MANILA, Philippines – It was a big first win by the Philippines in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers — a 100-70 triumph over host Indonesia at the Britama Arena in Jakarta.
The match was close in the first half as Indonesia stayed close, hitting more of their 3-point shots and taking the ball inside. The Philippines once more took a lot of shots from the outside and were missing.
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Furthermore, Indonesia played better interior defense, rejecting three Philippine incursions.
Come the second quarter, better defense and rack attacks saw the Philippines get a grip on the game. When CJ Perez pilfered a sloppy cross-court pass and skied in for a dunk, the score was 27-17.
Yet Indonesia continued to stay close. Had hit two free throws at the end of the second quarter, Gilas would have had only a seven-point advantage. As it was we went into the half with a 37-28 lead.
The second half saw a more relaxed Philippine team as they continued to put Indonesia at bay. By the fourth period, they broke the resistance of the host squad for a runaway win. But you have to appreciate the Indonesians as they are getting better.
Here is what we liked from Gilas’ win:
They played good defense on Indonesia
I don’t think we were in any danger even if the score was close early on. If the shooting at times was off and there were errors (you can also chalk that up to the lack of team chemistry), we played good defense and even better D in the second half.
It didn’t help Indonesians that they were sloppy in the first half and that led to easy baskets for Gilas.
We won the battle of the boards
We won the battle of the boards, 55-33, and that translated into a 23-5 advantage in fastbreak points, and 18-10 in second-chance points. And there was a huge 15-6 advantage in steals.
I like the floor spacing
That helped create lay-ups for players like JP Erram, Thirdy Ravena and Justin Chua to name a few. Granted the Indonesians aren’t as learned, but still, those were wide spaces that Gilas exploited for buckets.
I like the use of the entire bench
In typical Tab Baldwin fashion, 10 of the 12 players played more than 10 minutes each. Only Justin Chua and Isaac Go played less than that. Five players (Thirdy Ravena, Roger Pogoy, CJ Perez, Juan Gomez de Liaño, and Kiefer Ravena) scored in double figures. Every player had at least three attempts from the field. Although Go didn’t score, he contributed to the dominance of the boards with seven caroms to his credit.
Troy Rosario and Roger Pogoy are the senior players on this squad and they were huge parts in this win.
Thirdy Ravena continues to soar
He came off the bench and provided a spark on both ends of the floor. And what a stat line — 23 points, eight rebounds, three assist and two blocks. He hit his outside shots and drove in for others, including once where he went through all five Indonesians for a virtuoso play.
Thirdy is playing like a winner.
Other stats that I like — CJ Perez also showing that all-around game with 10 points, seven boards, four steals and three assists.
And Matt Nieto — six assists.