JAKARTA—FROM a team with little expectations, the Philippines has started to raise the bar with an eye on the ultimate prize in the 20th FIBA-Asia Champions Cup.The Smart Gilas Pilipinas national team solidified its growing stature as a title contender with a 98-93 win over Qadsia of Kuwait Saturday night after trailing by 18 points in the first half.
“We’re a very young team and I’m not expecting for us to go into the semifinals,” said RP coach Rajko Toroman after the Filipinos closed out their elimination-round campaign second behind Iran’s Mahram Tehran in Group A.
“But of course, everyday I’m setting my goal a little bit higher. Why not do something special for the Philippines? And that special thing is going to the finals,” added the Serbian mentor, who last year guided Iran to a breakthrough stint in the Beijing Olympics.
But first the Filipinos have to hurdle Al Arabi of Qatar in one of the four knockout quarterfinal matches set late Sunday night.
In the other quarterfinal pairings, Iran takes on India’s Young Cagers (Group B No. 4), Al Riyadi of Lebanon (A-No. 3) meets Satria Muda of Indonesia (B-No. 2) and Zain of Jordan (B-No. 1) tackles Sangmu of Korea (A-No. 4).
If the Filipinos hurdle Qatar, which has been consistently using only six players in its rotation, they will face the winner of the Jordan-Korea duel in the semifinals.
Today is a rest day with the semifinals set on Tuesday and the title game on Wednesday.
“We have to win, we have to show our character because we are already in the quarterfinals,” said Toroman as he looked forward to meeting Qatar with a full lineup. “We’re treating every game now just like the final game in the Olympics. We want to learn and we want to get the experience.”
Already assured of a quarterfinal slot before the match with winless Kuwait, the Filipinos rested their injured import CJ Giles and skipper Chris Tiu.
Giles, who strained his left quadriceps against Lebanon, was given a clean bill of health but team physicians Albert Rolle and Jimbo Saret decided to rest the 6-foot-11 import. A recurring leg injury also sidelined Tiu.
Kuwait surprised the Filipinos with a sizzling 19-4 start behind American imports Michael Harris and Joel Box.
Their offense stymied by the leech-like defense thrown at Mark Barocca, the Filipinos trailed 27-9 before moving to within three at halftime, 46-49.
The scores:
SMART GILAS-RP 98—Casio 21, Baracael 19, Ababou 16, Jazul 9, Barocca 9, Ramos 7, Guevarra 6, Slaughter 6, Ballesteros 5, Cawaling 0.
QADSIA-KUWAIT 93—Harris 32, Box 21, Albrahim 12, Al Hamidi 9, Saeed 9, Ruad 6, Mohammad 2, Abdullah 2, Hassan 0, Alajmi 0, Al Zafiri 0, Al Rashidih 0.
Quarters: 16-31, 46-49, 69-76, 98-93
“We’re a very young team and I’m not expecting for us to go into the semifinals,” said RP coach Rajko Toroman after the Filipinos closed out their elimination-round campaign second behind Iran’s Mahram Tehran in Group A.
“But of course, everyday I’m setting my goal a little bit higher. Why not do something special for the Philippines? And that special thing is going to the finals,” added the Serbian mentor, who last year guided Iran to a breakthrough stint in the Beijing Olympics.
But first the Filipinos have to hurdle Al Arabi of Qatar in one of the four knockout quarterfinal matches set late Sunday night.
In the other quarterfinal pairings, Iran takes on India’s Young Cagers (Group B No. 4), Al Riyadi of Lebanon (A-No. 3) meets Satria Muda of Indonesia (B-No. 2) and Zain of Jordan (B-No. 1) tackles Sangmu of Korea (A-No. 4).
If the Filipinos hurdle Qatar, which has been consistently using only six players in its rotation, they will face the winner of the Jordan-Korea duel in the semifinals.
Today is a rest day with the semifinals set on Tuesday and the title game on Wednesday.
“We have to win, we have to show our character because we are already in the quarterfinals,” said Toroman as he looked forward to meeting Qatar with a full lineup. “We’re treating every game now just like the final game in the Olympics. We want to learn and we want to get the experience.”
Already assured of a quarterfinal slot before the match with winless Kuwait, the Filipinos rested their injured import CJ Giles and skipper Chris Tiu.
Giles, who strained his left quadriceps against Lebanon, was given a clean bill of health but team physicians Albert Rolle and Jimbo Saret decided to rest the 6-foot-11 import. A recurring leg injury also sidelined Tiu.
Kuwait surprised the Filipinos with a sizzling 19-4 start behind American imports Michael Harris and Joel Box.
Their offense stymied by the leech-like defense thrown at Mark Barocca, the Filipinos trailed 27-9 before moving to within three at halftime, 46-49.
The scores:
SMART GILAS-RP 98—Casio 21, Baracael 19, Ababou 16, Jazul 9, Barocca 9, Ramos 7, Guevarra 6, Slaughter 6, Ballesteros 5, Cawaling 0.
QADSIA-KUWAIT 93—Harris 32, Box 21, Albrahim 12, Al Hamidi 9, Saeed 9, Ruad 6, Mohammad 2, Abdullah 2, Hassan 0, Alajmi 0, Al Zafiri 0, Al Rashidih 0.
Quarters: 16-31, 46-49, 69-76, 98-93
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