Powerade Team Pilipinas triumphs

MEDAN, Indonesia – The Powerade Team Pilipinas, as expected, got off to a triumphant start in the eighth SEABA championship but suffered a setback with point guard Ryan Reyes hit by a pulled hamstring.

Though down to 11 healthy men, the RP squad hardly had trouble fashioning out a 100-73 drubbing of Malaysia before a cheering capacity crowd at the oven-hot Angkasapura Lanud Basketball Hall here last night.

Arwind Santos, Cyrus Baguio, Jared Dillinger, Willie Miller, Asi Taulava and Ranidel de Ocampo all scored in double figures as the Nationals toyed with the young Malaysian team, the core of which composed of the stars of the Malaysian youth team that made the FIBA Asia junior men championship in Tehran, Iran last year.

It’s one game down and three to go for Powerade-RP warming up for the FIBA Asia world qualifier in Tianjin, China this August.

Alas, the team suffered a blow as Reyes heard his left hamstring pop when he went for a lay-up towards the end of the first quarter. He was helped to the bench and just watched the game with his right leg wrapped with ice.

RP team trainer and physical therapist Marlon Celis said Reyes could be out for weeks, depending on how severe the injury is. Celis said Jayjay Helterbrand took about six months to completely recover from the same injury last year.

Helterbrand, nursing a different injury, is likely to sit out the SEABA joust together with Sonny Thoss who’s relegated as alternate due to a bruised knee. Kelly Williams stayed home while nursing a blood disorder.

“I have yet to talk to Ryan but obviously we have to assess his situation. We have one point guard left in Willie Miller and he’s not a natural point. This we also have to discuss,” said coach Yeng Guiao.

In seeing his team in its first official game, Guiao thought they still have a lot to work on but expressed satisfaction over their overall performance.

“We’ll improve as the tournament progresses. We still have to do a lot of adjustments but I think we got a good start,” said Guiao.

“The biggest adjustment will be on the refs’ calls. Talagang nakakapanibago but the team has made a commitment that whatever happens, we’ll play on and not complain. This is a difficult situation for the players because they’re not getting the kind of protection they usually get in the PBA,” Guiao added.

“We have to improve on defense. In this game we played defense only in the fourth and we had the tendency to relax after making a run. But that’s mental. Technically, I think we did well. We shot the ball well and moved the ball well to find the open man.”

Shooting 65 percent from the two-point zone and 19.2 from the three-point area and issuing 26 assists, the Nationals had easy time taking control from start to finish.

They outscored the Malaysian on all quarters, enjoying 32-point spreads as they stepped up their defense that fueled their transition game in the final half.

Santos, Dillinger and Norwood highlighted the Nationals’ domination of the Malaysians with jams that electrified the crowd at the cramped venue which is close to the Medan Airport.

Santos had two thunderous dunks, including one off Koh Way Tek on an alley-oop pass by Dillinger. The reed-thin forward scored a game-high 19 points that went with eight rebounds, four steals and one assist against five errors.

Baguio banged in a triple and totaled 16 points on top of three rebounds, one assist and one steal.

The whole team converted five of 26 three-point tries, two coming from Pennisi and one each from Miller and James Yap.

The Malaysians did better in three-point shooting with a 11-of-25 clip.