2012 FIBA Asia Championships will be held in Manila

The Philippines gained the right to host the 27th FIBA-Asia Championship after the FIBA Asia Executive Committee decided to move the venue from Lebanon due to the tense situation in Syria and the Middle East.  The tournament will be held on August 1-11, 2013.

FIBA Asia Secretary General Hagop Khajirian explained that the on-going civil war in Syria created the doubts for a successful staging of the biennial basketball tournament in his home country Lebanon.  The FIBA Asia tournament is the main qualifying tournament for Asian countries for the 2014 FIBA World Cup that will be held in Spain. The top 3 finishers of the 27th FIBA-Asia Championship will represent the continent in the World Cup that is held once every 4 years.

The Philippines has been a very vocal in its interest to host the prestigious qualifying tournament as the event was last held in Manila in 1973 during the 7th staging of the event. The officials of the Samahan ng Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) were very disappointed when FIBA Asia initially awarded the event to Lebanon.

The Philippines has now has a chance to redeem its disappointing 4th place finish in the last staging of the event which cost a chance to play at the 2012 London Olympics.

caloycomment: We not got the hosting rights.  Will we be able to assemble our strongest team ever? Will politics in the PBA prevent as from creating a strong line-up that can reach the finals.  Hopefully Manny Pangilinan and the San Miguel will form an unlikely alliance that will at least give the country a fair chance to qualify for the World Cup.  I am drooling now just trying to imagine how Jason Castro guards Chris Paul or how Arwind Santos stop Lebron James. It could happen… 😉

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26th FIBA Asia Championships: Final 4 cast complete; Gilas battles Jordan for a final slot

Wuhan, China – Only four teams are left to contend for the 26th FIBA Asia Championship for Men after the 4 quarterfinal games earlier today. Here are the results of the quarterfinal games:

Jordan 88 – 84 Iran

Top Performers:

Hamed Hadadi (Iran) 27 points 14 rebounds 7 assists 3 blocks

Osama Daghles (Jordan) 23 points 4 rebounds 5 assists 3 steals

Key Stats:

Free Throw Shooting- Jordan (16/20 80%) Iran (20/33 61%)

Points of Turnover- Jordan 23 Iran 15

Surprising Players:

Zaid Naem Alkhas 14 points (4/7 in 3 point attempts)

Wesam Al-Sous 12 point (4/5 in 3 point range)

Jordan sent two-time defending champion Iran home as they rallied in the final minutes of the game from a 77-78 deficit to am emphatic 88-84 win. 2009 Bronze medallist will have another shot to earn medals in this year’s tournament.

 

Korea 86 – 67 Japan

Top Performers:

Moon Taejong 17 points 6 rebounds 4 assists 1 block

Kosuke Takeuchi 16 points 13 rebounds 2 assists 2 blocks

Key Stats:

Rebounds- Korea 47 Japan 35

Assists – Korea 24 Japan 13

Disappointing Players:

Joji Takeuchi (Japan) 4 points 1 rebound

Takuya Kawamura (Japan) 1/8 FG shooting

After missing out on a semi-final spot in the 2009 FIBA Asia Championships in 2009, the Hur Jae-coached Korean squad made sure that pounce on Japan early and earn a shot for a finals berth. The Koreans controlled the first quarter and held 23-11 first quarter lead. They pulled away in the 2nd period and coasted to a lopsided win over Japan.

 

Philippines 95 – 78 Taiwan

Top Players:

Marcus Douthit (PHL) 37 points 10 rebounds 1 steal 1 blocked shot

Tseng Wen-Ting (TPE) 20 pointd 5 rebounds 2 assists

Key Stats:

Points in the Paint: PHL 50 TPE 30

Points of turnovers PHL 20 TPE 11

Surprising Player:

Ranidel De Ocamppo 18 points 5 caroms 3 dishes 1 steal and 1 block

The Philippines pounded a gritty Taipei team in the inside and ended up breaking a 24 year streak of missing the semifinals of the FIBA Asia Championships. The last time they made the semifinals was in Bangkok 1987. Ranidel de Ocampo The Smart Gilas will have a rematch against second round victim Jordan who eliminated the dreaded Iranian national team.

 

China 68 – 48 Lebanon

Top Players:

Lie Wei (CHI)  13 points (only 1 miss in 7 attempts)

Samuel Hoskin (LEB) 2o points 10 rebounds 1 assist and 1 steal

Key Stats:

3 point shooting – China (4/12) Leb (2/21)

Points of turnover – China 21 Lebanon 14

Disappointing Player:

Jean Abdel El Nour 4 points (2 of 9 shooting) 30:58 of game time.

