GILAS Pilipinas was going through the motions of mauling Hong Kong in the fourth quarter when repeated chants of “We want Dwight!” reverberated from the big Mall of Asia Arena crowd last night.
But ace guard Dwight Ramos was sidelined by a calf injury and the Nationals did not need him to suit up anyway.
Flexing their might and depth, the Filipino dribblers dumped the Chinese 93-54 to move closer to clinching a slot in the FIBA Asia Cup in the second window of the qualifiers.
Leading by a mile 73-45, Gilas’ vaunted defense showed no signs of letting up and forced Yuet Yeung Pok to a turnover when he tried to attack the paint—a steal by Scottie Thompson that led to a fastbreak basket by Carl Tamayo and made it a 75-45 game with 7:22 remaining.
While not totally pleased with his charges’ first half effort, National coach Tim Cone said they passed this test with flying colors.
“We didn’t really play a great first half. It was a struggle for us in the first half and Hong Kong was getting open threes and shooting—that’s a concern we have obviously over this window because we have given up a lot of three-point shots and we did that in the first half, against New Zealand as well so that’s a concern for us,” Cone said.
“But, in the second half, we came out and again, we got to the shooters a little better. We scramble a little bit more. We should get out there because we got protection behind us in June Mar and Kai so really no excuse.
“So, it’s a little bit bothersome that we’re allowing that many three-point shots. But I also thought offensively, we moved the ball a lot better in the second half,” he added.
Naturalized star Justin Brownlee also had 13 points, three boards, and three assists while 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto had 12 markers, 15 caroms, and two dimes as the Philippine five did an encore to a stunning 93-89 victory over world No. 22 New Zealand last Thursday and rose to 4-0 in Group B.
With a 4-0 mark, the Philippines can formally bag a berth in the continental tilt set in August next year in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Shiu Wah Leung carried the fight for Hong Kong with 11 points and two rebounds while Oliver Xu got 10 and four. – With Abby Toralba
