Coach says fans keep Powerade 5 strong

MANILA, Philippines - Powerade Team Pilipinas coach Yeng Guiao said the other day the fans’ positive thoughts and prayers will keep the national team strong at the FIBA-Asia Championships now going on in Tianjin.

In a message before the Philippines took on South Korea last Friday, Guiao said, “We need your positive thoughts and especially your prayers to keep us strong - we need the support and prayers of our kababayan.”

Guiao described Korea as a more complete team than Japan and said “we have to play our best to beat them.”

As it turned out, Powerade hit only .299 from the field and would’ve won if it shot even just 33 percent of its three-point attempts (instead of .148 on 4-of-27). Worse, the Philippines hit only 6-of-11 from the line compared to Korea’s 19-of-27. Korea’s 13-point advantage from the stripe was the final margin of difference, 69-56.

The Philippines was down by only five, 55-50, with 6:50 left, but crumbled down the stretch, connecting on 3-of-15 the rest of the way. Five of the attempts were from three-point distance and none was a conversion. A 12-2 Korean blitz iced the contest with 0:47 to go. Defensively, the Philippines held its own but offensively, it was an untimely off night.

“We draw extra strength from the thought that we will make our country proud if we show determination and character,” said Guiao. “Also, we are grateful for the unflinching support of our team manager J. B. Baylon, Powerade and the Coca-Cola organization. We are also thankful to the PBA Board of Governors and commissioner Sonny Barrios who came all the way from Manila to give us moral support.”

Next in line is Chinese-Taipei, the Philippines’ biggest stumbling block in landing a quarterfinal seeding that will avoid an immediate knockout game against powerhouse China, expected to take the No. 1 slot from Groups C and D. The Philippines takes on Chinese-Taipei in a cross-over pairing at 4 p.m. today. Both teams posted 2-1 records in their groups in the first phase of eliminations.

Chinese-Taipei wasn’t even supposed to play in Tianjin but made it as a wildcard, courtesy of the influential FIBA-Asia secretary-general Dato Yeoh Choo Hock of Malaysia.

Assuming Iran and South Korea finish 1-2 from Groups A and B at the end of the second phase of eliminations, the winner of the Philippines-Chinese-Taipei game will likely settle for No. 3 with the loser dropping to No. 4. Japan and Kuwait, the other two Groups A and B survivors from the first phase, are not expected to advance to the quarterfinals. Japan’s hopes hinge on an upset win over Chinese-Taipei and a Philippine loss to Chinese-Taipei to arrange a triple-tie for the last two Group A and B tickets to the quarterfinals.

Chinese-Taipei failed to make it to Tianjin outright from the East Asia zone where South Korea and Japan qualified. But Dato Yeoh, exercising his prerogative, said he would include Chinese-Taipei by either adding one more team to the Tianjin cast or taking over from a qualifier. He said Chinese-Taipei had to be accommodated because of its lofty finish, sixth place, at the last FIBA-Asia Championships in Tokushima two years ago. In the end, Gulf qualifier Bahrain mysteriously withdrew and Chinese-Taipei was brought in as a wildcard.

Chinese-Taipei carries a lot of weight in Asian basketball because it hosts the annual Jones Cup, a tradition dating back to over 20 years.

If the Philippines loses to Chinese-Taipei, it will still qualify for the eight-team quarterfinals but as the No. 4 seed from Groups A and B. That means it will face the No. 1 seed from Groups C and D in a knockout game to start the quarterfinals on Friday. The No. 1 seed is expected to be China, bannered by three NBA veterans. China was untouchable in the first phase of eliminations, crushing India, 121-49, Kazakhstan, 74-56, and Qatar, 92-61.

If the Philippines beats Chinese-Taipei, it will take the No. 3 seed from Groups A and B –assuming a victory over Kuwait on Wednesday. That will arrange a knockout quarterfinal showdown with the No. 2 seed from Groups C and D, likely to be Jordan which has so far trounced Lebanon, 84-67, Indonesia, 105-47, and the United Arab Emirates, 79-67.

The Philippines will improve its chances of a higher seeding, maybe to No. 2, if it upsets Iran tomorrow.

But the priority is to beat Chinese-Taipei this afternoon.

The top three scorers for Taiwan are 6-4 Chang Tsung Hsien (shooting .500 from three-point distance, averaging 13.3 points), 6-8 Wu Tai Hao (hitting .545 from the floor and .800 from the line) and 6-2 Yang Chin Min (converting 12-of-13 two-point field goals). Star 6-8 forward Tien Lei hasn’t unleashed his full potential and is probably being kept under wraps for the crucial games ahead.

Chinese-Taipei boasts a balanced lineup with four players standing at least 6-7, Chen Tzu-Wei, Tien, Tseng Wen Ting and Wu. The team’s average height is 6-4. The youngest player is leading scorer Chang, 20, and the oldest is Yang Che Yi, 30.

At the recent Jones Cup, Tien and Yang Chin Min combined for 35 points to lead Taiwan over the Philippines, 86-77. Taiwan wound up in a four-way tie for first place but fell to fourth behind Iran, Jordan and Lebanon after employing the quotient system.

Chinese-Taipei thrives on quick passing, three-point shooting and applying pressure defense. In blasting Kuwait, the Taiwanese buried five triples, collected 17 assists and created 26 turnovers. Chinese-Taipei knocked down 11 treys, issued 20 assists and forced 22 turnovers in crushing Uzbekistan.