with more experience would not have folded to the pressure that easy.. hopefully they would still have the energy to go for the bronze medal since it would be a better finish than the Kiefer Ravena led team that place fourth.

Edited October 27, 2011 by Droidz1979

[scorpio]

Racela has been the jinx in all those games versus Korea. As a player, commentator and as a coach