Kazakhs add insult to injury, deny RP bronze

BUSAN, South Korea – The Philippine basketball team never recovered from its shattering defeat to South Korea and bowed to Kazakhstan, 66-68, missing even the bronze at Sajik Gym in the Busan Asian Games.

The Nationals reeled from an emotional low 24 hours after their devastating one-point loss to the South Koreans, 68-69, came out flat and the scrappy Kazakhs pounced on them for their first ever basketball medal in the Games.

It was a Black Sunday altogether for the Philippines, losing in all fronts, but this one cut deeply for a sport that is a passion back home.

The Nationals settled for fourth place, matching their worst finish in Hiroshima eight years ago since premier pro players suited up for the national team.

They suffered their first loss in four meetings with the Kazakhs dating back to the Beijing Games in 1990.

There was no Lee Sang Min to strike the lethal blow but one bull-strong Kazakh in Vitaly Strebkov, hitting 30 points, including the game-winner unchallenged underneath in the last 15 seconds, 68-64.

And talk of déjà vu.

Down by two points with eight seconds remaining in the contest, the Nationals quickly used up three team fouls to scuttle the Kazakhs’ final possession. But by then it was lost, gravely and unassailably lost for the Filipinos.

They lost it long before the game started, having no perk nor vigor in their offensives. They lost it with poor defense, and even poorer outside shooting, so crisp and deadly the night before. They hit only four of 18 from beyond the arc.

"Emotionally draining," said national coach Jong Uichico of the defeat to Korea.

And down the drain went nine months of hard work for the singular aim of winning in this fortnight of competition among Asia’s best.

They had poured it all on that one game against Korea, put everything on the line aware that a tight schedule for a loss would leave them no breather for a battle for third less than a day away.

The Nationals raced to an 11-point lead early, 22-11, but Strebkov began asserting himself on the offensive end, defying the defenses of Rudy Hatfield, Dondon Hontiveros and Jeffrey Cariaso. At the close of the half, he had 16 points and Kazakhstan had fought the RP five to a 37-all standoff.

As the Filipinos continued to struggle on offense, the 32-year-old Strebkov combined with Yevgeniy Ovsyannikov to give the Kazakhs a 45-39 lead, but Cariaso, who top-scored for RP with 18, sparked a seven-point run to give the Nationals the upperhand at 46-45.

The two teams fought through four deadlocks and five lead changes from there until the Filipinos went on an appalling scoring slump in the last 5:30 of the contest with only an Eric Menk undergoal stab to show for 64-68.

In the span, the Nationals missed seven offensives, three three-point shots and fumbled two of their 17 turnovers in the night, and Kazakhstan moved beyond recall with that Strebkov’s unchallenged undergoal shot.

"It’s hard to get them back after that emotional loss and I was hoping to keep it close all the way and make a spurt at the end but we just didn’t have the spark," said Uichico.

"We did our best but it’s a pity we didn’t win any medal and we would like to apologize if our best was not good enough for some. Salamat sa suporta ng mga kapwa ko Pilipino sa national team," he added.