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RATCHABURI, Thailand—The Philippine team handily beat
Thailand, 96-76, Monday to formally complete its mastery
of the seventh Southeast Asia Basketball Association (Seaba)
Men’s Championship at the Ratchaburi Gym here.
The win
was one the Nationals could have lost, but they still
played with some of their usual fire to wind up
unscathed after the five-nation tournament and
officially get the job done of assuring the country’s
grand return in the international arena.
Despite
a relatively trouble-free passage to the Fiba Asia
tournament on July 28 to August 5, however, RP coach
Chot Reyes admitted his all-pro team still has plenty of
room for improvement.
“We
didn’t even have the game to beat Chinese Taipei today,”
he said, already figuring out ways to make his team more
competitive for the Asian tournament in Tokushima,
Japan, that features such regional powers as
South Korea
and Lebanon.
The time
wasted while the country served out the Fiba-imposed
two-year suspension is now taking its toll on his team,
added Reyes.
“Our
30-month plan from January 2005 is now reduced to a
four-month plan starting on March 12,” he pointed out.
“We
gotta get game in two months to beat the Koreans and the
like. We have to make double efforts and essentially
we’re cramming.”
He also
mentioned
Alaska’s Willie Miller, Sta. Lucia Realty’s Kelly Williams and
US-based Gabe Norwood as those being primarily
considered to reinforce the team that is set to start
practicing anew on June 4 and will go to a training camp
in
Belgrade, Yugoslavia, on June 12.
“We’ll
add at least two more guys to our pool and have them
travel with us,” said Reyes.
Danny
Seigle had 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the team
bankrolled by San Miguel Corp. and supported by the
Philippine Basketball Association. Mark Caguioa added 18
points and Asi Taulava scored 16 points and grabbed 13
rebounds.
Indonesia
defeated Singapore, 89-67, earlier to secure the
region’s second slot to the Asian tilt.
The
Indons also gave the Nationals free passage to Japan by
beating the Thais, 65-55, Sunday evening.
Still,
the Filipinos played Monday as if all the marbles are at
stake and this perhaps contributed to the tightness that
was apparent in the early goings as the youth-laden
Thais raced to an early 10-2 lead.
Once the
Filipinos got their game going, however, there was no
stopping them in posting as much as two 25-point leads,
the last at 75-50.
Then the
Filipinos let their guards down, enabling the hosts,
wildly cheered on by students from nearby schools, to
unleash an 11-0 run opening the fourth and trim the gap
to just 66-77.
There
was no real concern, however, as Caguioa and Jimmy
Alapag drained a triple each to spark a 16-6 counter
capped by Seigle’s two-handed reverse dunk that made it
a safe 93-72 count, only 1:36 to go. Final Standings:
Philippines 4-0, Indonesia 3-1, Malaysia 2-2, Thailand
1-3, Singapore 0-4. |
