Hong Kong adds to RP five’s woes

Someone cracked a joke that in Hong Kong, there are more Filipino domestic helpers than Chinese basketball players.

To the Filipinos seeing action at the 22nd Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) championships in Harbin, the joke took a painful note after the former British Crown Colony beat the beleaguered Philippine team, 66-58, in Group 4 of the consolation pool at the Heilongjian University gym yesterday.

The Philippines was one of eight teams that failed to qualify for the quarterfinals. The consolation pool is split into two brackets — the Philippines, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Syria in Group 4 and Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Taiwan and Jordan in Group 3. Teams play a round robin in their group then face off against teams with the same standing in the other group in a single playoff to determine ninth to 16th place.

The Philippines must beat Kuwait this afternoon and Syria tomorrow to be assured of a playoff for 11th spot in what has turned out to be a nightmarish campaign in the northeast China city. Coach Aric del Rosario’s modest goal is to duplicate the country’s 11th place finish in its last ABC outing in 1999.

The loss to Hong Kong was not unexpected. A few weeks ago, the Philippines — playing with hotshot Gary David — dropped an 80-68 decision to Hong Kong in the finals of an invitational tournament in the Chinese island. David was not allowed by his mother club Montana Pawnshop to play in Harbin. Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) secretary-general Graham Lim said David’s withdrawal was because Montana is a business competitor of national team sponsor Cebuana Lhuillier.

Team manager Danny Francisco said yesterday’s game was close only in the first half. Hong Kong raced to a 14-8 lead at the start but the Philippines unloaded a 7-0 blast — triggered by Romar Menor — to grab the driver’s seat, 15-14. Marc Pingris was slapped two fouls in the first 40 seconds. In the second period, the Filipinos came back from a 14-point deficit to move on top, 30-29, after a 15-0 burst. Hong Kong led at the half, 32-30.

Then came the Hong Kong juggernaut and the Philippines’ foldup. In the third quarter, Hong Kong hit back-to-back triples to erect a 15-point bubble at 51-36. The Filipinos were so flustered they scored only four points in the entire period.

Yung Kam Wah, the 31-year-old veteran who torched the Philippines with 26 points in the recent Hong Kong invitationals, sank a trey to extend the margin to 22 at 58-36 early in the fourth period. The Filipinos cut the deficit to 13 at 58-45 and to eight at 62-54, with 1:21 to go. But they couldn’t muster the finishing kick to break away.

Francisco said three-point shooting decided the outcome. Hong Kong knocked down 13 triples to the Philippines’ three. 6-7 Choi Fong Yue and 6-5 Tam Wai Yeung hit four treys apiece. Both players were on the Hong Kong squad that finished 11th in the ABC championships in Shanghai two years ago.

Four teams were unscathed at the end of the eliminations. Posting identical 3-0 records were quarterfinalists China, South Korea, Lebanon and Qatar. Also advancing to the quarterfinals were Kazakhstan, India, Iran and Japan.

Qatar has emerged as the ABC’s Cinderella squad after beating Jordan, 66-53, the Philippines, 77-69 and Japan, 68-47, in Group D eliminations.

Kuwait is the Philippines’ next opponent and the Filipinos can’t afford to take the team lightly. Kuwait lost to South Korea by 24 and to India by 20 but beat Malaysia, 86-81. A defeat to Kuwait will likely relegate the Philippines to a playoff for 13th spot and guarantee the country’s poorest showing in the ABC’s 43-year history.