By Joey Villar (The Philippine Star) - CHINESE TAIPEI – Smart Gilas Pilipinas overpowered Chinese Taipei, 90-78, amid spotty officiating to remain unscathed in the William Jones Cup at the Hsinchuang Stadium in New Taipei City here.
Cheered on by a small but loud, flag-waving Filipino crowd, the Nationals, who stunned reigning back-to-back champion Iran, 73-59, in the opener, leaned on naturalized Marcus Douthit, who imposed his will inside and a defense that silenced the Taiwanese and the predominantly hometown crowd to nail their second straight win.
The Filipinos, who are seeking to become the fourth team to emerge champions here since the Northern Consolidated Cement, San Miguel and Centennial team won here in 1981, 1985 and 1998, broke loose with big runs in a stretch bridging the third and fourth quarters for a 19-point cushion they nurtured to preserve the win.
“We played well in this game, we know Chinese Taipei is a very good team and I haven’t remembered they have this strong team in three years I’ve been watching them in the Jones Cup,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.
The 6-10 Douthit pounded his way to 23 points to lead his team’s attack but it was Smart Gilas’ rebounding and perimeter defense that Toroman felt sealed it for them.
“Our strategy is not to let them take open shots from the three-point line and we did very well. We also controlled the boards,” he said.
Truly, the Filipinos, who finished fourth here last year, outrebounded the hosts, 40-32, while holding the latter to just nine triples, including three when the game was already beyond recall, after making 11 in a 99-72 win over Japan the day before.
It was Smart Gilas’ third win over Chinese Taipei since a 96-93 overtime win here last year and an 82-73 triumph in the Guangzhou Asian Games also last year.
A lot of controversial calls were slapped on the Filipinos.
One was when Japeth Aguilar was called for a goal-tending violation after he tapped the ball when it was still on the rim on a missed foul shot by I Chieh Su even though FIBA rules allow it as long as it hasn’t hit the board or on the downhill path.
Curiously, the game officials not only counted the foul shot, they also gave the Filipinos a point penalty.
And that is not counting the ridiculous number of fouls called on Smart Gilas totalling 30 and sending the Filipinos in early foul trouble in all quarters. It also resulted to 31 of the 33 foul shots given the hosts not in the act of shooting.
“Horrible,” said Douthit when asked of the officiating.
Smart Gilas started to break away late in the second quarter when Douthit and Aguilar tore the host team’s reed thin interior defense to go into the break with its biggest lead of the half, 49-36.
It would have been a bigger marging for the Nationals if not for the outrageous fouls called by referees here in favor of the Taiwanese.
There was even one instance when Douthit was called for a personal foul for just standing up midway in the first quarter. Douthit didn’t like the call apparently and kept on complaining on the ref, who quickly slapped him a technical foul.
After the Jordanians, the Filipinos will have a little breather as they battle the lighweight Malaysians at 3 p.m. tomorrow before facing off with another undefeated team in the South Koreans at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Smart Gilas will then collide with winless UAE at 3 p.m. on Thursday before closing out its elimination round campaign against Japan at 5 p.m. on Friday.
The semifinal round is scheduled on Saturday while the championship and battle for third place on Sunday.
Earlier, Jordan smashed Malaysia, 93-63, and South Korea whitewashed United Arab Emirates, 102-54, to seal their second straight victory and a share of the lead.
The Jordanians, who won this event from 2007 and 2008, hurdled UAE, 91-72, while the Koreans blasted the Malaysians, 110-50, in Saturday’s opener.
Jones Cup notes: The Miami Heat’s LeBron James is scheduled to fly here on Thursday as part of his Nike Tour and will do some basketball clinics...Oddsmakers gave Smart Gilas a 12.5-1 favorite to win over the host team. Sports lottery, of course, is legal here...Meralco Bolts coach Ryan Gregorio arrived yesterday morning to assume his role as one of Toroman’s assistants...Taipei’s No. 4 player, a long-haired 6-10 Wen Ting Tseng, was recruited by Shanghai Sharks owner Yao Ming, who recently retired in the NBA, to play in the coming Chinese Basketball League season.
The scores:
Smart Gilas Pilipinas 90 – Douthit 23, Aguilar 12, Casio 10, Hontiveros 9, Lassiter 9, Lutz 9, Tiu 8, Baracael 8, Barroca 2, Taulava 0, Ababou 0
Chinese Taipei 78 – Hsin 17, Wen 14, Chih 13, Cheng 9, Shou 8, I Chieh 7, Chin 6, Tsung 2, Chia 2,Douglas 0, Po 0, Hsueh 0
Quarterscores: 21-17; 49-36; 72-58; 90-78
