PH cagers crush Kazakhstan
JAKARTA – The Philippines got off to a winning start ahead of the opening ceremonies of the Asian Games when its fancied men’s basketball team crushed Kazakhstan, 96-59, Thursday at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex.
With Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan Clarkson watching on the bench, the Filipinos turned to Stanley Pringle who scored a teamhigh 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
Pringle, who earned praise from coaches Tab Baldwin and Tim Cone prior to his tour of duty with the national team, also got plenty of support from Christian Standhardinger, James Yap and Paul Lee who combined for 37 points.
The team, formed less than two weeks ago, showed crisp ball movement on the halfcourt set and an effective transition game fueled by speedsters Maverick Ahanmisi and Chris Tiu.
The result was an early 22-2 lead and a 4120 advantage at the half from where the Kazakhs never recovered from.
More than his players’ offensive skills, national coach Yeng Guiao paid tribute to their defense.
“We were able to disrupt their (Kazakhs') offense. We were able to challenge their shots. Our anticipation was good and that’s because of the scouting that we did and the implementation and the execution of our game plan,” said Guiao who praised his coaching staff, led by Caloy Garcia.
Kazakhstan shot only 13 of their 32 two-point attempts (41%) and bricked most of their treys, sinking only five of 28 attempts (18%).
The Kazakhs were led by Anton Bykov with 13 points and 5 boards.
In contrast, the Filipinos waxed hot from two-point range (23 of 39 for 59%), but hit 12 triples on a 31% clip, a weapon they must improve on to stand a chance against the tall and fast Chinese, who will be backstopped by NBA Zhou Qi of the Houston Rockets and Ding Yanyuhang of the Dallas Mavericks.
The Philippine team composed of the nucleus of the Rain or Shine team in the Philippine Basketball Association, battles China next on Aug. 21, when Clarkson is finally expected to suit up.
The Filipino-American NBA star arrived Wednesday and headed straight to the game, where he arrived in the third quarter.
Guiao sees no problem fitting Clarkson into his system.
"Kung kasing galing naman ni Clarkson makakasama mo, siguro that's a good problem blending him in," said Guiao of the Cleveland guard, who got a “one-time only” chance from the NBA to play in the Asian Games for the Philippine Team.
A curious spectator was Chinese NBA legend Yao Ming who watched the game.
Basketball is one of four sports that kicked off action prior to the opening ceremonies set Saturday at the GBK main stadium. The others are football, handball and gymnastics. The scores: Philippines 96 - Pringle 18, Standhardinger 15, Yap 12, Lee 10, Tiu 9, Norwood 7, Almazan 6, Erram 5, Belga 5, Taulava 5, Ahanmisi 4.
Kazakhstan 59 - Bykov 13, Gavrilov 9, Yergali 8, Zhigulin 7, Bazhin 6, Chsherbak 6, Kuanov 6, Marchuk 2, Maidekin 2, Yagodkin 0, Satkeyev 0.
Quarters: 16-9, 41-20, 61-43, 96-59.