Gilas yields to Qatar, finishes fourth

TOKYO – Smart Gilas Pilipinas, stuck in the rubble of its semifinal defeat to Iran, groped for form anew as it bowed to Qatar, 63-79, in their duel for third place at the close of the FIBA Asia Cup at the Ota Gymnasium Saturday.

 The Nationals continued to struggle with an atrocious outside shooting and, worse, suffered bad breaks on injuries sustained by Marcus Douthit, LA Tenorio and Ranidel de Ocampo as they settled for third runner-up honors in this tourney for the second straight time.

The Qataris, with tremendous boost from talented naturalized player Clinton Johnson, outplayed and outgunned the Filipinos, repeating their 80-75 win in their bronze-medal match in Beirut in 2010.

“We’re the smallest team in the tournament and then we can’t make our outside shots. In the end, that’s our problem,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes.

“We did well on defense, limiting them below 80 points. But then we have to make our shots. We had open looks but couldn’t make it,” added Reyes, whose chargers converted just two of 18 three-point attempts and 23-of-48 two-point tries.

The Qataris were far steadier with 9-of-27 three-point clip, and they had inside incursions while dominating the boards, 47-30.

They pulled a rock-solid game, with Johnson playing a key role as coach Tom Wisman’s brilliant extension on the floor, providing great leadership besides delivering significant numbers.

A former Toronto Raptor and New Orleans Hornet, the 6-foot-5 guard proved to be a big thorn to Gilas, collecting 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal against two turnovers in 30:31 of action.

He orchestrated their fluid-motion game that, in one stretch, saw the Qataris knock down four straight three-pointers to rip the game open at 73-56.

“Qatar is a good team with great size and a good NBA player as their point guard. But it could have been a different story if we made our shots,” said Reyes.

Alas, Gilas gunners Gary David, Jeff Chan, Larry Fonacier, Gabe Norwood and De Ocampo combined for that awful 2-of-18 three-point shooting.

Tenorio, Gilas’ biggest hero in their Jones Cup championship, was helpless on the bench, having sustained a strained hamstring early in the game.

Compounding Gilas’ woes were Douthit and De Ocampo who suffered sprained ankles.

De Ocampo, the team’s lead power forward, no longer returned as he limped to the bench with over a minute left in the third quarter.

Douthit was helped to their bench with 1:36 left in the first half. He had his left ankle re-taped then returned in the second half, leading the team with 17 points and nine rebounds.

The naturalized Filipino player teamed up with David and Dillinger for clutch baskets as Gilas showed some progress at the start of the third quarter, coming to within two at 36-38.

The Qataris delivered the killer blows on four straight three-pointers by Modh Mohmmed, Khalid Suliman Abdi and Daoud Musa Daoud.

Guard Aren Davoudi rifled in a booming three-pointer in the last 18 seconds and two-time Asian champion Iran held on to beat out Japan, 53-51, in a tight low-scoring match for the coveted crown.