Smart Gilas bows to Qatar, ends 4th

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Gilas Pilipinas lost its bid for third place to last year’s runner-up Al Rayyan of Qatar, 64-71, but gained the respect of its rivals at the close of the 22nd FIBA-Asia Champions Cup at the Philsports Arena last night.

In the title match, Lebanon defeated Iran, 91-82, behind the 41 points of Fadi El Khatib.

Still reeling from their heart-breaking 77-80 setback to back-to-back champion Mahram of Iran Saturday, the Nationals held their ground against the taller Qataris majority of the way but lost steam down the stretch to settle for fourth place.

“We’ve learned so many things in this tournament and we showed everyone we could compete against taller, bigger teams,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

Al Rayyan import Chauncey Leslie and African-born Targuy Ngombo and Yasseen Musa combined for 48 points and the Qataris dominated the boards while shackling the Filipino gunners with their stingy defense.

Toroman, however, lamented his wards’ lackluster outing and poor shooting.

“This is our worst game, we were not mentally ready, we were totally empty. We allowed so many offensive rebounds, we couldn’t afford to do that against this kind of opposition,” said Toroman.

The Qatari defense forced the Filipinos to miss 42 of their 65 shots, including a woeful three-of-24 shooting from beyond the arc.

Al Rayyan lorded it over the boards, 56-38, including 20 on the offensive end against the Nationals’ eight.

Despite Gilas’ sub-par performance, Al Rayyan’s American mentor Brian Rowsom said he was impressed of the Filipinos’ brand of play.

“Congratulations to Smart Gilas, they’re a very good team, very well-coached and played us tough for 40 minutes,” said Rowsom, who played in the NBA for three seasons.

“Even though they didn’t play their best, they still made it difficult for us, that’s how good this team is,” he added.

Despite the setback, the Filipinos improved their fifth place finish in Jakarta, Indonesia two years ago and a seventh place effort in Doha, Qatar last year. The feat also duplicated the country’s fourth place finish behind an all-pro, San Miguel-backed squad four years ago in Tehran, Iran.

Toroman, who is using this tournament as part of the team’s preparation for the FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China, an Olympic qualifier, this September, reiterated the team’s need for a tall and athletic power forward.    

“We need another player from four position because as you see, some of the best players in Asia are playing that position,” he said.

Earlier, Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia downed Duhok of Iraq, 104-95, to clinch seventh place while Applied Science U of Jordan came from behind to turn back Al Jala’a of Syria, 72-65, for fifth.

Al Riyadi of Lebanon and Mahram of Iran are playing at press time for the championship.