After squandering a fourth quarter lead, naturalized center Andray Blatche sparked Gilas Pilipinas with timely baskets and defensive stops down the stretch to nip Iran 81-70 in a tune-up game Wednesday night at Araneta Coliseum.
Blatche finished with 20 points in 7-of-13 shooting along with 11 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 block, and 1 assist in 28 minutes. Gilas also got notable contributions from Ryan Reyes, Japeth Aguilar, and Terrence Romeo who added 12 points apiece.
The national team led by as many as 23 until Iran coach Dirk Bauermann switched to zone defense that allowed them to crawl back. They came within two, 72-70 with less than three minutes remaining before Gilas unleashed a 9-0 blast that Iran would never recover from.
“We were trying to survive the zone defense, but that’s good for us,” national coach Tab Baldwin said. “We need to learn to adapt to game situations. We just haven’t had a lot of time together, so both our weakness against the zone and our inability to adapt quickly really demonstrates that we need time together. We need more games.”
“He (Bauermann) caught us where we were weak. He probably would’ve beaten us if he played zone the whole game, but that’s not going to help him,” Baldwin said. “But it also showed that Iran also wanted to win the game, which is a good thing.”
LA Tenorio finished with only two points but his basket came at the most opportune time.
With the win, Gilas survived a much-needed acid test to gauge how far they have become as a team.
Gilas leaves for Greece on Friday for a three-week training camp in Europe as part of its Fiba Olympic qualifying tournament buildup.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer SPIN
“We were trying to survive the zone defense, but that’s good for us,” national coach Tab Baldwin said. “We need to learn to adapt to game situations. We just haven’t had a lot of time together, so both our weakness against the zone and our inability to adapt quickly really demonstrates that we need time together. We need more games.”
“He (Bauermann) caught us where we were weak. He probably would’ve beaten us if he played zone the whole game, but that’s not going to help him,” Baldwin said. “But it also showed that Iran also wanted to win the game, which is a good thing.”
LA Tenorio finished with only two points but his basket came at the most opportune time.
With the win, Gilas survived a much-needed acid test to gauge how far they have become as a team.
Gilas leaves for Greece on Friday for a three-week training camp in Europe as part of its Fiba Olympic qualifying tournament buildup.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer SPIN
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