Chot rues no call

Gilas head coach Chot Reyes isn’t crying over spilled milk but couldn’t help wondering what if the referees called a 24-second shot clock violation against Jordan in the waning moments of the Philippines’ 91-90 loss in the sixth FIBA World Cup Asia qualifying window at the Philippine Arena last Monday.

“In the PBA, the table officials call the 24-second shot clock violation and there’s a deadball,” said Reyes. “In FIBA, the referees decide whether or not to call a deadball in which case you can signal a timeout or play on. Against Jordan, it was play on. In a deadball, I would’ve called a timeout, advanced the ball and laid out a play for the last shot with five seconds to go.” As it turned out, the clock ticked away and Gilas hurriedly brought the ball up with Ray Parks taking a mid-range bank shot that missed at the buzzer. The sequence would’ve been inconsequential if Scottie Thompson converted two free throws with 30 ticks left. But Reyes said it wasn’t Thompson’s fault.

“I told Scottie don’t worry about it,” he said. “He’ll make those foul shots in the World Cup. The chance to make the free throws wouldn’t have happened in the first place if he didn’t get the offensive rebound.” Reyes said it was difficult to rotate deep because Thompson had no reliever at point guard and June Mar Fajardo at center. “We could’ve used Chris (Newsome) to back up Scottie and Japeth (Aguilar) or Raymond (Almazan) or Poy (Erram) to relieve June Mar (Fajardo),” he said.

In the run-up to the World Cup, Reyes will bring a “manageable” pool for training overseas and mentioned 24 may be hard to handle. “Nobody has a lock on a spot,” he said. “Justin (Brownlee) will play in the SEA Games. Clarkson commands respect as an NBA player and can play point guard in the World Cup. JB defends, rebounds, scores and is familiar with the way we play in the PBA.” FIBA, however, allows only one naturalized player per national team. Reyes said deploying a small and quick lineup stemmed the tide after Jordan went up, 60-41, at the half, burying 12 triples. In the third quarter, Jordan’s threepoint guns were silenced and Gilas cut what was once a 25-point lead to six. Gilas tied it, 88-all with 1:52 left then Jordan hit a free throw and a field goal before Brownlee countered, time down to 1:23, to close the scoring.