RP blows huge lead, succumbs to Japan

TAIPEI – Powerade Team Pilipinas lost its match with Japan yesterday but coach Yeng Guiao remained confident they can hurdle the Japanese in their more important battle in the coming FIBA-Asia championship in Tianjin, China.

The Nationals squandered an 18-point first-half lead and were beaten by the Japanese, 85-87, in a pulsating finish, thus, staying below the .500 mark halfway through the nine-day 31st William Jones Cup at the Hsinchuang Gym.

“It would have been better if we won the game, but it’s good enough. I guess we know in our hearts we can beat this team,” said Guiao.

“The emphasis before the game was to learn as much as we can. We had a good lead in the first half and we had a chance to win the game but Japan shot the ball well from the three-point area. The best lesson we can learn here is that Japan is a good three-point shooting team,” Guiao added.

Japanese coach Kuraishi Osamu described the RP team to Taiwanese media as a good all-round unit.

“We had a problem scoring in the first half. A shift in strategy, going for the perimeter shots, helped us turn the game around,” said Osamu through an interpreter.

The Philippines and Japan are bunched with Korea and Sri Lanka in Group A in the Tianjin meet elimination round. The top three in the group advance in the second round, playing the top three placers from Group B.

It was evident the two teams just sized up one another for most part of the game before slugging it out at the finish.

Blowing away a 33-15 bulge and falling behind by five at 72-77, the Nationals waged their own fightback but lost their bid as Kashiwagi Shinsuke blocked a three-point attempt by Jayjay Helterbrand before the final buzzer sounded.

The Filipinos actually had a better three-point shooting percentage but the Japanese hit theirs in more crucial moments.

“There would be no big change in our strategy. We just hope to play better and put up tougher defense in our next game,” said Guiao.

“We can play them on a match-up basis, we can take them on position-for-position basis, and we won’t be at disadvantage. But if we don’t defend, then we would be in trouble,” Guiao added.

The Nationals outhustled, outran and outrebounded the Japanese for the most part except the payoff period.

Both, however, seemed not to play in full throttle.

Interestingly, the Japanese coach made platoon substitutions in the heat of a toe-to-toe battle with the Filipinos in the closing period.

But pressing on defense and running on the breaks, the Japanese seized the momentum, 77-72, on a 12-to-nothing run midway through the final period and hung tough to the finish.

Big man Takeuchi Kosuke, forward Takeda Ken and guards Kashiwagi and Igarashi Kei dealt the Filipinos the severe blows.

Japeth Aguilar led the Nationals with 17 points, seven rebounds, two steals and one assist in 19 minutes of play.

The starting combination of Aguilar, Sonny Thoss, Jarred Dillinger, James Yap and Willie Miller got the team to a swift start, taking the first quarter at 27-12.