Gilas falters versus Lebanon, finishes 4th

HSINCHUANG CITY – Smart Gilas Pilipinas executed with razor-sharp precision in the first 25 minutes of play before breaking down, bowing to Lebanon, 62-73, to settle for fourth at the close of the 32nd William Jones Cup at the Hsinchuang Gymnasium here yesterday.

The Nationals blew away a 15-point third-quarter spread, unable to keep in step with the Lebanese as the latter pressed their bid in the crunch.

Lebanon, preparing for its stint in the coming World Championship in Turkey as among three wildcards, wound up with a 5-1 win-loss record for second place behind Iran in the weeklong Taipei invitational.

Smart Gilas, bracing up for the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in November, finished fourth with victories over the Taiwan U All Stars, the Townsville Crocs and the Chinese-Taipei national team as against losses to Iran, Japan and Lebanon.

Lebanon coach Thomas Baldwin said they learned a lot from the Filipinos.

“It was a great basketball game and I enjoyed watching the Philippine team attack our zone. They did a good job as a team and individually. It’s great learning experience for us,” said Baldwin.

“I was prepared to make a sacrifice and just continue to do the things we’d said we’d do in the tournament. We stayed with the zone in the first half but was forced to shift to man-to-man in the second half,” Baldwin added.

Lebanon came through with its own searing attack in the second half to frustrate the Filipinos from stealing second place.

“We played good basketball only in the first three quarters. We took control most of the way. But in the end, Lebanon’s domination off the boards killed us,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

The Serbian mentor is hopeful they can solve this problem on the possible addition of PBA star Kelly Williams for the Asian Games.

“We knew we’re weak on the No. 4 and No. 5 positions. It’s very difficult to get the rebounds with a small size. We’ll solve this in getting a PBA player (Williams) who’s a good, quick rebounding forward,” Toroman told the international media.

The Filipinos took the early initiatives on the hot shooting early on by their backcourt crew.

Mac Baracael rifled in four treys, Chis Tiu made two while JVee Casio, Marcius Lassiter and Chris Lutz canned in one apiece as Smart Gilas built a 15-point lead at 50-35 with 4:46 left in the third.

The Nationals, however, were held to seven two-point field-goal baskets as the Lebanese shifted to man-to-man the rest of the way.

In the same stretch, the Lebanese pounded the Filipinos with nine three-pointers with five coming from forward Elie Estephan.

The Lebanese zoomed ahead, 66-60, after draining all those treys.

“If our second-half performance is indicative of the development we wanted to achieve, then I’m very happy,” said Baldwin, coach of the New Zealand team that made the World Championship in 2002.

“We executed very well tactically. Individually, my players made good decisions. They created open shots and the defense was right on,” Baldwin added.

Marcus Douthit, who had huge double-double jobs in their earlier games, found his match in Jackson Vroman.

Douthit produced six points and 10 rebounds as against Vroman’s 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.