June 30, 2018 – Taiwan
February 23, 2018 – Margaret Court Arena
FIBA Asian Qualifiers 2019 World Cup News: Gilas Pilipinas failed to sustain an early first-half blitzkrieg as it fell to the towering Australia Boomers, 68-84, in the FIBA Asian Qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup yesterday Thursday at the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne. Hot shooting Cameron Gliddon paced the Boomers with 16 points, while scrappy forward Mitch Creek contributed 12 markers and 11 caroms.
Notes:
➤ Pilipinas Basketball is now down to a 2-1 win-loss slate in the continuing second window of the qualifiers.
➤ Philippine Basketball Team held on to a proud 30-25 lead midway the second canto but the Boomers from the land down under answered with a fiery 12-2 run, catapulted by Nick Kay’s double treys, giving them the 37-32 lead before the half-time break.
➤ Australia continually pounded the hapless RP Five from the rainbow country as they built an insurmountable 18 point lead in the fourth quarter, 77-59.
➤ Gilas made a dismal showing in the free throw line as they missed 12 of 19 foul throws. Their field-goal percentage of 43.8 was hardly a factor throughout the ballgame as they also trailed in the rebounds department where the Aussies massacred them 50 to 30.
➤ “The Kraken” June Mar Fajardo led the losing Filipinos with 15 buckets, while Matthew Wright added 9 goals. Naturalized player Andray Blatche ran out of steam as he only managed to drop 8 points and 7 rebounds in 25 minutes.
➤ Gilas Pilipinas will next face rival Japan NT (Akatsuki Five) on February 25 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
➤ Filipino: FIBA Asian Qualifiers 2019 World Cup Balita • Hindi umubra ang paunang bulusok ng Gilas Pilipinas matapos itong pabagsakin ng Australia Boomers, 68-84, sa FIBA Asian Qualifiers para sa 2019 World Cup kahapon ng Huwebes sa Margaret Court Arena sa Melbourne. Tumikada para sa Boomers si Cameron Gliddon sa kanyang16 puntos, maging ang forward na si Mitch Creek ay nagtala ng 12 buslo at 11 rebounds.
Gliddon 16, Brandt 13, Creek 12, Lisch 12, Kay 7, Hodgson 6, Kickert 5, Norton 4, Wagstaff 4, Cadee 2, Sobey 2, McCarron 1.
Fajardo 15, Wright 9, Blatche 8, Pogoy 8, Norwood 7, Ravena 6, Alas 6, Abueva 5, Aguilar 2, Tratter 2, Cruz 0, Malicsi 0.
Posted on February 23, 2018 - Margaret Court Arena - Melbourne
Written by Rock Punzalan for Philippine Basketball News Team
February 21, 2018 – Manila
Notes:
➤ “As of yesterday, he (Castro) tried to go hard in last night’s practice and still, he was not there at all so we decided it wasn’t worth the risk. So Jayson is going to sit out together with Jio (Jalalon), who is also feeling a slight pain in his legs. We decided to play the guys not experiencing any nagging injuries at this point,” confirmed Reyes via Sports5 Facebook live video stream.
➤ The absence of “The Blur” Castro, once the Best Point Guard of Asia, leaves a big hole to the campaign of the Philippine Basketball team. His innate ability to slash and penetrate inside opponent defense will surely be missed. “The Phenom” Kiefer Ravena will have to bring in his bag of tricks to make up for the loss of Castro. He will have to team-up with point veteran Kevin Alas to steer Pilipinas Basketball as Jio Jalalon will also sit out due to injury.
➤ Meanwhile, “The Beast” Calvin Abueva is back to the Gilas fold as head coach Chot Reyes gave the green light to the fiery Kapampangan forward to return to the RP Five lineup. Abueva was previously axed from the roster together with beanpole Raymund Almazan after missing the Gilas first three practices. Nevertheless, Calvin proved his worth to the team as he attended the subsequent training sessions even without the assurance of inclusion.
