Frozen in Foshan
FOSHAN, China — The victory that everybody was waiting for in the final game of the first round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup didn’t come as Angola hammered a dramatic 84-81 win over Gilas Pilipinas late Wednesday at the GBA International Sports and
Cultural Arena here.
Valdelicio Joaquim paced the attack, but it was Yanick Moreira and naturalized player Regie Moore who delivered the crucial blows for the Angolans, who gained momentum before taking a four-hour flight to Beijing for the classification phase for 17th to 32nd places starting this weekend.
Joaquim provided the muscles in regulation with 20 points, seven rebounds and three blocks while Moreira and Moore stepped up in overtime to finish the night with 12 markers apiece for the reigning African champions, who are ranked three notches lower than the Filipinos in the latest FIBA world ranking.
Gilas Pilipinas leaned on Andray Blatche, who delivered 23 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and four turnovers while CJ Perez emerged as the best-performing homegrown player as he tallied 17 points, including a massive threepointer in the final 33.1 seconds that sent the game into overtime.
All of us in the bench were shouting ‘attack’ or ‘shoot.’ But for one reason or another, CJ froze and failed to recognize Kiefer who was also asking for the ball.
Unfortunately for the Filipinos, Perez also served as the goat as he froze in the final play with 5.2 seconds left, allowing the Angolans to drag the game into overtime en route to the impressive win.
“This is the problem: I guess it’s really about our inexperience,” said Guiao, who was seen jumping and barking for instructions at the sidelines as Perez froze in what could have been his golden opportunity to become the hero.
“In the PBA, in this situation, there’s going to be a timeout and you can get the ball in anybody’s hands and he will have a clear of understanding of what he needs to do.”
“But here, there were no timeouts in this situation and once you get the ball, you’re on your own. All of us in the bench were shouting ‘attack’ or ‘shoot.’ But for one reason or another, CJ froze and failed to recognize Kiefer (Ravena) who was also asking for the ball.”
“What happened was that CJ chose to linger with the ball as time runs out. It’s a little immaturity, a little inexperienced and a little getting used to the international game.”
Sour shooting
But the final 5.2 seconds wasn’t the only reason why Gilas got destroyed.
In a game where they have a golden chance of winning, the Nationals squandered the moment as they failed to convert from the outside, something that Guiao admitted to be very crucial in their success.
Gilas Pilipinas made only 10 three-pointers in 46 attempts for an ugly 22 percent, way more inferior than the 36 percent three-point shooting clip posted by the Angolans.
This is the problem: I guess it’s really about our inexperience.
In their first game against Italy, they connected only three treys out of 23 attempts for 13 percent shooting clip while against the mighty Serbians, they managed to drop only three long bombs in 24 attempts for an equally sour 17 percent shooting.
Guiao admitted that their ugly shooting doomed their chances.
“That has been the story for us,” said Guiao, who has been missing the services of ace gunners Marcio Lassiter and Matthew Wright as well as sweet-shooting big man Poy Erram due to various injuries.
“In the last three games, we haven’t been able to find our range. But at least in this one, we were able to find other ways to score. But I felt we could have played two or three more with our open shots that were available even before that.”
Sorry loss
Guiao admitted that the setback is far more painful than their 46-point defeat to Italy and 59-point meltdown to Serbia — two prolific European teams that are expected to give reigning champion United States a run for its money.
True enough, the Filipinos had a golden chance to win it.
The match was a nip-and-tuck battle right from the start as Gilas Pilipinas always found a way to claw its way back every time it finds itself trailing behind.
The largest lead that the Africans posted was 12 point, 61-49, in the opening minutes of the fourth period, but the Filipinos patiently chewed the lead until Roger Pogoy delivered a big three-pointer with 3:45 left to put Gilas Pilipinas ahead, 67-65.
Japeth Aguilar and Ravena hiked the lead to three, 70-67, but Carlos Morais unloaded a trey followed by a pair of charities to put the Angolans ahead, 73-70.
Perez knocked down a trey from the right flank to knot the count at 73, but he failed to convert on the final possession that dragged the game into overtime.