JAKARTA – For Sinag Pilipinas, nothing has changed even as Thailand upset the home team late Friday to foil the highly anticipated Philippines-Indonesia championship game.
Against whichever team, coach Norman Black said the Nationals will still come out to finish the job and bring home the most precious medal.
The Thais mounted a searing fourth-quarter rally to pull the rug from under the Indons, 65-62, and set a final match with the Filipinos at 7 tonight (8 p.m. Manila time) at the BritAma Arena in Kelapa Gading.
“We’ll do what we’re here for – to win the championship,” said Black on the eve of the finale.
Meanwhile, Discovery Perlas Pilipinas formally claimed the women’s basketball silver as it repulsed Indonesia, 73-68, yesterday.
Despite their failed bid to clinch the first-ever SEAG crown, the Phl cagebelles matched their best performance in the biennial meet in Chiang Mai in 1995.
Black said they won’t let their guard down, believing they can’t take the Thais for granted.
“We have no room to be overconfident. There must be a reason why the Thais beat the Indonesians. They should be better,” said Black.
Team captain Chris Tiu said the Thais would be a problem if not handled well.
“They are not that quick. They are big though and quite physical, sometimes dirty,” said Tiu.
Black and Tiu admit, though, that there are positive sides on the Thais putting the Indonesians away.
“It helped us even the field as far as crowd support is concerned,” said Black.
“We don’t know if they’re easier, but at least we’ve played the Thais so we know more or less how they play,” said Tiu.
Behind a run-and-gun game, Sinag Pilipinas crushed Thailand, 103-69, during their elimination-round meeting.
“They are mostly veterans, so we will use our quickness to pressure them and run them down,” said Tiu, hinting they will try to repeat versus the Thais with an up-tempo game.
Even with Garvo Lanete doubtful due to an injured shoulder, Black believes they have enough crew to do the job.
They had a light workout yesterday afternoon, shooting around and running through their plays in preparation for tonight’s game where they will be out to notch the country’s eight straight SEAG men’s basketball crown.
The Indonesians, once handled by Filipino coach Bong Ramos, play the Malaysians for the bronze.