Gilas vents ire on India
The second stringers got their chance to play extensive minutes against Asian minnow India yesterday, and they responded with aplomb as Gilas Pilipinas breezed to a 101-70 win to keep fourth spot going into the final day of the 2017 Jones Cup at the Taipei Peace Gymnasium here.
A day after being blown away by Lithuania’s crisp, deadly shooting, the Filipinos made a 180degree turn and blasted the Indians with a wondrous 17of-36 three-point clip (47 percent) on the way to nailing a fifth win against three losses.
SEAG-bound gunners Almond Vosotros, Von Pessumal, Carl Bryan Cruz and Chris Tolomia accounted for 12 threepointers in solid jobs that spoke well of their readiness for the coming Kuala Lumpur conclave.
“We wanted to give a lot of minutes to the guys as one of the big objectives in our Jones Cup participation is the preparation for the SEA Games,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes.
“Von (Pessumal) and Almond (Vosotros) are integral parts of the SEA Games team and same thing with Fonzo Gotladera, Mike Tolomia and Toto Jose. Those guys are very important for SEA Games, and it’s important that they get minutes,” Reyes added.
Vosotros and Pessumal combined for 8-of-17 threepointers and made a total of 14 points each -- among four Gilas players hitting double figures as they handed the Indians an eighth straight loss in the tourney.
Ed Daquiaog and Tolomia, two players who also hardly saw action in Gilas’ previous games here, contributed eight points apiece for the Nationals who held a virtual shooting session against the tall but lumbering Indian side.
Pessumal and Cruz came out firing to fuel Gilas’ breakaway from a 27-24 count at the start of the second quarter.
Cruz came through with a 3-of-7 three-point shooting while Asia Cupbound sniper Matthew Wright sizzled with a perfect 5-of-5 clip.
“It’s a great testament to our other players who don’t get too much playing time to constantly be ready, and come in and play well in this ball game,” said Reyes.
“That’s why we brought the kind of players that we brought here – to give our team some depth and allow us to withstand injuries. We have injuries to (Bobby) Parks and (Kobe) Paras and (Mac) Bello is not 100 percent. But we have very able players, ready to step in and respond,” Reyes added.
Mike Myers, Christian Standhardinger and Kiefer Ravena played limited minutes in Gilas’ lightest game in the tourney.
But even when Gilas has blown the game open, the Nationals stuck to running their dribble-drive offense. —