➤ Coach Chot announced the reentry of Abueva as Troy Rosario and Mac Belo were placed on the reserved list also due to injuries. “Since then, even he (Abueva) knew he was not going to be in the final 12 for the second window, he never missed any practice, he did what we asked of him, whether as a practice player or member of the scouting team,” Reyes said.
➤ Gilas Pilipinas full line-up includes Andray Blatche, June Mar Fajardo, Abu Tratter, Kiefer Ravena, Kevin Alas, Matthew Wright, Roger Pogoy, Japeth Aguilar, Calvin Abueva, Allein Maliksi, Gabe Norwood and Carl Bryan Cruz.
Posted on February 21, 2018 - Manila
Written by Rock Punzalan for Philippine Basketball News Team
November 24, 2017 – Komazawa Olympic Park
Notes:
➤ Asia’s two-time best point guard “The Blur” Castro-William, stabilized RP squad as the Japanese home-team mounted several uprisings. Jayson made Japan bleed making 5 out of the last 7 crucial points of Gilas in the final minute, especially the dagger trey at 1:14 remaining.
➤ Gilas Pilipinas led for most of the entire ballgame but Japan’s Akatsuki Five stayed uncomfortably close. Gilas built a large 14-point lead in the second quarter, 24-10, following Kiefer Ravena’s foul throw. The Japanese rallied back with a 12-0 blast in the third to pull ahead, 37-40, until the Filipino dribblers answered with their own 10-3 run to wrest back the lead, 53-46.
➤ Four Filipinos scored in double digits with Castro and Blatche leading with 20 and 13, while Matthew Wright had 12 and Gabe Norwood with 10.
➤ Japan ace Makoto Hiejima led the Nippon charge with huge 20 points and 5 rebounds, while naturalized Ira Brown contributed 10 buckets and 15 boards as well.
➤ Pilipinas Basketball will next face Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) this Monday, November 27 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Castro William 20, Blatche 13, Wright 12, Norwood 10, Fajardo 6, Aguilar 5, Abueva 5, Pogoy 5, Ravena 1, Alas 0, Rosario 0.
Hiejima 20, Brown 10, Tanaka 10, Togashi 8, Baba 7, Harimoto 7, Shinoyama 4, J. Takeuchi 3, Ota 2, Furukawa 0, Uto 0.
Posted on November 24, 2017 - Komazawa Olympic Park - Tokyo
Written by Rock Punzalan for Philippine Basketball News Team
August 31, 2014 – Sevilla
FIBA World Cup 2014: Team Gilas Pilipinas failed to overcome the Croatian juggernaut in the FIBA World Cup 2014 opener with a stunning 78-81 overtime upset. Bojan Bogdanovic led the Croats with 26 markers, while Andray Blatche and Jeffrei “Negros Sniper” Chan dropped 28 and 17 points apiece.
Notes:
➤ In what appeared to be a highly controversial ballgame between the Asian and European powerhouses, Croatia got the better calls in the crucial moments of the contest.
➤ Jayson “The Blur” Castro was called for a highly questionable flop in the third canto, and who unfortunately also got a bum no-call in the final seconds of the overtime while taking a critical clutch trey.
➤ In the fourth canto, Jeffrei Chan missed a contested trey in the dying seconds leading to a 71-All overtime. It was anybody’s ballgame as the spitfire RP five was trailing 78-79 until the final 5.6 seconds of extra time.
➤ All throughout, the Filipinos stunned a clueless Croatia as the Philippines continually dropped 10 rainbow bombs in the last three quarters.
➤ “We just kept on fighting. We knew Croatia was tough but the players fought all the way,” Coach Chot Reyes said of the Pinoy’s gallant stand.
Blatche 28, Chan 17, Pingris 10, Castro 6, De Ocampo 5, Alapag 4, Tenorio 2, Norwood 2, Lee 2, Fajardo 2, Aguilar 0.
Bogdanovic 26, Simon 12, Saric 10, Tomic 8, Ukic 5, Lafayette 4, Rudez 4, Zoric 4, Babic 3.
