HoopWatch

Finally, “Lady Luck” was on our side when San Miguel-Pilipinas defeated a tough Korean squad, 88-84 in the ongoing 29th William Jones Cup, held in Taipei, Taiwan.

Actually, the Philippine were coming from two heart-breaking losses against Lebanon and Japan. The Philippines led by as much as ten in the fourth quarter of both games. And in both instances, they were beaten by buzzer-beaters.

The first one was a heave from Lebanon as time expired. It was really lucky shot - a banked three-point runner. Lebanon won 65-62. The second misfortune was a hussle play from Japan. The Japanese stole an errant pass from Dondon Hontiveros, and made an easy open lay-up on the other end with a second remaining to upset the Filipinos, 86-84. Team Pilipinas also led by as much as ten with four minutes remaining.

Things were getting gloomy once again for our National quintet against Korea, as they blew a nine-point bubble in the first half, in the same fashion as that of the end-games of their two losses. Hontiveros shot the ball too soon in the dying seconds of the first half. The Koreans, then, went for a buzzer-beating lay-up to break a 41-all deadlock at the end of the first half.

Fortunately, it was just the first half. The Filipinos learned from their mistake too soon. They made crucial shots and huge defensive plays in the final minutes of this game. It was even punctuated by a gravity-defying dunk from Gabe Norwood off a no-look pass from Kerby Raymundo, to seal the deal for the Philippines as they won, 88-84, against a huge Korean team.

Asi Taulava was the best player of that team, though his huge contributions won’t show on the stat sheet. He was able to stop NBDL veteran and former Portland Trailblazer Ha Seung Jin from wreaking havoc inside the lanes. Ha was a non-factor in this one. Taulava also grabbed crucial rebounds and dished out timely passes, a huge-one to a cutting Kelly Williams for the rim-rattling slam jam. Asi, himself, had two huge in-your-face dunks against the Koreans.

Mark Caguioa led the Filipinos with 18 points on 7-13 shooting from the field. Hontiveros also had a good scoring game, but he had to sit out a lot of minutes due to foul trouble. He eventually fouled out in the final canto.

The big difference of the game of the Filipinos in their wins against their losses is that the Filipinos never led in double-digits in their wins. They were hungrier and more focused. They played to win. Whereas in their two losses, the Filipinos were comfortably ahead, and they relaxed and panicked at the end. They played not to lose.

I am glad though that the Nationals learned from their previous games this early. I rather have them loose in this Jones Cup, than they will encounter such mistakes in FIBA-Asia. The goal is to get back in the Olympics, and it is tough road going there. It’s better that they face challenges on the road, rather than a have a smooth one, whipping teams, and face these challenges later on, when they are already in Japan.

I believe in our National team, and getting the top two spots in the Japan jousts is highly attainable. Mabuhay Pilipinas!