Keeping game close, being aggressive key to beating China

Yeng Guiao feels a grind out game is what the Philippine men's basketball team needs to have a chance of beating a power team like China in the Jakarta Palembang Asian Games.

And by that the national coach meant engaging the NBA-reinforced Chinese team in a dogfight once their paths crossed on Tuesday at the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex Basketball Hall.

"The important thing is keep the game close, be aggressive for 40 minutes, and try to duplicate the defense that we played against Kazakhstan," said Guiao, the NLEX Road Warriors coach in the PBA.

The nationals breezed past the Kazakhs, 96-59, on Thursday to open their campaign in the meet on a high note.

But the going is expected to get tough against China, which parades NBA-honed Zhou Qi of the Houston Rockets and Ding Yanyuhang of the Dallas Mavericks.

China is not bringing its A-team to the meet, whose core is a mixture of veterans and young ones, but remains a very dangerous opponent, according to Guiao.

"The mere fact that they have NBA players there, to me this is a sign that this is a strong team they are sending," said the fiery mentor.

The Filipinos are not without an NBA player in their roster either as Jordan Clarkson of the Cleveland Cavaliers suits up for the national team for the very first time, a major development which Guiao pointed out gives the team an even better chance of pulling an upset. —