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| From Inquirer.net Asi Taulava battles against a Syrian player |
I just
checked my Twitter and I found Patricia Hizon and Fidel Mangonon tweeting that Smart-Gilas
failed to claim the bronze medal against Qatar’s
Al Rayyan, 71-64.
I
actually wanted to watch the semis and finals action of the tourney but weekend
obligations got in the way. I was sad because from the way they were playing, I
thought Smart-Gilas had the tools to dish out the pain.
The
Nationals lost their outside touch as they went 3-of-24 in the 3-point zone. Smart-Gilas came close at 50-48 but the missed shots made it hard
for them to take the lead from the Qataris. The bronze spot could have this
edition of the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup
to be the Philippines’ best finish in 15 years.
In the
main event, Fadi El-Khatib and the
rest of Al-Riyadi Lebanon nailed Mahram of Iran to clinch the
championship with an emphatic 91-82 win. El-Khatib, dubbed the Michael Jordan of Asia scored a tourney
record of 41 points and this stat
was further bolstered with a 19-of-22 free
throw mark.
It
wasn’t a bad mark for the Philippine Team especially since we played with no
imports (we can say that since Marcus
Douthit is already a naturalized player) and Rajko Toroman has yet to beef up the roster with Jimmy Alapag and Kelly Williams. With the FIBA Asia Championships drawing closer,
the country needs to handle going against big teams and if this is an
indication of the future, then the future looks bright for Team Pilipinas.
Up
next in the country’s calendar will be the Jones
Cup, where Smart-Gilas Team Pilipinas will slug it out with the same teams
and hopefully the tournament will end with a positive result.
The Mythical Five of the Champions Cup
comprises of Jordan’s Sam Daghles,
Lebanon’s Fadi El-Khatib, Lebanon’s Ismail Ahmad, Iran’s Nik Kah Bahrami,
and the naturalized Marcus Douthit of Smart-Gilas at the center spot.
Game
over!
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