GUANGZHOU – Smart Gilas Team Pilipinas has remained optimistic it can contend for a medal though barely making the main draw with a scrambling 76-69 win over fellow unseeded rival Kuwait in a knockout game Saturday night.
Coach Rajko Toroman is confident the Nationals will improve, advance to the quarterfinals “then anything is possible.”
“Everything (we did against the Kuwaitis) was wrong but the important thing is that we’re in the game. Going to the tournament proper, I think we’ll play better because this team just needs time. I strongly believe that we can reach the quarterfinals and anything can happen from there,” Toroman said.
The Nationals faced the dim prospect of outright elimination Saturday, needing a decisive fourth-quarter run to fend off the tough challenge of the small but gritty Kuwaitis.
“I’d said before that it would be tough because it’s a knockout game. Kuwait surprised us they played much better than we expected. We’re the exact opposite. We couldn’t find way how to play against zone and we gave up many things to our opponent,” said Toroman.
“It’s tough to play that game. We’re overeager maybe because the pressure was heavy on us,” said team captain Chris Tiu.
Though smaller on most match-ups, the Kuwaitis fought the Filipinos on even terms on practically all fronts of the game and led by as many as nine points in the first half.
“We should have outrebounded them because we were a bigger team but we really couldn’t find the rhythm,” said Toroman, disappointed the Kuwaitis tied them in rebounds with 41 each.
“We played better against Dongguan and Guandong (in earlier tune-up matches). But it’s really difficult to play with this team. We couldn’t use our offenses against them,” Toroman also said.
Tiu thought the Kuwaitis were tough match-ups for them with their frontcourt players having long range offense and quicker at the posts versus Asi Taulava and Greg Slaughter.
The Smart Gilas team skipper said Taulava and Slaughter could hold their own better with the bigger Arab teams.
Toroman also mentioned the lack of chemistry and injuries to Taulava, Marcius Lassiter, Sol Mercado and Japeth Aguilar.
Aguilar sat out the game due to a knee injury he suffered in their tune-up game versus the Dongguan Leopards Thursday.
“We need time because we have PBA players who have just joined us. They had just two games with us,” said Toroman.
“Marcio was our best player in the game and yet he didn’t practice for three months because of an injury. He also needs time to make adjustment,” Toroman added.
The Serbian mentor sees a better showing right in their first game in the main draw versus Iran at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Huangpu Gymnasium.
“I know exactly how strong they are. We will play much, much better. We will play a very high level game,” said Toroman of their game against his former team which he steered to the 2007 Fiba Asia championship.
Nelson Beltran, Philippine Star
