TIM CONE –PHOTO BY FIBA.COM
Coming right into a no-tomorrow sport, Gilas Pilipinas will surely need to get off to a greater begin, particularly with the Filipinos about to face host Saudi Arabia that gained’t be a pushover like up to now.
The Philippines will search a spot within the quarterfinals at 12 midnight on Tuesday in Manila, with coach Tim Cone hoping to shake off the ills that marred its group section marketing campaign whereas displaying the mantra cultivated for a lot of a long time by the Barangay Ginebra squad he handles again residence.
“What I like about our group is we simply don’t give up and we simply preserve coming,” Cone stated. “Again residence, we name it the ‘By no means Say Die’ angle, and that’s evident on this group. And hopefully, that would be the one which will get us ahead.
“However we don’t need to depend on that on a regular basis,” he additionally harassed. “We do must get off to a greater begin.”
At stake is a matchup in opposition to Australia, the highest group in Group A and an enormous job in case Gilas will get previous a Saudi Arabian facet that organized the intriguing qualification face-off after inserting second in Group C by successful two of three video games.
Saudi Arabia dropped its opening project to China, 93-88, however bounced again with victories over Jordan, 77-73, and India, which it waylaid to the tune of 84-59 on Saturday to safe its spot.
Two gamers have been the explanations for Saudi Arabia’s sudden rise into a possible menace within the area, guard Muhammed-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and heart Mohammad Alsuwailem.
Abdur-Rahkman, the 30-year-old guard who performed for Michigan within the US NCAA and is now with Italian membership Treviso Basket, averaged 23.7 factors in three group video games on 39 p.c taking pictures. He’s 9-of-30, most of that are coming from the left elbow.
Chris Newsome may seemingly be tasked as the principle defender for Abdur-Rahkman, with Calvin Oftana, supplied his ankle is okay sufficient for him to play, Scottie Thompson and even Dwight Ramos as doable choices for Cone.
The 6-foot-9 Alsuwailem, alternatively, has produced 14.7 factors, 12.0 rebounds and three.0 blocks for the Saudis, and will impose issues for each AJ Edu and June Mar Fajardo.
The Philippines has gained its final three conferences with Saudi Arabia, the 2 most up-to-date in the course of the World Cup Asian Qualifiers in 2022 when Jordan Clarkson led an 84-46 thrashing at Mall of Asia and an 86-73 triumph on the street.
June Mar Fajardo (heart) can be a vital Gilas piece. —PHOTOS BY FIBA.COM
The Saudis beat the Philippines within the 1989 version when it was nonetheless generally known as the ABC Championship. Saudi Arabia gained 91-89 in additional time when the 2 groups confronted off for seventh place in Beijing, China.
Gilas will attempt to keep away from an upset defeat, by first getting off to begin, not like within the three video games when it needed to play catch-up.
However the distinction between the Iraq sport to the Chinese language-Taipei and New Zealand matchups was that Gilas was in a position to keep inside placing distance regardless of a pair of six-point deficits within the first quarter, ultimately tying issues up on the break earlier than pulling away for a 66-57 win on Saturday.
“You all the time need to go on begin,” stated Cone. “We simply must have a extra defensive depth at first of the basketball sport as a result of it’s all the time robust once you’re enjoying in your heels and coming from behind.” INQ
