Tough grind ahead

Philippine basketball team coach Chot Reyes isn’t counting his chickens before they’re hatched.

Sure, the Philippines is off to a flying start with a 4-0 record in the Jones Cup in Taipei but the toughest assignments are still to come. There are five more games in the Philippines’ schedule and the last is against Passing Lane Sports of the US on Sunday.

Reyes isn’t about to let his guard down although he confessed to taking India lightly the other day. India sprinted to an early eight-point lead and was up, 24-19, at the end of the first period before collapsing in a heap as the Philippines ignited a 15-0 surge to open a 72-48 edge late in the third quarter. The Philippines wound up scoring a 107-69 rout.

Yesterday, the Philippines faced a youthful Australian squad made up of teenaged students from the Australian Institute of Sports. The result was not available as this was being written.

Today, the Philippines takes on Japan’s national under-24 selection led by 6-5 Takanori Onishi, 6-1 Takaki Ishida and 6-6 Takuya Sato. Japan’s tallest players are 7-2, 215-pound beanpole Toru Sugatani and 6-9, 225-pound Atsuya Ota. The oldest Japanese cager is 6-4 Reina Itakura, 24.

Tomorrow, the Philippines faces Samara of Russia. Samara’s star is 6-8 Pavel Ulyanko who scored 17 points against India and 24 against Japan. The Russians overwhelmed India, 107-76, and Japan, 67-50.

On Saturday, the Philippines battles Chinese-Taipei in what is expected to be an emotional clash. Hundreds of Filipinos living in Taiwan will no doubt be in the stadium to cheer their cage heroes and try to neutralize the host team’s homecourt advantage.

Then, on Sunday, it will be the Philippines versus Passing Lane Sports in a rematch of their Global Hoops Summit duel in Las Vegas last week. Passing Lane defeated the Philippines, 80-71, in their first encounter but Asi Taulava wasn’t in the Las Vegas lineup.

Clearly, Taulava has made a difference in Taipei.

Toronto Raptors director of player personnel Jim Kelly, a former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) coaching consultant and broadcaster, watched the national squad’s game against Nigeria in Las Vegas and said the Philippines would’ve won if only the team had more size under the boards to clear rebounds. Nigeria beat the Philippines by six. Kelly probably meant the Philippines would’ve won with Taulava.

Against India, Taulava was unstoppable and scored 29 points. "India had no one to stop Taulava," said Reyes in a text. He was also instrumental in keying the Philippines’ 79-75 win over South Korea last Monday. Taulava hit 14 points and dominated the interior.

"Asi was a force on both offense and defense," said Reyes after the close victory. "It’s really the worst time to lose a scorer like Willie (Miller) when we’re up against a team like Korea. But people stepped up and everyone contributed." Miller dislocated his right ankle in the game against Kazakhstan last Sunday and is now back in Manila.

South Korea led, 34-33, at the half and was down by only two points with 34.3 seconds left. Dondon Hontiveros scored a layup, time down to 14.8 ticks, to ice the contest that saw the Philippines open a 13-point advantage on Jay-Jay Helterbrand’s three-point play with 6:26 to go.

Taulava said it felt good to beat Korea. At the 2002 Busan Asian Games, Taulava was on the Philippines team that lost to Korea on a last-second triple in the semifinals. A win would’ve advanced the Philippines to the finals against China and guaranteed a silver. "That loss meant a lot," sighed Taulava. "And I’m glad we played a good game against Korea this time."

Korea’s average height was 6-3 and average age was 21.1 years. The oldest in the squad was 6-7 Ju Lian Kim, 23.

Reyes said Korea’s 6-8, 220-pound center Joo Tae Soo was "super." Joo tallied 23 points against the Philippines.

"In the end, our experience came through," observed Reyes. "The Korean coach (Jin Hyo Joon) said in a post-game interview that he was surprised how similar our game is now to (the) Korean style, referring to our ball movement and outside shooting. He said the only reason Korea beat PBA teams consistently in the past was because we didn’t play enough internationally."

PBA commissioner Noli Eala, who is in Taipei, said, "I really hope all this work can bring up to Doha " yes, we’re playing so well."

It was Eala’s vision that rationalized the PBA calendar to allow for the pro players’ participation in international competitions.

Eala referred to Doha as the site of the FIBA (Federation Internationale de Basketball)-Asia Championships this September. The Philippines was suspended from participating in FIBA tournaments because of its leadership crisis last June. The suspension prevented the Philippines from playing in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championships, the qualifying tournament for Doha.

Meanwhile, Philippine Basketball League reinforcements Denok Miranda and Jondan Salvador arrived in Taipei yesterday to beef up Reyes’ cast.

Brandon Cablay, who scored 17 points in the 82-71 win over Qatar last Saturday, has been hobbled by a bruised right calf muscle and is listed day-to-day. With Miller gone and Cablay hurting, Miranda may be called on to play more than expected in the Philippines’ remaining games.