GUANGZHOU — What a difference a year makes.
Last year, Qatar routed a team of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) superstars, 83-65, during the FIBA Asia tournament in Tianjin, China.
On Wednesday night, the 2006 Asiad silver medallist got hammered by the Smart Gilas national team, 90-68, in the 16th Asian Games.
Matthew Skillman, the American coach of Qatar, was at a loss for words.
“We didn’t make the shots or rebounds,” said Skillman. “The Philippines had tough shots and they got the baskets. We have to forget this game and be ready for the next one. I still believe we are one of the best teams in the Asiad.”
Not on this particular night.
JV Casio and Chris Tiu nearly outscored the entire Qatar team in the first half, combining for 25 as the Nationals built a 49-28 halftime lead.
The Nationals made 10 three-point shots, seven by Tiu and Casio as they shot an impressive 57 percent from the field and clobbered the Qataris under the boards, 45-27.
It was a big turnaround for the Nationals who on Tuesday scored only 48 points while yielding 65 to Iran.
“After we lost the game last night, we just hung in there and tried to play as team,” said Casio who poured 15 of his game-high 22 points in the first half. “We are a shooting team and we got great shots tonight. We believe in ourselves that we can shoot well.”
Five other Nationals finished in double figures, including six-foot-11 Greg Slaughter who played his best game so far with 12 points.
Marcus Lassiter, who was scoreless against Iran, had 13 on 5 of 9 shooting from the field.
We know what was going wrong. It was a terrible game last night. We had a long talk and we figured out the problems,” said Lassiter who played 21 minutes. “Of course we feel good. We are a great team but we are not going to settle down. We just keep on moving on.”
After firing 10 points in the first half, Tiu had just one field basket in the second half – a turnaround layup – before fouling out with 5:14 left in the game.
Asi Taulava, the only holdover from the 2009 team, and Marnel Baracael each had 10 points.
Serbian coach Rajko Toroman, unhappy over the Nationals’ first two outings, sang a different tune after the match.
“We played like a team. We shared the ball and made more assists. Yesterday, we didn’t do that. We didn’t play our system,” said Toroman who gave his bench players extra time on the court.
Jason Ballesteros saw action for the first time and was credited with one rebound and one blocked shot in three minutes of action.
The Filipinos take a rest on Thursday before playing dangerous Japan on Friday.
The Japanese rallied in the final quarter to edge Iran, 57-56, for their second straight win.
In other contests, China whipped North Korea, 98-62; Mongolia nipped Uzbekistan, 67-65; South Korea crushed Jordan, 95-49; and Chinese-Taipei made mincemeat of India, 93-66.
The scores:
PHILIPPINES 90 — Casio 22, Lassiter 13, Tiu 12, Slaughter 12, Taulava 10, Baracael 10, Williams 6, Barroca 5, Mercado 0, Lutz 0, Ballesteros 0.
QATAR 68 — Ngombo 18, Mohammed 12, Ndour 10, Musa 9, Daoud 7, Ali Saad 4, Abdi 4, Ali Mohammed 4, Ismail 0.
Quarters: 23-14, 49-28, 68-46, 90-68.
Rey Bancod, Manila Bulletin
