Big J: Gilas must play beyond limits

MANILA, Philippines - Basketball legend Robert Jaworski is optimistic that the Philippines will beat Kazakhstan in the knockout quarterfinals of the 27th FIBA-Asia Championships at the Mall of Asia Arena tonight because national pride is at stake and the host team has the weapons to get the job done.

If Gilas wins, it will barge into the semifinals to face the winner of the South Korea-Qatar game also to be played tonight. Because the Philippines wound up first out of Groups A-B, it will avoid playing powerhouses Iran and China until the finals if coach Chot Reyes tows the national squad that far. Making it to the semifinals will mean two chances to gain a ticket to the FIBA World Cup in Spain next year as the two Final Four losers will square off for third place on Sunday. The top three placers will represent Asia at the 24-nation FIBA World Cup to be staged in six Spanish venues.

“Kazakhstan is a team we beat in a tune-up game,” said Jaworski. “No reason not to beat them again but as in other games, we need to be conscious of boxing out during rebounds, push them farther away from rebound areas and mark those who have high percentage shots.”

In a warm-up last July 26, the Philippines edged Kazakhstan, 92-89, as Jeff Chan and Jayson Castro hit 20 apiece. Jerry Johnson led the Kazakhs with 17 points and eight assists. Anton Ponomarev chipped in 16 points and grabbed nine boards. Burly Mikhail Yevstigneyev, booed by the crowd for his roughhouse style, delivered nine points and five rebounds before fouling out.

The Big J, known for his tough defense and a key cog on the Philippine team that won the FIBA-Asia (then known as the Asian Basketball Confederation) title when Manila last hosted the event in 1973, said Gilas must lock down on Kazakhstan’s top scorers all game long without letup.

“Tighten defense on the key scorers the whole night,” he said. “Communicate on defense and help each other out. Instead of banging, we should overplay as they’re heavier. We should run and commit not to get tired. When the opportunity is there, go for the offense. There should be more talk both on defense and offense. Only when necessary should we settle for the set play.”

Jaworski implied that as the Kazakhs are bigger, Gilas must use its speed to full advantage, step on the gas, go full throttle and attack in transition. “Understand that we must win and we can with each and every one of our players working together and playing beyond their best performance to achieve the objective,” he said. “When we’re settled in mind and heart, pray for God Almighty’s blessing. Good luck to us.”

 Jaworski said while Gilas played below par in hacking out a come-from-behind 67-55 victory over lowly Hong Kong last Wednesday, the host team did what had to be done in the last period. “We made some good moves towards the last quarter,” he said. “Hong Kong played their best game in the tournament against us and was unusually lucky with the bounce of the basketball. Relatively, we played our lousiest game. We were so uptight and hurried shots.”

Hong Kong led 65 percent of the way and enjoyed a 10-point lead in the second quarter. Gilas was down by six after 10 minutes and by five at the half. The Philippines got going in the third period but held a slim three-point advantage entering the last 10 minutes. A five-point barrage by Gabe Norwood iced the contest down the stretch as the Philippines survived a scare, 67-55.

Hong Kong’s half-Canadian, half-Chinese center Duncan Reid, considered a project, compiled 12 points and 19 rebounds, seven offensive, to exasperate Gilas’ interior players. Reyes was infuriated by Gilas’ lack of intensity and banged his playboard on the floor during a timeout to wake up his players. The Philippines’ air-tight defense that fuelled the wins over Japan and Qatar went missing. Hong Kong took 15 more field goal attempts as the former Crown Colony had more rebounds, 52-39, and more second chance points, 25-8. Gilas escaped by knocking down 16-of-19 free throws to Hong Kong’s 6-of-10. It was winless Hong Kong’s closest defeat in the tournament as before the game, the average losing margin was 26.3 points.

Kazakhstan beat the Philippines, 68-66, for the bronze medal in basketball at the Asian Games in Busan in 2002. The Philippines’ coach was Joseph Uichico who is now in Reyes’ staff. At the 2007 FIBA-Asia Championships in Tokushima, Kazakhstan finished fourth after losing to Iran, 75-62, in the semifinals and Korea, 80-76, in the battle for third. The Philippines, coached by Reyes, placed ninth. Two years later, the Philippines finished eighth and Kazakhstan ninth in Tianjin although they didn’t face off in the tournament. The only Kazakh players held over from the 2009 lineup now in Manila are Ponomarev and Yevstigneyev. In 2011, Kazakhstan did not play in Wuhan where the Philippines went to the semifinals and lost to Korea in the battle for third with coach Rajko Toroman.