Gilas battles italy
FOSHAN – Gilas head coach Yeng Guiao told his players that if somehow things go wrong in the Philippine campaign at the FIBA World Cup, he’ll take the hit, nobody else and it’s an assurance that could reflect in how the national team plays Italy at the 14,700-seat International Sports and Cultural Arena here tonight.
“It’s to take the pressure off the players,” said Guiao. “If we lose, they won’t be blamed. If we win, it’s to their credit. I just want them to play their best and enjoy the experience of playing in the biggest World Cup ever.”
The Philippines is in a tough bracket with Italy, Angola and Serbia. Only the top two finishers in the group will advance to the second round in Wuhan. The last two placers will be relegated to a classification round from No. 17 to No. 32 in Beijing. Every team in the competition is guaranteed to play at least five games.
Guiao said the Italy contest could decide the other team in Group D to make it to the second round with Serbia expected to sweep. “It’s the biggest game for us,” he said. “If we win, we’ll focus on beating Angola which we play after Serbia. Two wins will bring us to the second round. Maybe, we have a 30 percent chance of beating Italy. At least, it’s not zero. Nothing is impossible. We know we have to play our best and Italy must play its worst for us to win.”
Guiao said if Gilas knocks down 10 to 12 triples against Italy, “we’re in business.” “I’m counting three or four from Dray (Blatche) then the rest could come from Paul (Lee), R. R. (Pogoy), Robert (Bolick), Kiefer (Ravena) and the others,” he said. “It’s important that we’re able to run the floor and use our quickness but that means controlling the boards. We can’t give up too many offensive rebounds. Italy plays a simple game and they’re smart. They don’t run complicated plays. They like to go to their big guards posting up smaller defenders. So we might zone them to take that away. Italy hardly zones and they switch a lot.”
Although Italy’s star Danilo Gallinari wasn’t available for friendlies because of an appendectomy early this month, he’s now in harness along with other NBA veterans Marco Belinelli and Gigi Datome. “They’ve become a better team with Gallinari, Belinelli and Datome,” said Guiao. “Their primary point guard is Daniel Hackett with Amadeo Della Valle backing him up. The entry of the NBA players has given Italy more options with Awudu Abbas and Della Valle becoming role players. Even their naturalized player (Jeff Brooks of Penn State) doesn’t get too much playing time. Alessandro Gentile is their No. 3 and he’s solid. Their best shooter is Belinelli and they run multiple screens to get him open. We’ll put Gabe (Norwood) or Troy (Rosario) on him but I plan to change defenders every three minutes. Belinelli is an amazing shooter, not too quick but his timing is incredible.”
In the 12-game FIBA Europe World Cup Qualifiers, Belinelli and Gallinari didn’t play for Italy as they were focused on their NBA teams. Only Abbas and Paul Biligha went the full route. Abbas, 26, is a full-blooded African whose father is Ghanaian and mother is Nigerian. He was born in Como, Italy. Biligha is of Cameroon descent.
Italy has played in eight World Cups and 11 Olympics. Twice, Italy took the Olympic silver medal in 1980 and 2004 and twice, it finished fourth in the World Cup in 1970 and 1978. Italy won the Eurobasket gold in 1983 and 1999. The Philippines holds the Asian record for the highest finish in the World Cup, bagging the bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 1954.
“I spoke with the Ivory Coast coach after they lost to Italy, 69-58, in a recent friendly,” said Guiao. “We beat Ivory Coast twice in our tune-ups in Spain. The Ivory Coast coach told me Italy is beatable although when they played, Gallinari and Datome weren’t in the lineup. Italy hasn’t done well in their friendlies (losing to Russia, Greece, Serbia, Turkey, New Zealand and France). It’s only been recently that Gallinari and Datome joined them.”
Guiao said he’s both excited and nervous coaching on the global stage. “This is an incredible experience,” he said. “We’re fighting for our country in the game we love.”