Gilas looking good-thus far
WHILE we are still euphoric over the back-toback victories on the global stage of world bantamweight champion Jerwin “Professor” Ancajas and flyweight king Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, it can’t be denied that Gilas’ 89-84 win over Japan also gave us a thrill as well.
Not only did Chot Reyes boys’ triumph afforded us some reason to an impromptu chest-pounding but also to realize that we could pull it out of the fire when pushed to the limit.
We were behind early by double-digit deadweights. But we were able to stage a comeback— even mightily. Didn’t we break away by 15 points at one time?
We were chased to the showers, yes, but we parried the scare—with finesse and savvy.
Didn’t we waylay Japan with our patented finishing kick, courtesy, again, of Jason Castro?
For, when the enemy came knocking at the door after nearly razing a 15-point deficit to come to within 84-86, Castro drove, contoured his body once more before banking a shot he was so used in accomplishing.
That made it a comfortable 88-84 Gilas lead, time down to 10.6 seconds.
American giant Andray Blatche, the muchmaligned naturalized Filipino, secured Castro’s courageous heroics with a towering rebound, sealing the final 89-84 count with a free throw.
The 7-foot-1 Blatche, a former NBA biggie, was ridiculed for poor performances earlier, with the Gilas-Australia game in Melbourne supposedly exposing his worst game in the Fiba World Cup qualifiers for 2019.
But against Japan, Blatche redeemed himself with a double-double in points made and rebounds hauled.
“No doubt, he’s still my man,” said Reyes of Blatche.
As Blatche lumbered on and appeared more of a liability than an asset in Melbourne, adding to the Gilas’ woes as Castro’s absence on an ankle sprain.
Because we had led Australia by five points at one point, it was generally agreed that we might have upset the Aussie had Castro been healthy.
But Gilas being second at 3-1 behind 4-0 Australia in Group B still had put us in a good position to eventually nail a slot next year.
More games are coming up. The good thing is, Reyes can always make substitutions as we plod on. A format suited to the mood of the times. CLEVELAND — First, the billboards. Now, the scoreboard.
The Philadelphia 76ers are giving LeBron James an eyeful and even more to think about.
J.J. Redick scored 22 points, Joel Embiid had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and the 76ers delivered an inperson sales pitch to James by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-97 on Thursday night to end an 11game losing streak against the Eastern Conference champions.
Rookie Ben Simmons scored 18 and Dario Saric 16, including a critical 3pointer in the closing minutes, for the rising Sixers, who are 8-2 since Feb. 6.
James finished with 30 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, but the superstar couldn’t rally the Cavs in the final minutes.
Earlier this week, three billboards urging the three-time champion to sign as a free agent this summer with Philadelphia were unveiled on a busy highway outside Cleveland. The large signs, which were paid for by a Pennsylvania company, are intended to entice James to leave home and join a Sixers team brimming with young talent and potential.
Simmons is sure James knows what’s going on in Philly.
“He knows,” Simmons said. “He knows. He’s a very smart guy. His IQ on the court is amazing.”
And if the rumors weren’t enough, Embiid posted a photo on Twitter of him and James with the comment: “Trust The Process??? Always a great time playing against one of the best to ever play the game #summer2018goals.”
Philadelphia nearly blew a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter as the Cavs, who never led, got within 95-94 on Kyle Korver’s 3pointer with 2:25 left. However, the Sixers showed poise down the stretch by scoring the next eight points to seal an impressive win.
“We’re proud of the win,” coach Brett Brown said. “Any time you can beat a team LeBron James plays on you must have done something fairly decent. Saric’s 3 really was the back-breaker.”
Tempers flared in the closing seconds when Saric dunked and Cleveland’s Jordan Clarkson threw the ball off his back. Clarkson was ejected, but that didn’t stop players from jawing at each other.
Clarkson defended his actions.
“If anybody say different, that they wouldn’t have did that, that they’d have did something different, or anything else, they lying,” he said. “Especially if it was at that (part) of the game. They know what’s up. That’s it.”
Saric insists he wasn’t trying to embarrass the Cavs.
“I was surprised,” he said of Clarkson’s reaction. “We’re NBA players. To be mad about something like that, for me, is a little bit weird, but I want to apologize to the organization, to them and to the fans.”
After the final horn, James walked to Philadelphia’s end of the floor and to hug both Simmons and Embiid, embraces that had to make Cleveland fans cringe.
James was asked what kind of a matchup problem is the 6-foot-10 Simmons, who added nine rebounds and eight assists.
“The same one I bring,” he said. “Power, speed, quickness, size, court awareness. Same one I bring.”
James had a jawdropping, behind-theback dribble in traffic that went between Tristan Thompson’s legs before he scored and was fouled. James looked up and watched the replay before shooting his free throw, but he didn’t know all the details of the play until halftime. AP