The hosts China made a date with Korea in tomorrow’s semi-final pairings after beating Lebanon. The game was close in the first 2 periods. China pulled away in the 3rd period as they outscored Jordan 30-10. Their lead was 19 already at the start of the 4th period.

Games Tomorrow:

Philippines vs. Jordan

China vs. Korea

 

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26th FIBA Asia Championships: Gilas sweeps 2nd round games

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Wuhan, China– After suffering defeat in the first round group matches, the Smart Gilas Pilipinas went undefeated in the second round group matches. They defeated Jordan, Japan, and Syria in succession. In the match against Syria, the Filipino cagers were not their usual selves as they trailed 23-32 at half-time. What coach Rajko Toroman said at the break must have worked as the Philippine team dominated the last two quarters to end up winning 75-52 and enter the quarterfinal round brimming with confidence.

After trailing by 9 in the first half, the Philippines outscored the Syrians 26-13 in the 3rd period. Entering the final canto, the Gilas were only leading by 4 at 49-45. A back-breaking 15-0 blast to start the quarter ended all hopes of the Goran Milijevic-mentored squad to upset Team Pilipinas. The 4 point lead ballooned to a 64-45 rout. It was cruise control for the Gilas from that point.

Marcus Douthit was the only Gilas player in double figures with 20 points but all his teammates scored in this game with the whole Chinese-Taipei team watching in the gallery. Syria was lead by  Al Hamowi’s 11 markers.

Next up for the Gilas will be Chinese-Taipei who finished 3rd in their group behind Iran and Korea. The other quarterfinal pairing will be China vs. Lebanon, Korea vs. Japan, and Iran vs. Jordan.

 

The scores:

Smart Gilas Phl 75 – Douthit 20, Tiu 8, De Ocampo 8, Lutz 7, Casio 7, Alapag 6, Lassiter 5, Taulava 4, Aguilar 4, Barroca 2, Williams 2, Baracael 2.

Syria 52 – Al Hamowi 11, Georges 9, Jililati 8, Nalbadian 6, Al Saman 5, Deeb 4, Lubus 3, Daks 2, Osfira 0, Al Katib 0.

Quarterscores: 14-11, 23-32, 49-45, 75-52

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26th FIBA Asia Championships: Gilas vs. Syria 4th Quarter Philippine scoring

4th Quarter starts with Philippines 49 – 45 Syria

Ranidel de Ocampo putback slam 51-45

Douthit fould. 2 free throw. Makes both 53-45

Ranidel Ocampo scores inside 55-45

Douthit 4th foul

7:29 left

Lassiter dribble drive 57-45

Chris Tiu for 3 60-45 and the rout is on. Timeout Syria

6:17 left. Syria has not scored in the 4th.

Lassiter misses the 3.

Barroca in the game.

Barroca misses the 3.

Good pass by Taulava to Lassiter. And 1. 62-45

Lassiter makes the bonus. 63-45

Kelly Williams steals the ball.

Barroca misses a 3.

Williams makes a rebound.

Outlet to Asi. Asi is fouled attempting a lay-up.  2 free throws.

Asi splits his FTs. 64-45.

Syria finally makes a basket at 3:35 64-47

Tiu for 3. 67-47.

Syria makes a basket 67-49.

Barroca to Asi 69-49.

Barroca steals and makes a bucket 71-49.

Baracael scores 73-49.

Syria for 3. 73-52.

Japeth scores from an alley-oop 75-52.

Game over. 75-52 for the Smart Gilas!!!

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26th FIBA Asia Championship: Philippines rally past Japan

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Wuhan, China – People now know why other teams are hell-bent in preventing the Pilipinas Smart-Gilas to compete with a full line-up. After dealing Jordan a tough loss, the Philippines brought back to earth the dreams on erstwhile undefeated Japan team, 83-76. The return of Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz has netted the Philippines two come from behind wins. The Gilas are not dark horses anymore but a big threat to the olympic aspirations of the Asian basketball powers.

China was lucky that they were able to take advantage the absence of the Filipino wingmen. A possible rematch against the Philippines in the finals will surely create an interesting story line and possibly a different outcome.

In the game against Japan, the Philippines started strong and took an 8-2 lead. Japan responded later in the quarter and scored 15 unanswered points from the last few minutes of the opening canto to the  first few seconds of the 2nd quarter to take a 26-18 lead. Joji Takeuchi led Japan to hold a 40-34 advantage at the half.

The third quarter was an all-Gilas show as they outscored the Japanese 26-12. Marcus Douthit, Lassiter, and Talk N’ Text’s Kelly Williams dominated both ends of the floor. Jimmy Alapag took over in the final period for the Philippines, as the current PBA MVP scored 12 points in the quarter and help the Philippines hold on for the win.

