Gilas eyes medal play vs Taipei five

TOKYO – Smart Gilas Pilipinas has never lost a game to Chinese Taipei the last three years and the Nationals hope to keep their domination as they square off for a place in the medal plays of the fourth FIBA Asia Cup at the Ota Gymnasium here Thursday.

Coach Chot Reyes and his troops must get past the Taiwanese in their 2 p.m. match to at least duplicate or surpass the Philippines’ fourth-place finish in Beirut in 2010.

The Nationals are upbeat although they expect a tough challenge from the same team they barely beat, 76-72, en route to their Jones Cup conquest last month.

“They’re difficult to play because they are good shooters and they keep on moving. But I think we can handle them,” said LA Tenorio, the hero in their four-point win over the Taiwanese in the Taipei tourney.

“We have to stay close with their shooters. Our big advantage is Marcus (Douthit) in the middle,” said Gabe Norwood.

The Gilas bench chieftain said they have to shift into high gear, believing they’re facing a better Chinese Taipei here.

“I always regard Chinese Taipei as a dangerous opponent much more here where they have the best Chinese Taipei team that I’ve seen. They have their experienced players and their good young talents here,” said Reyes.

“It’s a match of similar style (of play) and it’s going to be difficult. We have to make sure to play good transition defense and we have to make our shots,” Reyes also said.

Chinese Taipei’s best players are all accounted for here, including veteran center Tseng Wen Ting, star forwards Tien Lei and Lin Chih Chieh and reliable guard Lee Hsueh Lin.

They also have a Taiwanese-American in Douglas Creighton.

They fared well in the elimination round in Group B, topping India and Qatar and fighting a good fight before succumbing to Japan and Iran.

They squeaked past the Qataris, 75-73, on a buzzer-beater by Tien Tuesday to advance to the knockout stage against the Filipinos.

The other quarterfinal pairings pit Iran versus Uzbekistan, Lebanon against Qatar and Japan versus China.

A win by Smart Gilas over Taipei will send the Filipinos to the Final Four versus the winner of the Iran-Uzbekistan tiff Friday.

Jeff Chan provided the firepower in the first half then Tenorio rose to the occasion when the chips were down in the second half as the Nationals beat the Taiwanese in their turf in the last Jones Cup.

Tenorio had his breakout game with the Nationals then, firing away three triples and all of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.

The Taiwanese had seized the momentum in the tight, exciting game, wiping away a seven-point deficit when Tenorio came through with his heroics.

The Philippines has yet to lose to Chinese Taipei while playing under the Smart Gilas banner. The last time Team Phl lost to the Taiwanese was in the 2009 Jones Cup. The Nationals, however, got back at the Taiwanese a month later in the Tianjin FIBA Asia tourney.