DOHA, Qatar – Injury-plagued Smart Gilas Pilipinas broke down in the second half and took a stinging 58-86 setback to host Al Rayyan of Qatar in the 21st FIBA-Asia Champions Cup at the Al Gharafa Sports Club here Sunday night.
Ahead by eight points early in the third quarter, the Filipinos ran into a tough Qatari defense and missed all but two of their shots in a harrowing shooting stint that ruined their debut in the 10-day, import-laced meet.
“They (Qatars) played very aggressive and we missed a lot of opportunities in the second half,” said RP coach Rajko Toroman.
The Nationals, who made 15 of their 35 shots in the first half, misfired in the last two quarters, converting just two – from behind the arc – out of 31 attempts.
Smart Gilas was also slapped with 24 fouls with Al Rayyan, reinforced by two Americans and naturalized Africans, scoring 15 from a total of 22 free throws.
The Qataris ended up making 20 of 29 charities while the Filipinos muffed 10 of their 28 attempts from the line.
Al Rayyan’s American coach Carl Nash admitted he was a little bit wary of Smart Gilas before the game.
“I must admit I was a little bit scared of this Philippine team because I know that Philippine players are gifted individually and very skilled,” said Nash. “That’s why I keep warning my players that we can’t take the Philippines for granted.”
The loss sent Smart Gilas into a must-win situation against the taller Astana Tigers of Kazakhstan, which was being played late last night (11 p.m., RP time), for a berth in the quarterfinal round.
The Kazakhs survived an upset-conscious Duhok of Iraq and fashioned out a 75-68 win for a 1-1 card.
Seven-footer Anton Ponomarev missed all his three-point attempts but made nine of his 11 shots inside and five free throws to lead the Astana Tigers with 23 points.
“We lost one battle but we didn’t lose the war. Still we need to win this game against Kazakhstan,” said Toroman.
For a while, things looked good for Team RP despite the absence of JV Casio and JR Cawaling, who joined the team here but are out with knee injuries, as Mark Barroca and Chris Tiu combined forces at the backcourt.
But the rigors of playing for more than 35 minutes took their toll on Tiu, who finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Barroca, who had 14 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Without Casio and Cawaling, the Filipinos failed to get their run-and-gun game going as they were limited to just seven assists, courtesy of Barroca and Tiu, as against the Qataris’ 18.
Fil-Am Marcio Lassiter also failed to suit up due to knee injury while another Fil-Am Chris Lutz and Serbian import Milan Vucicevic struggled in their first tournament with Smart Gilas.
Lutz, a former Marshall U standout, hit a triple and had a rebound and three fouls in 13 minutes while the 6-10 Vucicevic failed to sustain a strong start and finished with nine points on a woeful three-of-12 shooting. He also had 11 rebounds in 30 minutes.
In Group B action, Al Jalaa of Syria walloped Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia, 93-63, for a 1-1 slate.
Doha notes: The Filipino crowd came in full force and packed three-fourths of the 6,000-seat venue. Some of them that stayed waited for Smart Gilas players for souvenir shots with Chris Tiu emerging as the most popular...After the Kazakhs, Smart Gilas takes on defending champion Mahram of Iran on Tuesday and the Duhok of Iraq on Wednesday.