Douhthit negated Joji Takeuchi’s 22 point-effort as he finished with 3 more at 25. Jimmy Alapag and Marcio Lassiter both had 15 points while Williams had 12 markers. Takeshi Shonaka, Kenta Hirose and Takuya Kawamura also scored in twin digits for Japan.

The Gilas will be battling Syria tomorrow to clinch at least a No.2 seed after the second round group play. Japan will play hosts China tomorrow.

Scores:

Smart Gilas 83 – Douthit 25, Alapag 15, Lassiter 15, Williams 12, Barroca 6, de Ocampo 4, Casio 4, Taulava 2, Tiu 0, Lutz 0.

Japan 76 – J. Takeuchi 22, Shonaka 14, Hirose 13, Kawamura 12, K. Takeuchi 6, Ishizaki 5, Amino 4, Matsui 0, Takeda 0, Sakurao 0, Kashiwagi 0.

Quarterscores: 18-23, 34-40, 60-52, 83-76

caloycomment: Some key stats on observations in the Philippines vs. Japan game … Continue

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26th FIBA Asia Championship: Smart Gilas wins against Jordan with Lutz and Lassiter

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Wuhan, China – The Pilipinas Smart-Gilas won its first 2nd round game in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship for Men held in Wuhan Gymnasium, Wuhan, China. The Gilas defeated 2009 Fiba-Asia 3rd place finisher Jordan, 72-64. It was the first time in the tournament that the Philippine team was able to field a full line-up.

Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz who had their eligibility questioned were finally allowed to play minutes after the game has started. The team was trailing by double digits, 5-17 when Lassiter entered the game as a substitute. The team even had deficits as high as 18 points before rallying and trail just by five at the end of the first half, 26-31.

Lassiter, Jimmy Alapag, and Marcus Douthit conspired in the third quarter to make the game even going into the final 10 minutes of the game. The Gilas started the payoff period with a 12-4 run to take a 59-51 lead but Jordan rallied to trail just by a basket at 64-66. The Philippine’s defense held the Jordanian scoreless in the crucial minutes game. Chris Tiu and Kelly Williams made pressure-packed free throws to secure the game for the wards of Serbian coach Rajko Toroman. Coach Toroman intimated that the game is the biggest win so far in his life, bigger than his FIBA Asia championship victory with Iran in 2007 .

Douthit topped the scoring for the Gilas with 19 points while Alapag and Lassiter combined for 25 points. The win upped the record of the Philippines to 2-1 in the second round while Jordan fell to 1-2 in Group F.

Other results:

Group E

Iran (3-0) 121 – 36 (0-3) Malaysia

Chinese-Taipei (2-1) 60-58 (1-2) Lebanon

South Korea (3-0) 106-57 (0-3) Uzbekistan

Group F

Japan (3-0) 101-61 (0-3) UAE

China (3-0) over (0-3) Syria

Other Results:

 

The scores:

Smart-Gilas 72 – Douthit 19, Lassiter 14, Alapag 11, Tiu 9, Williams 6, Lutz 4, de Ocampo 4, Casio 3, Taulava 2, Barroca 0, Aguilar 0, Baracael 0.

Jordan 64 – Daghles 18, Wright 16, Abbas Z. 10, Abuqoura 7, Abbas I. 6, Al-Sous 5, Jamal 2, Soobzokov 0.

Quarters: 11-20; 26-31; 47-47; 72-64

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26th FIBA Asia Championship: Smart Gilas easily defeats Bahrain

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Wuhan, China – After suffering a tough loss against China, the Pilipinas Smart Gilas plunged into action against Bahrain for their third game in the  FIBA Asia Championship for Men. The Gilas has only ten men dressed for this match as Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter has not been cleared to play due to eligibility issues. It did not matter as the Gilas cruised to a 113-71 victory.

The Gilas started the game with a 25-9 run and eventually settling with 30-18 lead by the end of the first quarter. They held a comfortable 51-41 lead at the half. In the third quarter, the Philippine team stepped on the gas as Japeth Aguilar scored 14 of his game-leading 21 points in scorching 19-0 run that took out the fight from their opponents. The 3rd canto ended with a 39 point spread for the Philippines.

The Philippines cruised in the 4th quarter to win by 42 points. The 113 point performance is so far the highest sore achieved by a team in this tournament. Seven of the ten Filipinos scored more than 10 points in the game. Japeth Aguilar added 12 rebounds to his 21 points. Bigman Marcus Douthit had 18 points and 9 rebounds. Bahrain was lead by former DLSU Green Archer Bader Malabes with 15 markers and 7 assists.

The Smart-Gilas advances to the 2nd round with a 2-1 record. They are  grouped against Japan, Jordan, and Syria.

Philippines 113 – Aguilar 21, Douthit 18, Casio 15, Taulava 13, de Ocampo 13, Baracael 11, Tiu 10, Barroca 8, Alapag 2, Williams 2.

