Debut Game, Debut Loss for Gilas

THE 2015 FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Philippine men’s national basketball team Gilas Pilipinas had fought hard and lost against Palestine today (September 23), finishing a score of 73-75 in Group B of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship at Changsha Social Work College’s Gymnasium, Changsha, China.

For the first quarter, Andray Blatche established a 16-point-lead at the first half, 28-12.

Second quarter went to Palestine with the powerful performances from Sani Sakakini and Jamal Abu Shamala. Then Gilas guard JC Intal gave a three-pointer closed the gap by 45-33. Unfortunately, Sakakini made a 7-0 run consequently making 45-40 at halftime.

Tables turned at the third quarter and the five-point advantage became four by 59-55.

Fourth quarter brought more action and the Palestine came in closer more quickly starting from 59-57, which came from Sakakini again. Three minutes left and the score went to 71-62 thanks to triples from Terrence Romeo and Intal, with and-one by Blatche. Looking at the clock, 1:34 remaining, the Palestinians’ Abu Shamala released two triples that established a 72-71 score board. With 15 minutes remaining until the buzzer, Blatche answered with a putback and Sakakini replied with a one-pointer to end the match with 75-73 in favor of Palestine.

Blatche had his best performance yet by contributing 21 points and 12 rebounds, despite being off-training for a couple of months, while Romeo made 11 markers and Jayson Castro added 10.

Meanwhile, impressive performance from Palestine came from Abu Shamala, who top-scored with 26 points and 15 boards while Sakakini scored 22 points and 14 boards.

What brought the shock even more intense is that Palestine is not a ranker at all (Gilas Pilipinas is 31^st in the world ranked by FIBA). It is a first-timer in FIBA Asia after winning third place in the West Asia championship following Lebanon and Jordan.

Seems like coach Tab Baldwin’s five-day training camp in Cebu last week didn’t payoff. Many have said that the starting line was consists of the youngsters than the veterans which paved way to hitting less goals. Even the outside shooting was more under prayers instead of being a planned shot.

Gilas will have to muster all courage, passion, and definitely skills against the rest of Group B’s members such as Hong Kong (September 24th match) and Kuwait (September 25th match). Hong Kong already had a winning debut of the group by 87-50 over Kuwait.

This year’s FIBA Asia competition serves as the qualifying event for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with only the champion moving forward to the Summer Games.

Original story from CNN.