6 takeaways from Team Philippines' Asiad clash vs China

MANILA, Philippines – Although the Philippines came up short versus China, 80-82, in the former’s second match of the 2018 Asian Games’ men’s basketball competition, we had our chance to win it but Paul Lee missed a late triple attempt. But I love the game plan cooked up by the coaching staff, which was to go inside and wear out their bigs and to keep the game close. Good show, I must say, loss aside.

With that out of the way, here are our thoughts about the match:

It was quite a debut for Jordan Clarkson

Clarkson finished with 28 points (on 10-25 field goal shooting and 3-6 free throws), eight rebounds and four assists.

Clarkson’s scoring effort ties the best debut by a reinforcement player for the Philippines. Andray Blatche also finished with 28 points against Croatia during an 81-78 overtime loss in the 2014 FIBA World Cup (he also added 12 rebounds and one steal).

CJ Giles, the first naturalized player for the Philippines under the Gilas program, scored 19 points in his debut in a 90-76 win over Sangmoo Korea during the 20th FIBA Asia Champions Cup.

Marcus Douthit got a win in his Gilas debut — the 2011 FIBA Asia Championships — where he tallied 13 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots in a 92-52 win over the United Arab Emirates in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championships.

Serbian Milan Vucecivic, Gilas’ third import, scored 9 points during an 86-58 hammering by Al Rayyan Qatar during the 2010 FIBA Asia Champions Cup.

I am not sure how to measure Jamal Sampson’s debut because he was listed in his first game during the 2010 Dubai Invitational but did not get off the bench citing an injury. Or that he played during Gilas’ stint in the PBA and scored four points in his debut. Nevertheless, it was forgettable. 

So, only two players had wins during their debuts — CJ Giles and Marcus Douthit. 

Clarkson had an incandescent third period where he singlehandedly brought the Philippines within a bucket of overhauling China’s lead. He ran out of steam in the fourth period as he battled cramps. It was his foul where China’s Zhoa hung the winning free throws. 

But I like his ability to attack and create for his teammates. The more competitive games he plays with the nationals, the team can only get better.

Most of the first half, China had single coverage on him, but come the third, he was drawing double teams. It would be interesting to see how teams play him from here on.

China’s Twin Towers gave us trouble

China’s two bigs — NBA players both — Zhou Qi who is with the Houston Rockets and Wang Zhelin who is with the Memphis Grizzlies — had monster games.

The 22-year old Zhou finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocks, two assists and one steal! While the 24-year-old Wang finished with 13 points and seven boards.

I would like to correct some of the views I have seen about this being a learning experience for the Philippines. I can say the same about China, which fielded a much younger team and without some of their other regulars. It was a learning experience for these guys, who will get better over the next few years.

Our bigs held their own collectively

Yet as much as China’s bigs gave us fits, the Filipinos returned the favor. JP Erram had his moments (but that missed under goal shot sticks) and Christian Standhardinger gave an incredible effort. Never mind if Zhou blocked him like three times, Christian continued to go right at him, which probably wore him down after an intense first half.

I have to give credit to Standhardinger, Erram, Beau Belga, Raymond Almazan and Asi Taulava, who all did their best. 

Standhardinger is already a national team mainstay, but Erram will eventually join him there. JP can only get better especially as he bulks up and learns the game more. Too oft was he caught moving on defense (he got tagged for fouls on them). But arguably, the second best big in the PBA after June Mar Fajardo will get better.

Defense is what got the Philippines also back in the game

Yes, Clarkson was key, but so did the defense — played collectively. I like what Standhardinger did versus Zhou in the third period and parts of the fourth. Beau Belga might sometimes have misplaced “angas” but he had clutch plays especially when he got Ding Yanyuhang to foul out (off a flop).  

Stanley Pringle is the heir to Jayson Castro’s slot

I love Kiefer Ravena as the point with his clutchness and playmaking ability. Stanley’s got that too but has blazing speed too. Yes, that turnover hurt, but in terms of national team experience, this was only his second in five-on-five ball. He’ll get better from this.

He can push the ball, get to the rim (wish he’d jam it though because Zhou had him pegged), and finish. Pringle finished with 14 points, four boards, two assists versus five turnovers. 

I hope we can tap him for more international duty while he is in his prime.

Our outside shooters have yet to get into a zone — at the same time

Had Lee made that game-winning triple, we could be singing a different tune. Lee was 4-9 while Yap was 0-4 in their field goals. Chris Tiu wasn’t fielded in. 

Against Kazakhstan, Lee was 3-10. Yap was 3-10. Tiu, on the other hand, shot 3-4, which makes us wonder why he was not fielded against China. 

Lee and Yap have done well in spurts, but not consistently throughout the game. It has been that way for two matches now, so here’s hoping they find the range consistently soon because that will open up the game for the bigs. 

Clarkson waxed hot in the third period, but cooled off in the fourth. 

But there are lots of positives to take away. Fine-tuning is needed here and there. We should be okay. It’s not a bad loss. We had our chances and we hung in there instead of getting blown out or throwing in the towel. 

Good job, Team Philippines. You made us proud.