TAIPEI: Yeng Guiao still has a grin, even after the Philippines took another tumble Tuesday in the 31st William Jones Cup.
“Of course, it would have been better if we won the game,” Guiao said, minutes after Japan edged the Filipinos, 87-85, at the Hsinchuang Gymnasium here. “But our emphasis coming into the game was to learn as much as we can from the Japanese.
“I guess we know deep in our hearts that we can beat them. There were just lapses on our part, some mental mistakes,” added the firebrand drillmaster who tried different combinations and eased up somewhat after building a 19-point lead in the first half.
‘But we can handle them come (Tianjin) China (in the Fiba-Asia qualifying),” Guiao assured Filipino sportswriters with the Philippines and Japan bracketed in Group A along with Korea and lowly Sri Lanka in the Fiba-Asia eliminations starting in two weeks.
Japeth Aguilar, the youngest member of the team who joined less than a month ago, was almost unstoppable until foul trouble in the third period forced Guiao to give him a break.
The 6-foot-10 former Western Kentucky University mainstay in the US NCAA was at his best, finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds to lead the Filipinos in both departments.
Though reedy compared to the other big men in this eight-nation meet, Aguilar more than held his own, scoring on numerous dunks that the lean crowd enjoyed.
He even had a steal off a Japanese guard at halfcourt and then went all the way to score on a statue-of-liberty slam dunk while taking off just a couple of feet past the free throw line which made it 47-36 early in the third period.
Japan , which rose to 1-2, was led by the 24 points and eight rebounds of boyish-looking 6-foot-10 center Kosuk Takeuchi.
James Yap made a triple with 4:45 left in the second period which gave the Philippines a 36-17 lead, and it looked like easy sailing from there until Guiao shuffled his men endlessly.
Japan also came back because it made its three-point shots in the second half, and this is one problem which Guiao said he would need to address since the Filipinos sort of lost focus on defense and allowed the Japanese good looks from afar.
“The best lesson that we can learn from this (game) is that this (Japanese) team is a good three-point shooting team,” Guiao explained. “If we don’t defend (from the perimeter), we’ll be in trouble. On a match-up basis, we can handle them.”
The Philippines, which will be seeking at least a top three finish in Tianjin, actually had a chance to win the game, but Jay-Jay Helterbrand’s potential game-winning triple was smothered from behind by Shin Kashiwagi as time expired.
Kashiwagi added 12 points.
“We were trying to go for the win,” Guiao said when asked if he called for a triple try instead of forcing a quick field goal. “That play was really for him.”
In a related development, Guiao, together with national team consultant Jong Uichico, and the rest of his coaching staff were to deliberate late Tuesday night on which two players to drop from the roster since Fiba-Asia rules allow for just 12 players in the lineup.
Guiao, who assembled this team in November, did divulge who the possible “drop-outs” would be, but all indications point to one big man being stricken off the list together with one power forward since Aguilar can fill both spots with ease.
The Fiba deadline for the submission of final lineups is set for Wednesday.
Team Philippines clashes with Lebanon and Fadi El-Khatib at 7 p.m. Wednesday night as it tries to improve on a 1-3 record and at least finish in a decent way in this tournament which, Guiao had said before, is just a tune-up for the Philippines.
Japan whittled down that 19-point lead to four at the end of the half for a nip-and-tuck game before Aguilar completed a three-point play with 6:20 left which made it 70-65 for the last Philippine lead.
Kei Iragashi completed a three-point play off Kerby Raymundo with 7.3 seconds left as Japan took an 86-82 lead.
Jared Dillinger, the hard-working Talk ‘N Text guard in the PBA who is looming to be Guiao’s best defensive man, cut that lead down to one with a trey that seemingly came from the parking lot with 4.8 seconds remaining.
And the Philippines earned a chance at winning after Kashiwagi split his free throws off a Helterbrand foul with four seconds left, 87-85, before Guiao called for time and drew that play for Helterbrand.
It was just the second game in the tournament for the new PBA MVP Helterbrand, who has so far missed all nine of his three-point attempts in both outings.
