Gilas glides to Elite Eight

Before anything else, belated birthday greetings to my relative-by-affinity, this paper’s managing editor and fellow sporstscribe Nimrod L. Quiñones. He had his nth birthday the other day. Bai, let’s not think of how old we are getting, but rather take comfort in the thought that the more birthdays we have, the longer we are going to live.

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The top guns separated themselves from the also-rans with the completion of the quarter final pairings for the 26th edition of the FIBA Asia Championships.   They do battle starting at 1:30 this afternoon and these are must-win games for all the teams concerned.  

The winner of this tournament will have an automatic slot to the 2012 London Olympics scheduled on July 28 to August 12. Considering their size, experience and NBA pedigrees, it’s a toss-up between host China and defending two-time FIBA Asia champion Iran to make it.

There’s still the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament if either China or Iran misses the cut. The number 2 and 3 in the Asian Championships will go to the much tougher Olympic qualifiers scheduled on the first week of July 2012 and do battle with 10 other teams from eligible contenders taken from FIBA Americas, Europe, Africa and Oceania.

At 1:30 this afternoon, Iran goes up against Jordan. The Iranians will rely on Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi and Arsalan Kasemi who plays for the US NCAA Division 1 Rice University. All indications point to an Iran win, unless Jordan decides otherwise.

The 3:30pm match between Korea and Japan will be interesting. Both teams have good outside shooters but they lack fluidity in their inside games. Japan has the height and talent but they are still young and wanting in experience. Center Joji Takeuchi will be their main man. Korea will depend on how well point guard Yang Dongguen controls the game. Their 7-2 center Ma is too slow for Takeuchi. Korea’s naturalized player Greg Stevenson could be the difference. This game will be tight and I say it will be Korea.

Chinese Taipei will try to get one over Smart Gilas in the 6pm encounter. The Taiwanese are still hurting from their 2-game loss on home turf in the recent Jones Cup from the PH squad and they badly need a victory to restore their pride and Bob Hill’s ego. Yup, he’s the former head coach of the NBA’s Orlando Magic and San Antonio Spurs hired by Taiwan as their basketball consultant. Who’s gonna win on this one? We have the edge but things could backfire.

Basing on our past three assignments, our plays on the early stages of the game are agonizingly ridiculous, allowing the opposition double digit leads. This could be disastrous and will be exploited to the max by the Taiwanese. And they play good defense too.   Our perimeter shooters must produce and Coach Rajko should rotate Baracael, De Ocampo, Williams, Taulava and Aguilar to ease the load on Douthit. Jimmy Alapag should be given more playing time.

In tonight’s main game, China is the heavy favorite over Lebanon. Seven footers Yi Jian Lian and Wang Zhi Zhi are very mobile and have great shooting touches. Likewise former Laker Sun Yue who can burn the hoops from the outside. I’m still not discounting the possibility of a Lebanese upset, no matter how remote.

If the above-mentioned scenarios hold water, the final four tomorrow will be China, Iran, Gilas and Korea. China will take Korea and we do battle with Iran. We have beaten Iran just about a month ago and there is always that chance of a repeat performance.

A top three finish looks daunting for us but there’s still the Olympic qualifiers reserved for FIBA Asia’s 2nd and 3rd placers as motivation. Let’s go for it, Gilas! Go Pilipinas!

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The seventh season of the biggest amateur volleyball tournament in the country opens tomorrow at the Cebu International Convention Center.   Witness past, present and future stars of the province in this year’s edition of the Gov. Gwen Garcia Unity Volleyball Cup. Opening ceremonies are scheduled at 8am with matches slated to begin at 1pm. You’re not a volleyball fan if you miss this one.

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