Do-or-die duel a dream come true

MANILA, Philippines - Kazakhstan coach Matteo Boniciolli of Italy said his dream was to play the Philippines at the 27th FIBA-Asia Championships here and it will come true in a do-or-die knockout quarterfinal match at the Mall of Asia Arena tonight.

“Never mind if we play the Philippines in the eliminations or quarterfinals or semifinals or finals,” said the 51-year-old bespectacled Trieste native who was coach of the Italian U-19 national team in 1996-99. “I thought how wonderful it would be to play the Philippines in a fantastic arena before a fantastic crowd. If you die, I would rather die in a big battle, not a small battle. I respect the quality of the Philippine team very much. I appreciate the work of the coaching staff.”

Boniciolli said even as the Philippines is favored to win tonight, he relishes the underdog’s role. “I think the odds are 99 percent chance for the Philippines to win,” he said, appearing serious. “In a long series, maybe we’ll beat the Philippines once or twice. But in a one-game playoff, anything can happen. That’s why sports is so exciting because it’s unpredictable. An underdog can win in a do-or-die game where you can never underestimate an opponent.”

Downplaying his team’s chances to upset the host country, Boniciolli said Kazakhstan is hampered by injuries and a roster made up of reserves. Starters Jerry Johnson and Mikhail Yevstigneyev sat out Kazakhstan’s 85-53 loss to Iran last Wednesday as Boniciolli opted to rest the two key players for the quarterfinals.

“In the Kazakh league, each team is allowed to play six foreigners and six locals so the locals play back-up to the foreigners,” Boniciolli said. “The locals don’t get major minutes. In FIBA-Asia, those locals are now playing major minutes and they’re not used to that. Some are back-ups of back-ups except for Anton (Ponomarev) who’s the only local with the experience of playing in hard situations. Still, we were competitive against China as we lost by only six. We have to cope with the human element of players thinking we can’t beat a top team. This mentality is what we hope to change.”

Boniciolli said he was lucky to enlist Johnson. “He plays for Astana which I coach and I know him very well as a good person and a great player, probably one of the best five point guards in Europe today,” said the Italian. “He lives in Kazakhstan with his wife and three children. His wife is in Manila to watch us. It’s the first time Kazakhstan is playing with a naturalized citizen.”

Johnson, however, is a doubtful starter for tonight’s showdown. “He hurt his right shoulder in a bumping accident during a practice game with the PBA team San Mig Coffee and there is pain when he goes up for a three-pointer,” said Boniciolli. “Jerry’s hamstring is also bothering him. That’s why he didn’t play against Iran. Our medical staff is working on him. We want him to be 100 percent in the quarterfinals. Jerry wasn’t with us in our camp in Italy because he stayed in Kazakhstan waiting for his citizenship documents so he missed three weeks of training.”

Boniciolli said he’s counting on Ponomarev and Yevstigneyev to carry the Kazakh load against Gilas. “Our advantage is size, our physicality,” he added. “Anton’s game has been up and down. One game, he scores two, another game, he scores 20. We want him to be consistent and just score 12 every game with about nine rebounds instead of two in one game and 15 in another. He can do a lot on the court. He can shoot outside to spread the floor or drive strong to the hoop, get fouled and shoot free throws. We need him to be at his best. Mikhail is our big guy. He comes to play every night.”

It was the giant Kazakh company Samruk, which sponsors the top sports teams in the country, that brought Boniciolli to Kazakhstan two years ago. “I just finished my contract in Italy and my Serbian agent asked if I was interested to coach in Kazakhstan,” said Boniciolli. “I’m very proud to be with the Kazakh national team. It’s my first time to be a head coach of a national team at this level. Valeri Tikhonenko, the former Russian star now general manager of Astana, took me in as coach of the club and we’ve been fortunate to win two straight Kazakh league and Kazakh Cup titles. Astana also plays in a league with about 20 clubs from former Soviet states and Russia. In our first year in the league, we missed the playoffs by one game and in our second, we made it to the playoffs. With Valeri, we want to build the basketball program in Kazakhstan.”

Boniciolli said his assistant coach Vitaly Strebkov used to be the Kazakh head coach. “He did an amazing job with Kazakhstan considering there was little support before,” said Boniciolli. “It was like a miracle what he did. But now, there is a change of organization and tremendous support. For this tournament, we prepared for 50 days and went to Italy and Slovenia for training. Before arriving in Manila, we had five practice games and in Manila, we played the national team in an exhibition and San Mig Coffee which we beat.”

Boniciolli said Kazakhstan is in town not just to participate but to win the crown. “The goal is to make it to the World Cup in Spain and that means finishing in the top three,” he said. “It’s useless to participate if your goal is to just to finish in the top 12. We came to win and that’s what we intend to do.”