Bahrain 71 – Malabes 15, Sarhan 13, Mahri 11, Ali 8, Isa 7, Khamis 7, Akber 6, Mubarak 2, Ashoor 0.

Quarters: 30-18, 51-41, 86-47, 113-71

caloycomment: It is quite sad that eligibility issues … continue

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26th FIBA Asia Championship: Gilas beaten by China

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Wuhan, China – The absence of wingmen Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter were clearly felt when China (2-0) drubbed the Pilipinas Smart-Gilas (1-1), 75-60, in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship. The Chinese used its height advantage to the hilt as they more than doubled the Philippine‘s output in the fist half, 43-21. The Gilas tried to rally in the second half to no avail as China took advantage of the absence of Lutz and Lassiter, as their not cleared by FIBA Asia to play in the tournament.

A fist fight almost ensued between the coaching staffs of the two teams as China coach Donewald apparently called Gilas coach  Rajko Toroman an a$%hole when Toroman was talking to the tournament director during a break.

Marcus Douhit lead the Gilas with 17 markers and 10 rebounds and he was able to somehow negated the numbers of  Yi Jianlian (Washington Wizards) who finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds. Chris Tiu finished with 12 points.

The scores:
China (75) – Yi 20, Wang 16, Sun 15, Zhu 13, Zhang 3, Liu 2, Zhang B 2, Yi L 2, Ding 1, Yu 1, Su 0, Xirelijiang 0.
Smart Gilas (60) – Douthit 17, Tiu 12, Williams 6, Casio 5, Alapag 5, Baracael 4, Aguilar 4, De Ocampo 3, Barroca 2, Taulava 2,.

Quarterscores: 22-13: 43-21; 55-40; 75-60

 

caloycomment: The Philippines is probably a top 6 team … continue

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26th FIBA Asia Championships: Gilas beats UAE without Lassiter and Lutz

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Wuhan, China – Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter were ruled ineligible for the opening game of the Pilipinas Smart-Gilas in the 26th FIBA Asia Championships. Hagop Khajirian, deputy secretary-general of the FIBA-Asia Central Board, said that the Philippines need to submit supporting documents that the 2 players acquired Filipino citizenship before the age 16 or else they will be considered as naturalized players. As per FIBA rules, only one naturalized is allowed to play in a national team.

The absence of the two prized wingmen initially affected the Pilipinas-Smart Gilas as they trailed 0-5 at the beginning of their match against UAE. PBA draftee Mac Baracael stepped in for Lutz and Lassiter. Baracael adjusted well to the extra minutes that were given to him as he topped the scoring with 15 markers to lead the Smart-Gilas to a 92-52 rout over the middle-eastern 5. Veteran Asi Taulava had 13 point and 11 rebounds.

The Philippines would need to prove that Lassiter and Lutz are eligle to play or else the country will be stuck with only 10 players in the line-up. Coach Rajko Toroman was disappointed that the organizers only informed the team about eligibility issues on the eve of tournament’s opening. Hopefully, the Gilas can use the apparent “oppression” to motivate them to win their next games. The Smart-Gilas will face host China in their second match.

The scores:
Smart-Gilas (92) — Baracael 15, Taulava 13, Douthit 13, Casio 11, Barroca 9, Tiu 9, de Ocampo 7, Alapag 6, Williams 5, Aguilar 4.

UAE (52) — Ahmed 12, Alhattawi 11, Ahmad 10, Alzaabi 7, Salem 6, Al Braiki 3, Abdalla 3, Alsari 0, Banihammad 0.

Quarterscores: 17-12; 41-22; 69-35; 92-52.

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Jones Cup: Iran wins 3rd straight title; Gilas settles for 3rd place

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Sinjhuang Stadium, Taipei– Asian basketball powerhouse Iran has proven once again that they are probably the team to beat in the upcoming FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China. They beat Korea,  66-59 in the finals of the 33rd William Jones Cup.  It was a tough defeat for the Koreans as they were undefeated until the final match yesterday.

In the battle for 3rd place honors, Smart-Gilas once again defeated host Chinese Taipei, 82-72 to cap a podium finish. Fifth place was secure by Japan who defeated Jordan 77-73.

Box Score of the Gilas match against Taipei

The scores:
PHILIPPINES 82—Douthit 28, Lassiter 16, Hontiveros 13, Barroca 10, Baracael 5, Taulava 5, Aguilar 4, Ababou 0
TAIPEI 72—Chien C. 26, Chen S. 13, Su 9, Lee 6, Chen H. 4, Lu 4, Creighton 3, Chang 2, Ho 2
Quarters: 22-16; 43-34; 62-49; 82-72

 

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