Crowd support, second unit key to Gilas’ second win over Japan
HAD it rough right from the get- go, Gilas Pilipinas admitted its victory over Japan in the second window of group play of the FIBA Asian World Cup Qualifiers on Sunday night could have easily gone the other way if not for two key components — crowd support and the team’s second unit.
Coming off a loss in its last game against Australia on Feb. 22, the Philippine national men’s basketball team knew it had to win against the Japanese to fortify its spot in the next round of the qualifiers.
It did not come easy for the team but it got by and pulled off the 89-84 victory in front of the hometown crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena to improve to 3-1 after two competition windows and pushed itself to a good position to advance.
Meeting the media after their win, Gilas coach Chot Reyes and guard Kiefer Ravena underscored the key role that the Filipino crowd played as they struggled early in the contest and when they were threatened late in the game.
“We are not hiding the fact that we could not have won had it not for the fans who gave us a lot of adrenaline in the game. They were our sixth man,” said Mr. Reyes during the postgame press conference.
He was seconded by Mr. Ravena, who said with the kind of support they received from the fans it was hard not to go all-out and go for the win.
“The support of the fans was really big. And we thank them a lot. They pushed us especially when we had our struggles and it helped in this win,” said Mr. Ravena, a rookie in the Philippine Basketball Association.
Mr. Reyes also threw a shoutout to the team’s second unit who got the team going all throughout the match.
Mr. Ravena, Troy Rosario, Roger Pogoy, Calvin Abueva and June Mar Fajardo all came off the bench to give their team a boost in crucial stages of the match — from them falling 20-4 behind early, to surviving the back-and-forth with Japan, to fending off the charge back by the visiting team late the contest that saw their lead cut down to just two points, 86-84, with 31 seconds remaining.
Naturalized player Andray Blatche and stalwart Jayson Castro proved to be steady for the team in the end but Mr. Reyes said the auxiliaries had a big impact in their victory.
“We kind of expected that we would struggle coming off a long trip from Australia. We were expecting it which is why when Japan built the early lead we did not panic yet as we knew eventually we will get it going,” said Mr. Reyes.
“We knew, too, that Japan was fighting for its tournament life and that they will jump on us. That is why we made sure the second unit was ready because we felt the second unit will get us back into the game. If you noticed the guys that played in Australia like Kiefer, June Mar, Pogoy and even Calvin came off the bench today. When we played Australia we were thinking of this game against Japan and luckily we were right,” he added.
Mr. Ravena, who finished with 13 points and five assists, provided the energy on both ends of the court when Gilas went down by double digits in the early goings of the first quarter while Mr. Rosario had 14 as well, most of it coming in the crucial stretch in the closing minutes of the first and opening moments of the second quarter where the team started to create some distance from its opponent.
Mr. Abueva had eight points while Mr. Fajardo had seven.
Mr. Blatche led the team with 18 points and 16 rebounds while Mr. Castro had eight, two coming with 12 seconds remaining that stopped Japan’s furious fightback.
“This is a big win for the team. We showed grit and determination not to give up even when things get rough,” said Mr. Reyes.
Gilas Pilipinas next plays in the third window against Chinese Taipei on June 29.