CALVIN Oftana, a last-minute addition to the Gilas lineup, rises to the occasion with 31 points as Bahrain scores an 89-85 win at the start of basketball competitions in the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya.
Photograph courtesy of FIBA
All their bags are packed and ready to go… home.
Gilas Pilipinas’ reign as men’s basketball champion ended at the hands of the team that waited three years to exact revenge.
China got the satisfaction of humiliating Gilas with a 105-61 shellacking to dethrone the Filipinos at the group stage conclusion of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Monday at the Aichi International Arena.
Gilas didn't even get a chance to hold on to the gold medal they won in Hangzhou three years ago to end a 61-year championship drought ahead of the formal opening ceremonies on Saturday.
Entering the game, the all-local Gilas just needed to avoid losing by 37 points or more to avoid elimination and secure a backdoor entry to the quarterfinals as one of the two best third-placed teams after pool play.
The Chinese, sour from a semifinal exit on home court in the pandemic-delayed 2023 Asiad at the hands of naturalized player Justin Brownlee-led Gilas, snuffed out the Pinoys’ hope by blowing them out by 44 points to complete a three-game sweep of Group C.
Calvin Oftana was the lone Filipino in double digits with 13 points.
Sedrick Barefield finished with nine points, Don Trollano had seven while Jerrick Ahanmisi and team captain Robert Bolick, who exploded for 22 and 20 points, respectively, in Gilas’ first and only win in the competition, 109-78, over Kazakhstan last Saturday, were held to five markers each.
Gilas missed the quarterfinals for the first time since rejoining the Asiad in 2010 in Guangzhou after the lifting of the Philippines’ basketball suspension.
The Philippines closed their campaign in ninth with a 1-2 win-loss record. Gilas also dropped its opening game against Bahrain, 85-89, last Friday.
However, it was Gilas’ worst finish in the prestigious continental sports meet. The 44-point setback was also the widest losing margin of the Philippines to China in the Asian Games since the all-Filipino crew bannered by Robert Jaworski suffered a 60-125 loss in finals of the 1990 edition in Beijing.
Gilas coach Tim Cone expressed his disappointment over their horror campaign.
“Not sure what to say. Deeply disappointed we couldn’t get to the quarters,” said Cone, ruing their lack of manpower after the stars, who are mostly playing in Japan or Korea, represented the country in the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers last month.
“But it’s a reminder for us that if we can’t or don’t bring our best players to these international events, we won’t excel.”
“We brought some really good players, but we didn’t bring our best players. It would have been nice to have Kai (Sotto) and AJ (Edu) and Q (Quentin Millora-Brown) and Mike Phillips and Dwight Ramos and KQ (Kevin Quiambao) and Carl Tamayo. But they weren’t permitted from their mother teams.”
China’s height advantage and torrid shooting drowned Gilas right in the opening quarter by 20 points.
By halftime, China was ahead by 36 points, and after the third quarter, Gilas was already over the allowable margin to secure a quarterfinal seat after falling to 40-79.
China, which shot an efficient 42-of-82 shooting from the field, erected its biggest lead at 94-48 after Li Yuezhou drained a triple with 3:59 left in the game.
Seven players on China’s side finished in double figures with Junjie Wang posting a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Sanning Liao had 14 markers, Mingxuan Cu added 13 markers, Boquiao Jiao and Yuengzhao Li scored 11 each while Jinqiu Hu and Yongxi Cui finished with 10 points apiece for the Chinese squad.
China is joined by host Japan, South Korea, Iran, Chinese Taipei and Bahrain as outright quarterfinalists while Jordan and Saudi Arabia occupied the last two seats as best third-placed teams.
Quarterfinals action begins on Wednesday.
