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TOKUSHIMA—Jordan
certainly knows how to break a heart. Or make that 80
million plus, counting the ones in the Philippines who
withstood the 84-76 schooling Jordan gave San
Miguel-Team Pilipinas in the Fiba-Asia qualifiers Monday
night.
For one
half, the
Philippines
looked headed for an easy win. After three quarters,
they appeared headed for another nail-biter.
But
instead of a drama, the Philippines played up to a
tragedy in the end game, reprising an awful shooting
night reminiscent of their Iran game; only this time, it
happened in the fourth quarter.
The
Nationals didn’t score a field goal in the first four
minutes and 50 seconds of the fourth quarter. Counting a
drought late in the third quarter, the Philippines went
without a basket for six minutes and 43 seconds.
That
cold spell—which occurred after Kelly Williams tipped in
a miss by Asi Taulava 1:53 to go in the third
quarter—altered a 50-49 advantage by the Filipinos into
a 64-53 deficit at the 6:29 mark of the fourth.
Jayjay
Helterbrand’s drive 6:10 left in the game broke the skid
but forward Zaid Abbas, who came off the bench,
completed a trip to the charity stripe and starting
forward Sam Daghlas scored a three-pointer and the
Filipinos were buried in a 68-55 quagmire a little over
three minutes left in the game.
The Mr.
Hyde transformation came at a time when the Filipinos
were playing their most fluid game of the tournament.
They were up 27-18 (courtesy of Jimmy Alapag’s
three-pointer) midway through the second quarter, a fast
start previously unseen in RP’s two games before Monday.
But
their execution abandoned them, their shots orphaned
them and the Nationals looked completely lost, as
Jordan’s every three-pointer pierced like hot iron and
their every gesture of jubilation a nasty slap on the
face in every fan wearing and waving the sun and stars
badge.
Now, the
35-year-old wait to get back to the Olympics got a
cruel—shocking, one can say—four-year extension.
It took
a few minutes before RP coach Chot Reyes entered the
media room, and the postgame press conference sounded
every bit like a eulogy.
“They
made more shots than we did and that’s why we lost,” he
started.
“Obviously, the first [immediate goal] is to continue
playing. We didn’t plan for this loss that’s why I don’t
know what we’re going to do. I take full responsibility
for this loss. I picked the coaching staff. I picked the
players. I was proud of the boys. If they didn’t end up
in this group where three of the top teams in Asia were,
we would’ve advanced. We worked hard to prepare for this
only to be derailed by breaks. No. 1 was the draw and
No. 2 was the technical foul called on us in the game
against Iran. But that’s the way life is. We have to
move on.”
The
thing is the Filipinos need to do that a little faster.
In an unfriendly tournament format—one that started
eight weeks ago with the God-forsaken draw—teams that do
not make it in the top eight after the group stages
continue on through the qualifiers to fight out for the
ninth to 18th places.
The
Filipinos face
Syria
9 a.m. Tuesday also at the ASTY Gym. With barely 14
hours after the Jordan loss, some Middle Eastern team is
expected to be crushed by one frustrated Southeast Asian
archipelago.
“After
losing [to
Iran
] last [Sunday], we decided we needed to play together
as a team,” Jordan head coach Mario Palma said. “We
didn’t want to make the same mistakes we did and I think
our defense created a lot of problems for [the
Philippines ] and we were able to stop your offense very
well.” |