Posted on August 31, 2014 - Sevilla, Spain
Written by Rock Punzalan for Philippine Basketball News Team
Philippine Basketball, now spearheaded by Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), proved that the pains of undertaking a national basketball program are worth all the effort in gaining back the respectability that the basketball-crazed country once commanded. After the recent staging of the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championships, the latest FIBA World rankings has been released anew. RP Men’s Basketball now ranks 53rd in the World and 12th in Asia after climbing up three places in the rankings.
October 6, 2009 – Tianjin
Notes:
➤ Yang Heejong led the SoKors campaign with 14-points. Oh Sekeun and Kim Minsoo logged in 11 points apiece. Cyrus Baguio, who’s razzle-dazzle plays wowed the crowd, was RP Team’s bright spot with a game-high 16 points. Supposed to be a game of redemption, all things fail to fall into the right place for RP Team at the end of the elimination phase of FIBA Asia.
➤ RP five faces Chinese Taipei next in the second round. Vital problems of the RP squad resurfaced with horrifying effect to their campaign. Although the Nationals held their own in the defensive side, limiting Korea to only 18 percent 3-point total output, blunder after blunder in key plays sealed their chance of chipping the lead off the East Asian champions.
➤ The rebound department was close with Korea only leading with 48 against the 44 of the Pinoys. However, Team Pilipinas recurring problems returned with only 38 percent two-point field goal in 19 of 50 shooting, 15 percent at the rainbow country in 4 out of 27 treys, and the dismal 6 of 11 total free throws.
➤ The battle couldn’t have gotten any closer if not for the momentum-stopper sniping of Mick Pennisi from beyond the arc. Cyrus Baguio also contributed heavily with his crucial one-on-one markers. The game was very close in the 2nd quarter until Korea’s Kim Min Soo waxed hot from the perimeter, to push Korea to their biggest lead of 35-22 with a 12-2 run.
Posted on October 6, 2009 - Tianjin
Written by Rock Punzalan for Philippine Basketball News Team
July 19, 2006
The Philippines was once the basketball king of Asia. Thought to be merely invincible in Asia – untouchable as one would say. The class that past Philippine teams showed during the Pre and Post-World War 2 era was simply at par with the world’s best.
July 19, 2006
| » All Time World Basketball Championships Medal Tally « | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nation | Flag | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| United States |  | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Soviet Union |  | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Yugoslavia |  | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Brazil |  | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Serbia and Montenegro |  | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Argentina |  | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Spain |  | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Russia | | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Greece |  | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Chile |  | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Philippines |  | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Croatia |  | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Germany |  | 0 | 0 | 1 |
The Philippines remains to be one of the only top Asian nations to have ever landed in the medal tally of the prestigious history of World Basketball Championships. This is such a great feat that the Philippines made it in the history of basketball in terms of world basketball competition (as part of the only top ten world medal achieving nations) and in the history of Asia to be the only country to ever make it to such a notable standing.
➤ Basketball was introduced to the Philippines in 1901, by members of the American YMCA. The Philippine Amateur Basketball League was established in 1910. After that, basketball became a nationally popular sport in the Pearl of the Orient Seas. What many people didn’t know or even heard of is that the Philippines was truly one of the global superpowers in international cage hoops in the past – during its’ prime.
➤ In the 1936 Berlin Olympiad where the RP Team placed fifth, Philippines defeated Mexico 32-30 in the second round and toppled Estonia 39-22 in the third round. In the classification round of the same tourney, the Filipinos defeated the highly touted powerhouse Italy 32-14 and romped past Uruguay 33-23. Curiously, the Philippine delegation never made it to the Medal round (due to a controversial ruling) although it had not lost to any team except to the United States with the score of 56-23.
