MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines stayed close until the final four minutes of their FIBA World Cup opening match against the Dominican Republic, but they succumbed when Jordan Clarkson fouled out and a spate of errors did the team in.
The Dominican Republic, behind Karl-Anthony Towns, marched into the Philippines’ home court and took an 87-81 decision in the group stages.
We hung in there and had a shot. At least we had a chance and lost only at the end.
There are some key stats that I want to point out, and here are the obvious:
- 17-3 disadvantage on the offensive boards
- 26-14 points off turnovers
- 15-2 second chance points
But here are two other key stats in my opinion:
The Dominican Republic shot 6-of-28 from the 3-point line while the Philippines was 6-of-18.
Before we explain that, here’s another:
Dominican Republic:
9/73 FGs
23/34 FTs
Philippines:
27/56 FGs
21/27 FTs
The Philippines only had 56 field goal attempts for the entire game. That is the lowest attempts by the Philippines (including the 2014 and 2019 World Cup matches). Granted we have had more attempts in other editions and yet still lost whether via close match or a blowout (we had more attempts than Angola in 2019 87-71 but still lost 84-81).
Nevertheless, I think that the Dominicans scouted the Philippines well. They limited the number of attempts from the field and the 3-point line. You do that and it puts you in a better position to win.
Clarkson fouling out at the 3:32 mark of the fourth period definitely hurt as he could have provided the points in the stretch.
In contrast, KAT scored immediately after Clarkson fouled out but in the stretch, he was a bit of a non-factor as it was his teammates who scored the last six points.
For a team like the Philippines, you need to play the almost perfect game to win at this level.
It is easy to say the coach should have played this player or that player — and there is merit to that. But unless you have coached on a certain level, you will go with your “man” or “men.”
If you recall during the 1998 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz, the ball went to Michael Jordan (who missed the potential game-winning shot) when it was Toni Kukoc who brought the team back and hit the big shots. You go with your man or your gut. Sometimes it is right; sometimes it is wrong.
However, there are ugly games that you can still win as long as you stay close.
It is a painful loss, but you have to put that in the rear view mirror as now it is gut check time because it is a virtual win-or-go-home situation versus Angola.