Revelations in Jones Cup
The Philippines wound up outside of the top three circle in the 39th edition of the Jones Cup which ended in Taipei last Sunday. Gilas was actually tied with South Korea for third place but dropped to fourth due to the winnerover-the-other rule. South Korea beat the Philippines, 8372, in the single round-robin tournament as Gilas shot only 1-of-26 threes and gave up eight more free throws makes in a nightmarish offensive meltdown. The consolation was the Philippines played mostly with Gilas Cadets while South Korea showed up with the core of the senior squad seeing action at the FIBA Asia Cup in Lebanon next month. If Gilas shot even just three more triples and missed four less free throws, the Philippines could’ve theoretically won.
The Philippines didn’t face South Korea at the FIBA Asia Championships in Changsha two years ago because they were in different brackets but in the 2013 staging, Gilas won their semifinal matchup, 86-79. Five players from Changsha were in coach Hur Jae’s roster for the Jones Cup – 6-5 Lee Seoung Hyun, 25, 6-3 Lee Jung Hyun, 30, 6-6 Jun Yong Choi, 23, 6-9 Kim Jong Kyu, 26 and 6-9 Lee Jong Hyun, 23. Hur Jae’s two sons Ung and Hoon were in the lineup, too.
In Lebanon, the Philippines will be in Group B with Iraq, China and Qatar while South Korea will be in Group C with Kazakhstan, Lebanon and New Zealand. The top teams in each group from the first round will advance outright to the quarterfinals while the second and third placers face off for the other four slots.
Playing against Iraq in Taipei was helpful for Gilas. First, because they’re in the same bracket in Lebanon. And second, they could figure in a home-andaway series if both teams make it to the second round of the FIBA Asia/Pacific qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. Gilas found out that Iraq roughhouses, flops a lot and relies heavily on import Demario Mayfield. Iraq dumped former naturalized player Kevin Galloway to bring in Mayfield only this year. Apparently, naturalization is an easy process in Iraq. Mayfield, 26, went from Georgia to Charlotte to Morehead State before landing in Angelo State, a Division II school, to play college basketball. The 6-4 guard compiled 29 points, four rebounds, four assists and six steals in 36:55 minutes in Iraq’s 84-75 loss to Gilas.
Statistically, Gilas posted positive and negative numbers in the Jones Cup. The Philippines ranked last in free throw percentage at 66 percent although in the last game against Iran, Gilas shot 22-of-26 foul shots for an 85 percent clip. Gilas averaged 13.1 turnovers, the least among the 10 teams and was second in rebounds at 39.7 but only fifth in assists at 14.1.
Gilas head coach Chot Reyes went up against some brilliant minds. Chinese Taipei White’s coach was Charlie Parker, a former NBA assistant coach with over 40 years of experience on the bench. India’s head coach was Phil Weber, another former NBA assistant coach who has worked with Danny Ainge, Scott Skiles, Frank Johnson, Mike D’Antoni and Norm Sloan. Hur Jae is an Asian hoops legend who played in two Olympics and once shot 54 points against Egypt at the 1990 FIBA World Cup. Canada 150 coach Kyle Julius led the London Lightning to the Canadian league title this season with a 35-5 record, including 17 straight wins and took Coach of the Year honors.
Beating Chinese-Taipei Blue, 88-72 and Chinese-Taipei White, 93-82, should give Gilas a boost of confidence since the Philippines is in the same bracket as Chinese-Taipei in the first round of the FIBA Asia/Pacific home-and-away qualifiers. In Blue, the players to watch are 6-8 naturalized veteran Quincy Davis (on his last year of duty), 6-3 Liu Cheng and 6-2 Yi Hsiang Chou. Yi Hsiang averaged 18.8 points in the Jones Cup while Davis normed 10.5 points and nine rebounds. In White, the star was Chen Ying Chun who averaged 20.4 points and hit 17 against Gilas.
India was the only winless team as 6-8 Amjyot Singh couldn’t carry the load by himself with his 6-9 brother Amritpal and ace guard Vishesh Bhriguvanshi recently drafted as Asian imports in the Australian league. Amritpal is with the Sydney Kings and Bhriguvanshi with the Adelaide 36ers. In Lebanon, all three will be in the roster with the Dallas Mavericks’ 2015 second round draft pick 7-2 Satnam Singh.
Overall, the Jones Cup experience was a huge lift for the Philippines. Reyes proved he’s still at the top of his game at the helm while Gilas will only get better from the lessons of battling crack opposition on the international stage and fatigue in playing nine games in nine days.