➤ The Philippine Team was ably led by Ambrosio Padilla (team captain), who later became a senator; the 6’1″ Charles Borck, Jacinto Ciria Cruz, Primitivo Martinez, Jesus Marzan, Franco Marquicias, Fortunato Yambao, Amador Obondo, Bibjano Quano, and Johnny Worrel. Also, the same games were played in a lawn tennis court (which was terribly hampered by a bad rainy weather), and the awards were given by no less than Dr. James Naismith.
➤ During the 1948 London Olympics, the Philippines landed a 12th place finish. The RP team was bracketed to Group B in the eliminations and posted a win-loss record of 3-2. The Filipinos massacred Iraq 102-30, marched past Korea 35-33, and stomped down on China 51-32. It lost its’ elimination assignments to Chile 68-39 and was upset by Belgium 37-35. The Philippines figured in a five-way tie in the elimination round and was ejected from the medal-round because of the point system implemented. In the classification round (non-medal competition), Philippines defeated the recent Olympic champions Argentina with a 45-43 score but bowed down to Belgium 38-34 and Peru 40-29.
➤ The Philippines was tied for 9th place overall in the 1952 Olympiad. The Filipinos found themselves in Group B in the preliminary round with 2-0 win-loss record by blasting Israel 54-47 and Hungary 48-35. The Pinoys advanced to the main tournament and showed its’ might against Canada 81-65, but eventually lost to Argentina 85-59 and Brazil 71-52. The 1956 Melbourne Olympics saw the Philippines bracketed in Group A in the Elimination round and made a 2-1 win-loss performance to land in 7th place over-all. They defeated Thailand 55-44 and Japan 76-61 but horribly succumbed to the USA with a dismal 121-53. In the quarterfinals, the Philippines defeated France with a 65-58 beating but bowed again to the physically playing Uruguay 79-70 and Chile 88-69. In the non-medal round, the Philippines took a sweet revenge to Chile 75-68 but stumbled down to Bulgaria 80-70.
➤ An 11th place finish was the best the Philippines can offer in the 1960 Rome Olympics. In the eliminations, the Filipinos were bracketed to Group D and made a 1-2 win-loss record by defeating Spain 84-82, but lost to Poland 86-68 and Uruguay 80-76. In the classification round, the Pinoys posted a 2-1 win-loss slate by beating down Puerto Rico 82-80 and Bulgaria 2-0 (forfeited), and fell to Hungary 81-70. In the second classification round, the Philippines handily pounded their way through Mexico 65-64 but lost to France 122-75.
➤ In the 1954 World Basketball Championships in Brazil, the Philippines staged the greatest mark in the history of the basketball-crazed nation, by taking the Bronze Medal in a show of power. Overall, the Philippines posted a 5-2 win-loss record and fell behind eventual champions USA and silver medalists Brazil – the hometown favorite.
The USA had the biggest scare in the tournament when they faced squarely with the Filipinos. Opening play in the final round, the U.S. was given a run for its money by the Philippines. Trailing by just three points at the half, 25-22, the Philippines squad rallied at the start of the second half and took a 31-26 lead. However, the USA offense got rolling and with three minutes remaining the USA had control 49-30 before finally settling for a 56-43 victory. The 6-6 forward Kirby Minter led the USA offense with 15 points.
➤ Although the Americans managed to post a strong win-loss slate of 9-0, they will never forget their memorable encounter with the formidable Filipino squad. The Filipinos, on the other hand, was led by Carlos “The Big Difference” Loyzaga – the team captain who won the Mythical Five award in the same tourney – for being the third highest individual scorer over-all.
➤ Loyzaga was also the first basketball player to be inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame. Also present in the line-up were Lauro Mumar, Florentino Bautista, Francisco Rabat, Benjamin Francisco, and the 6’2 Mariano Tolentino. The Philippines beat the favored Uruguay team, 67-63, to clinch the Bronze Medal on November 5, 1954.
➤ This mighty feat until now, remains unsurpassed in the realms of Philippine Basketball and Asia as a whole.
Posted on July 19, 2006
Written by Rock Punzalan for Philippine Basketball News Team
