Hurting after he accidentally rolled his right ankle early in the second quarter, Blatche battled through pain to lead Gilas Pilipinas past Japan, 73-66, in a close and thrilling match at the Changsha Social Work College’s Gymnasium here to notch its third straight win, counting the two victories in the first round.
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After giving Iran its first 2015 FIBA Asia Championship defeat, the Philippines’ Gilas Pilipinas advanced in Group E with a carry-over record of 1-1.
Baldwin also stressed that Tuesday’s game against India “won’t be easy”. That’s what we were trying to do we’re trying to come in here and get the first spot through the first two pools.
“We had our tense moments… the same old concerns (like) attacking the zone, rebounding, still our concern”.
Iran once led by 10 points before the Philippines managed to storm two 9-0 streaks in the third quarter. “Well, we have been preparing for Iran for more than a month”, Baldwin said.
Save for the Taiwanese, whom the Filipinos handily beat in the recent MVP Cup, none of the other countries in the Fiba Asia tournament have played Blatche before, making him a puzzle for the rest of the field. Jayson William and Terrence Romeo had 12 points each.
Ranidel de Ocampo the hard-nosed Filipino veteran gave Abdulaziz Alhamadi a bloodied mouth because of an elbow during a rugged play for possession.
“This game was won by individuals playing as a team. I’m not happy at all”, Bauermann said, as quoted by the FIBA website after the game.
It was a shocking result after the Philippines dominated most of the game from the get-go against Palestine, which was considered the mystery team of the tournament. Haddidi scored 10 points and 7 rebounds, but fouled out in the fourth quarter.
It is important for Gilas to make the KO stages with the highest rank possible so it could draw a relatively light assignment.
From a tournament-wide perspective, neither team is in all that much trouble.
So what are the chances of Gilas pulling an upset over Iran?
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Tipoff is set at 11:45 a.m. with the Filipinos looking to end their three-year jinx against the mighty Iranians and revive their quest to top the Group E of the 2016 Rio Olympics qualifier.
