Gilas Pilipinas routs Taiwan-B

TAIPEI – Gilas Pilipinas scored an expected romp over Chinese Taipei B, 96-67, yesterday to complete a strong second-place finish in the 2015 Jones Cup at the Xinchuang Gymnasium and keep its FIBA Asia buildup on track here.

Gary David took his turn to lead the way with a game-high 22 points spiked by two three-pointers while Jayson Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo and Moala Tautuaa put in double-digit outputs as the Nationals rolled past the young Taiwanese squad for a fifth podium finish here the last 11 years.

Finishing second to Iran, coach Tab Baldwin expressed satisfaction over their runner-up finish, saying it’s a step forward to reaching peak form in time for the Asian FIBA joust in Changsha, China starting Sept. 23.

“With all the circumstances, I’m pleased with the second-place finish. It’s respectable,” said Baldwin.

“It’s not really what you want, but we take the most of it. And there are many positives,” Baldwin also said.

“Like Iran, Japan and Korea, we came here to get better for FIBA Asia. It’s a very difficult format playing eight games in eight days. I think there were positives out of that, but we suffered fatigue and injuries. Importantly, we’ll take the positives from our Jones Cup experience,” he added.

The Nationals put some of those (positives) on display in their lopsided win over Taipei B. They pulled away early and preserved a commanding lead to the finish to end up with a 6-2 win-loss record, a game behind the Iranians at 7-1.

Gilas Pilipinas pulled off earlier wins over Taipei A (77-69), Spartak-Primorye of Russia (85-71), Japan (75-60), the Wellington Saints of New Zealand (92-88) and USA Select-Overtake (78-74), and suffered losses against South Korea (70-82) and Iran (65-74).

Meanwhile, Iran’s lone defeat came at the hands of the Americans when the Iranians rested 7-foot-2 behemoth Hamed Haddadi.

Haddadi threw his weight against the Filipinos, but Baldwin can count on Andray Blatche to match up with the Iranian giant in their rematch in FIBA Asia.

The 6-foot-10 NBA veteran was to arrive here last night and will rejoin Gilas in practice in Manila starting Wednesday.

Blatche and the entire pool will have three practice days before plunging back into action in the three-day MVP Cup  starting Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Tautuaa and Calvin Abueva delivered 12 and eight points, respectively, emerging the only Gilas players to have played here without a day’s rest.

Abueva finally got a rest after hurting his back on a bad fall six minutes and 17 seconds into the game.

Subbing for Abueva, Troy Rosario nailed the two gift shots as Gilas seized the lead at 22-21 before eventually pulling away en route to the win and the second-place finish coming after Gilas II’s title run here in 2012.

It’s Team Phl’s eighth podium finish overall in the Jones Cup after four title conquests and three third-place finishes.