Game Over for Powerade Team Pilipinas

Qatar doused any hopes by Powerade-Team Pilipinas of making it to next year’s World Basketball Championships via the backdoor as it hammered out an 83-65 rout during the penultimate day of the 25th FIBA-Asia men’s basketball championship Saturday at the Tianjin gym in Tianjin, China.

Almost 24 hours after being booted out by Jordan, 81-70, the Nationals came out flat and vulnerable against the Qataris, who raced to an early seven point lead that ballooned to as much as 49-32 come halftime

Game over.

Coach Yeng Guiao himself groped for words when asked to asses about the team’s listless play.

“Hindi ko nga alam," he said after emerging from the dugout together with the entire team almost an hour following the game against Qatar.

“Probably, it’s part of the frustration or the loss of our game against Jordan (Friday). But we should be able to play above that especially in a tournament like this where every place is important."

The loss relegated Powerade-RP in a fight for seventh to eight place against the loser of the South Korea-Chinese Taipei match.

Most unfortunate, the Nationals bid goodbye to the possibility of being invited in a wild card tournament the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is planning to hold as a separate qualifier for the 2010 World Championship.

In the event the meet is approved, the no. 4 and 5 teams after the FIBA-Asia may get invited as two entries from each zone will be disputing the four slots available in Istanbul, Turkey.

Only the top three finishers in this FIBA- Asia meet get an outright berth in next year’s World Championship.

Already down to an 11-man lineup with guard Willie Miller sidelined by a groin injury, the Nationals made it even worst when they shot a paltry 32 percent (12-of-38) from the floor in the first 20 minutes, allowing the Qataris to pour on the points and break free from what Guiao expected to be a tight game.

They eventually finished with the same shot percentage, hitting just 25-of-78 from the field.

“This is our worst game undoubtedly," Guiao admitted. “What’s really disappointing is that we did not play with any spirit, the defense we showed was awful. We did not resist the onslaught of the Qatar offense. We knew they we’re bigger and stronger, but we did not offer any resistance to that."

Powerade-RP had already surpassed the ninth place finish achieved by its predecessor during the 2007 FIBA-Asia in Tokushima, Japan and is on track of matching the seventh place finish of the 1991 RP team that competed in the Kobe Asian Basketball Championship with another win in the final day of competition Sunday.

Atoning for his so-so performance against Jordan, Kerby Raymundo showed the way for the Nationals this time with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 3-of-5 from the three-point region.

Jared Dillinger added nine while Cyrus Baguio had eight for Powerade-RP, which got clobbered off the boards, 54-38.

“Don’t go hard against the Philippines," pleaded Qatari coach Ali Ahmad Fakhroo. “This mean’s nothing to them. There’s no ambition, no goals, you know what I mean."

Saad Abdulraham Ali paced Qatar, which led by as much as 66-40, with 23 points while big man Mustafa Elsayad powered his way for 14 markers.

“I told the guys that I hope this game really makes them feel bad because we don’t want to repeat this tomorrow," Guiao said.

Scores:

Qatar 83 – Ali SA 23, Elsayad 13, Abdulla 11, Mohammed 9, Saeed 9, Salem 9, Abdulla MS 3, Daoud 2, Ali 3, Ismail 1, Abdi 0, Musa 0.

Team Pilipinas 65 – Raymundo 12, Dillinger 9, Baguio 8, Norwood 7, Helterbrand 7, Santos 7, Yap 6, Pennisi 5, Taulava 2, Aguilar 2, Thoss 0.
Quarter scores: 23-16, 49-32, 66-40, 83-65.