RP 5 outlasts Taiwan

Manila Bulletin - Monday, August 10

Games on Tuesday (Tianjin gym)
9 a.m. - UAE vs Kazakhstan
11 a.m. - Iran vs RP
2 p.m. - Kuwait vs Japan
4 p.m. - Chinese-Taipei vs Korea
7 p.m. - Lebanon vs China
9 p.m. - Jordan vs Qatar

TIANJIN, China - From having one foot in the grave to having one foot in the quarterfinal round - what a difference Miller Time makes.

A huge three-point shot from Willie Miller - his fifth straight - that beat the shot clock with 13 seconds remaining slammed the door on Chinese-Taipei Monday night as Powerade-Team Pilipinas hammered out a 77-70 victory in the 25th FIBA Asia Men's Championship here.

The national team's third win in the preliminary round avenged an 86-77 loss to the Taiwanese in the William Jones Cup tournament last month and virtually assured the Philippines of at least an eighth place finish in the FIBA World Championship qualifier.

To skirt any unforeseen complications and make official their entry to the knockout quarterfinals, the Nationals will have to put away one of its two remaining elimination round games - against defending champion Iran Tuesday or Kuwait Wednesday.

"Just to be sure, we have to beat Kuwait. Pero ambisyunin na natin ang Iran bukas lalo na kung magiging ganito kaganda ang shooting natin," said Guiao.

Iran handed the Philippines its first loss in the Tokushima FIBA Asia Olympic qualifying tournament two years ago, and then ran roughshod over the Nationals in the 2009 Jones Cup.

After a dreadful shooting night against South Korea Saturday where they sprayed 23 three-point shots all over the Tianjin gym in going down, 69-56, the Nationals lit up the venue by burying 15 of 30 three-pointers in a deadly display of marksmanship, with James Yap draining six triples and Miller five - without a miss.

Yap was especially breathtaking in the third quarter where he drilled four 3-pointers - three in succession - and completed one 3-point play as he unloaded 15 of his game-high 23 points in a scorching stretch that overwhelmed Taiwan's shooters and gave the RP team a 62-54 lead at the end of the third quarter.

So comprehensive was the scouting report on the Taiwanese shooters, who scuttled the Nationals for 14 triples when they last met, that the RP defense, imposing an absolute clamp-down, allowed just one 3-point conversion in 15 attempts.

"We have a lot of respect for Taipei from what we saw in the Jones Cup, and we made a conscious effort to take away their three-point shot," said Guiao. "That's a key factor."

As scintillating as Yap was, however, it was Miller, a shooting guard masquerading as a playmaker here with Jayjay Helterbrand (8 points, 5 assists) slowed down by an old hamstring injury, who shone the brightest.

Not only did Miller went 5-of-5 from beyond the arc in contributing 17 points, he knocked down the biggest shot of the night after Taipei had come within 72-70 on free throws by guard Lee Hseuh-Lin with 1:36 left.

With the shot clock winding down, Miller let loose a cannon from slightly off top of the key to stop the advancing Taiwanese, with Gabe Norwood sealing their doom by towering over everybody else in hauling down a miss by forward Lin Chih-Chieh.

RP 77 - Yap 23, Miller 17, Thoss 8, Pennisi 8, Baguio 6, Helterbrand 6, Raymundo 5, Dillinger 3, Taulava 2, Norwood 2, Aguilar 0, Santos 0.
Taipei 70 - Tseng 21, Lee 8, Chang 8, Lin 7, Wu 6, Chang TH 6, Tien 6, Wang 4, Su 2, Yang 2, Chen 0, Wu CL 0.
Quarters: 16-21, 33-35, 62-54, 77-70.