FIBA World Cup: Blatche thrilled after Gilas’ ‘good practice’ vs 36ers
MANILA, Philippines— Andray Blatche was superb in the Philippines' tune-up game against the Adelaide 36ers on Friday night, with the naturalized center coming one assist shy of a triple-double in their 92-83 triumph.
Blatche put up 19 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists in nearly 31 minutes of action, making 6 of his 11 shots and shredding the Adelaide defense with his playmaking.
Afterward, the big man said he was pleased with how the team performed, especially as they ended the game on a 12-2 run to turn back the visitors.
"I feel like it's a good practice for us, a good
practice game. We can see some of our weaknesses, certain things we have to fix and be better at," he said.
"Overall I feel like we competed, we stayed in the game. We didn't lose our composure, and we came away with the win, that's the most important thing, to win."
Blatche was especially delighted with the composure that Gilas Pilipinas showed after they fell behind by a point midway through the fourth quarter, as the 36ers made a run behind Brendan Teys. They held the 36ers scoreless for nearly five minutes, while Roger Pogoy nailed a pair of crucial three-pointers to give Gilas some separation.
"I love it," said Blatche of their crunchtime play.
"Our guards figured out how to go against the pressure in the full court. Pogs
(Pogoy) came through in the clutch, hit some big 3s. It was great."
They will take on the 36ers again on Sunday, and Blatche expects a tougher game now that the two teams have had the opportunity to play each other. As pleased as he was with their win on Friday night, Blatche wants to see improvement come Sunday night, especially on the defensive end.
"Our defense, our defense was solid. We could do a lot better. I feel like, me myself, and the other bigs, we gotta work on our closing out, and not giving up the dribble so easy," he said.
"In tomorrow's practice, we're gonna come in with some schemes and we're all gonna come in focused." ABS-CBN News