Hosts toughen Perlas sked

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine national women’s basketball team coach Pat Aquino said yesterday it’s no coincidence that the schedule for the Philippines in the coming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games allows for no off-day, meaning six straight games while host Malaysia will come from a break before playing Perlas.

Aquino, who arrived from the FIBA Asia Women’s Cup with Perlas in Bangalore the other day, implied a conspiracy to make it tough for the Philippines to capture its first gold medal in the event in 17 previous SEA Games since 1977. To prove the conspiracy, Aquino pointed to Perlas’ back-to-back games against Thailand at 8 p.m. on Aug. 24 and against Malaysia at 11:15 a.m. the next day. Malaysia has no game the day before facing Perlas so the host team will show up a lot fresher than the Philippines with only a 12-hour rest.

Perlas will play its first game against Singapore at 7:15 p.m. on Aug. 20 then it’s Indonesia at 8:15 p.m. on Aug. 21, Myanmar at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 22, Thailand at 8:15 p.m. on Aug. 23, Malaysia at 11:15 a.m. on Aug. 24 and Vietnam at 10:15 a.m. on Aug. 25. Every team, except the Philippines, has a one-day break in the middle of the competition until the final tripleheader on Aug. 26 when Perlas is off. The last day break is meaningless since Perlas will have completed its schedule by then.

“We’ll simulate by practicing at night then the next morning so we get used to it,” said Aquino. “We’ll just have to adjust. There’s nothing else we can do. It’s the schedule that Malaysia gave us.”

Aquino, who has piloted NU to a 48-0 record and back-to-back-to-back UAAP senior women’s titles in the last three seasons, said there’s no backing out from a fight. “We have to win the gold, that’s our goal,” he said. “We’ve never won the gold in women’s basketball in the SEA Games. In 2015, we came close and fell a win short of the gold medal. From almost a gold, we dropped to fourth. Now, it’s a must-win situation for us in K.L.”

In 2015, all the Philippines had to do to bag the gold was to beat Indonesia but Perlas blew an early 21-9 lead and lost, 61-56. A win would’ve tied the Philippines with Thailand and Malaysia for first place and applying the quotient system, Perlas would’ve wound up on top with a +6 factor compared to Malaysia’s -2 and Thailand’s -4. The loss took away Perlas’ hopes for a podium finish. Aquino vowed to make up for the loss in K.L.

“The pressure is on us,” he said. “We’ll approach every game like we’re the underdog. No game will be easy. We learned our lesson the hard way in the last SEA Games. We won’t make that same mistake again.”

Six players from the 2015 cast are back for redemption – 5-11 Ambi Almazan, 28, 5-8 Afril Bernardino, 21, 5-9 Allana Lim, 28, 5-9 Cindy Resultay, 26, 5-11 Camille Sambile, 25 and 6-4 Clare Castro, 20. The newcomers are 5-5 Janine Pontejos, 24, 5-0 Andrea Tongco, 21, 5-6 Raiza Dy, 28, 5-0 Chak Cabinbin, 25, 6-3 Jack Animam, 18 and 5-8 Ara Abaca, 25. But 11 of the 12 were on Aquino’s team that swept the SEABA Championships in Malaysia last year so chemistry won’t an issue in K.L. In the just-concluded FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, only Abaca wasn’t in the lineup as her spot was taken by 5-8 Gemma Miranda, 22.

Aquino said he hopes to include Miranda in the cast for the SEA Games. “Gemma wasn’t in the roster that we submitted to the POC,” he said. “We’re reviewing our lineup right now. We’re also asking the POC if it’s possible to make a late change in the roster so we can include Gemma. Anyway, if it’s not possible, we’ll go with our team of 12. It’s a fighting team and we’ve improved a lot because of our experience in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup.”