Will Hong Kong scare Gilas again?

CHANGSHA – The Philippines plays Hong Kong on the second day of hostilities at the 28th FIBA Asia Championships here this morning and Gilas is expected to come out with guns blazing from the onset, aware of the scare the Filipinos got in their encounter in Manila two years ago.

In the 2013 FIBA Asia tournament, Hong Kong surprised the Philippines by leading, 19-13, at the end of the first quarter and 33-28 at the half. Gilas, however, came back strong in the second half to win, 67-55. But Hong Kong led most of the way, holding on to the driver’s seat for 26:08 minutes compared to the Philippines’ 13:13.

What brought Hong Kong to the brink of scoring a huge upset was the strong performance of 6-9 center Duncan Reid who is half-Chinese and half-Canadian. He was born in Hong Kong and is listed as a local. Reid, who turns 26 next week, played sparingly in two seasons with the University of Guelph varsity in Ontario, Canada, and has been Hong Kong’s main man the last two years.

Against the Philippines in 2013, Reid had 12 points and 19 rebounds, seven offensive. He was helped out by Chan Su Wing who had 16 points, including 4-of-9 triples. Hong Kong outrebounded Gilas, 52-39, and had more second chance points, 25-8. The Philippines clamped down on defense and held Hong Kong to 12 points in the fourth period to end the fright.

No doubt, Gilas coach Tab Baldwin will keep that scare in mind when the Philippines faces Hong Kong today. The Philippines is bracketed in Group B with Palestine, Kuwait and Hong Kong. After playing three straight games, there will be a rest day on Saturday then second round action begins Sunday where the top three finishers from Groups A and B face off and the top three finishers from Groups C and D slug it out. The Group A teams are Iran, Japan, Malaysia and India.

In Group C are South Korea, Jordan, Singapore and China while comprising Group D are Chinese-Taipei, Lebanon, Qatar and Kazakhstan. At the end of the second round, the top four finishers from Groups A and B and the top four finishers from Groups C and D will play off in crossover pairings in the knockout quarterfinals.

Only four players from Hong Kong are back from the 2013 roster. They are Reid, Chan, Lee Ki and Wong Chun Wai. It’s a similar situation with the Philippines in terms of the personnel revamp. Even the coach has changed from Kwong Wai Cheung to Hing King On. Hong Kong finished 10th in the 2013 FIBA Asia tournament with its only win an 87-79 decision over Bahrain.

Several teams are handicapped by missing key players here. The Philippines is without PBA back-to-back MVP JuneMar Fajardo who is recovering from plantar fasciitis in both feet.   Japan is down to 11 players with the loss of Kosuke Kanamaru, a 6-4 deadshot who averaged 15.1 points at the Asian Games in Incheon last year. Kanamaru, 26, hit at a 12.1 clip during the 2013 Championships in Manila. He was on the Aishin Sea Horses team that captured the Japanese title this past season, averaging 19.7 points and shooting 46 percent from three-point distance.

Korea is without 7-3 former NBA center Ha Seung Jin, Donggeun Yang, Kim Mingoo, Seung Jun Lee (Eric Sandrin), Kim Joo Sung, Kim Sun Hyung, Yang Hee Jong, Oh Se Keun, Tae Moon Jong and Yoon Ho Young. Those 10 players could make up a second national team.

Ha saw action at the recent Jones Cup and appeared too slow to keep pace with Korean coach Kim Dong Kwang’s up-and-down game. Ha was delisted because of hip and knee issues. Yoon and Donggeun Yang are injured, too. Yang Hee Jong is recovering from a knee injury and wasn’t released by his club team Anyang. Kim Joo Sung, a veteran center, has retired from international play. Sandrin and Tae Moon Jong gave way to Tae Moon Young to take over the spot for a naturalized player even as all three are half-Koreans. Tae Moon Young, 37, is the younger brother of Tae Moon Jong, 39. Tae Moon Young is Greg Stevenson while Tae Moon Jong is Cameron Stevenson. Kim Mingoo made it to the Mythical FIBA Asia five at the two-guard spot in 2013 but since suffering a car accident, has never been the same. Some players were axed from the national squad because of suspicion of game-fixing.

Superstar Fadi El Khatib is another absentee. He’s out of the Lebanese cast because the national federation allegedly wouldn’t pick up the cost of his insurance. El Khatib was recently signed to a contract in the Chinese league and will reportedly receive at least $45,000 a month. His absence will put pressure on naturalized player Jay Youngblood to fill in the scoring vacuum. Another missing piece is Canada-born guard Ali Mahmoud who was No. 2 in steals when Lebanon played at the 2010 World Championships in Turkey under Baldwin.

Two Lebanese players with US collegiate credentials are 6-8 Mohamad Ali Haidar and 6-8 Charles Tabet. Ali Haidar, 25, averaged 24.8 points for Michigan Tech, an NCAA Division II school, as a senior in 2012-13 while Tabet, 27, played four forgettable seasons with the South Alabama varsity, hitting less than two points a game. Along with 6-4 veteran Jean Abdel Nour, they’re expected to step up in the absence of El Khatib and Mahmoud.

With so many missing key players, the battle for the championship is wide open. Iran and China are favored but nobody is discounting a surprise from contenders like the Philippines and Jordan.