Ranidel to the rescue

 CHANGSHA – Ranidel de Ocampo said the other day there is no unbeatable team at the 28th FIBA Asia Championships here and despite the fearsome early showing of defending champion Iran and host China, the Gilas stretch forward is far from intimidated.

De Ocampo, one of five holdovers from the national team that represented the country at the FIBA World Cup in Spain last year, said the goal is to finish high in the second round to draw a lower seed matchup in the knockout quarterfinals starting Thursday. The Philippines winds up its second round schedule against India at 2:30 this afternoon.

If the Philippines ends up second to Iran in its second round bracket, it will meet No. 3 in the other bracket, possibly Lebanon or Jordan, in the knockout quarterfinals where a loss shuts the door for a ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympics. If Gilas winds up third, it will face No. 2 which could be dangerous South Korea.

“I think every team is beatable,” said De Ocampo. “Look at Iran. They had problems with Hong Kong in the first half before pulling away. Not that they would lose but the game exposed some weaknesses. As for us, we just have to keep improving. We’re a team of role players. It’s not like how it was before.”

De Ocampo said while he prefers not to compare this year’s Gilas lineup with the rosters of the past, the glaring difference is now, the players complement each other. “We had a lot of threats in Gilas 2, like Jeff (Chan), Paul (Lee), Jimmy (Alapag) and L. A. (Tenorio),” he said. “When we were on the floor, our opponents were threatened because of our weapons. It’s not like that now. I can’t say which is better. All I know is every Gilas team plays with heart, that doesn’t change.”

Another difference is Andray Blatche’s presence. It’s the nine-year NBA veteran’s first appearance in an Asian competition. Marcus Douthit used to play that role. De Ocampo said he’s excited for Blatche to match up against Asia’s top centers like Iran’s Hamed Haddadi and China’s Yi Jianlian. The five holdovers from the World Cup are De Ocampo, Blatche, Gabe Norwood, Jayson Castro and Marc Pingris.

Against Japan the other day, Gilas came from 10 points down to win, 73-66. Blatche hurt his ankle twice, once in the second quarter and once in the third, but gutted it out to play hurt down the stretch in leading the Philippines to victory. Blatche hit 10 of his 18 points in the final period and played only a total of 13:24 minutes.

Coach Tab Baldwin couldn’t be happier with the result. “Everybody stepped up,” he said. “This game showed our character. It was a big win for us.” De Ocampo nailed a triple with the score tied at 64-all and Gilas never looked back again. De Ocampo backed up Blatche with 13 points, including 3-of-6 triples, five rebounds and two assists in 27:01 minutes. It was vintage De Ocampo to the rescue.

“I didn’t hesitate to take the three,” he said. “It was in rhythm. Other teams do that, shoot in rhythm, so we should, too. If the shot is there, we’ll take it. We’re not afraid of any team in this tournament.”

De Ocampo started the tournament quietly, hitting six points in Gilas’ 75-73 loss to Palestine. Then, he shot 10 in the 101-50 demolition of Hong Kong and nine in the 110-64 rout of Kuwait. De Ocampo figured in an ugly incident late in the Kuwait game when Abdulaziz Alhamidi went berserk and threw a water bottle in the direction of the Philippine bench but hit a unsuspecting cameraman instead.

Abdulaziz was slapped a disqualifying foul. De Ocampo said the burly Kuwait enforcer deserved it. “He was hitting us throughout the game,” said De Ocampo. “He grabbed Calvin (Abueva) on the side of his waist and squeezed it. Then, he slapped Terrence (Romeo) twice. I think he also slapped Jayson (Castro). We were up by about 40 points with less than two minutes to go and he hit me below the belt.