Ukraine reduces Phl to shreds

MANILA, Philippines - Gilas Pilipinas rested Andray Blatche and Paul Lee, and the Nationals suffered much pain ahead of Spain, succumbing to longtime NBA coach Mike Fratello and his mean Ukraine team, 64-114, in Antibes, France Sunday (early Monday morning in Manila).

Ukraine rained down 19 triples on Gilas Pilipinas and also struck hard at the paint in fashioning out the 50-point rout in a follow-up to a 63-56 decision over host France the previous night.

Gearing up for their first World Cup appearance, the Ukrainians pushed themselves hard through 40 minutes of action, giving the Filipinos a neat spanking before heading back to Spain for the stretch run of their own “WC” buildup.

“We needed that,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes on his Twitter account after the match, keeping a positive posture despite the huge blowout that closed out their 0-3 stint in the Antibes pocket tourney.

After a close loss to France and a decent first three quarters against Australia, Gilas Pilipinas got a wakeup call from Ukraine, especially as the Filipinos played only one naturalized player in Marcus Douthit.

Gilas Pilipinas played all previous games alternating Blatche and Douthit at center spot. But the team is not allowed to do that in the World Championship slated Aug. 30-Sept. 14 in Spain.

Reyes rested Blatche and Lee so as not to aggravate their minor injuries.

Sans their top slotman and ace combo guard, the Nationals proved no match to the tremendous size, strength and firepower of Fratello’s team.

They did only in the opening minutes where they fought the Ukrainians to a 16-all deadlock.

Gilas fell apart as the Ukrainians started to unload their outside bombs, pulling away 61-35 at the half on a scorching 25-of-38 shooting, including 9-of-13 from beyond the arc.

Ukraine, a Group C bet in the World Cup, kept its relentless game on both ends to the finish, leading by as many as 51, 114-63, before wrapping up the most lopsided match in the four-nation, three-day tourney.

Oleksander Lypovvy scored 16 points to pace the Ukraine team, also featuring a naturalized player in American guard Eugene Jeter III.

A former Sacramento King who has drifted with the Shandong Lions team in the Chinese league, Jeter ably tended the playmaking job for Ukraine in the last FIBA Euro Championship, helping the team make a first “WC” stint since the dissolution of Soviet Union.

Ranidel de Ocampo, Jeff Chan and Jason Castro led Gilas with 11, 10 and nine points, respectively. Douthit made only five points on 1-of-7 field clip, but grabbed eight rebounds.

Gilas Pilipinas is now flying back to Spain to play four more tune-up games before plunging into action in the world meet versus Croatia on Aug. 30 in Seville.