TIANJIN, China: It was a disappointing win, if there ever was one.
Not playing with the same intensity that it came up with in its first four games, the Philippines on Wednesday fashioned out an 85-71 decision of lowly Kuwait to seal its place in the quarterfinals of the Fiba-Asia World Championship qualifying tournament.
And this did not escape coach Yeng Guiao, who openly berated his players on the Tianjin gymnasium floor and in the locker room afterwards for playing soft against a team it could have put away earlier and with a lot of ease.
“We don’t want to put out judgment (in games) just if we won or lost,” Guiao said “I am very disappointed even if we won. This is our worst game in terms of the effort we put in (to the game). I don’t think this is the best way to set up for a quarterfinal game.
“We’re just hoping that this is the lowest it could get, because we need all the intensity we can get for our next game.”
That next game would be against Jordan in the first round of the KO stages Friday, with the Filipinos not only hoping to erase the stigma of a 31-point loss in the Jones Cup, but also a setback in Tokushima two years ago which doused all Philippine hopes of making the Olympics in Beijing last year.
Mighty China topped Group F and put Jordan in the way of the Filipinos after an 89-83 victory later Wednesday night, getting 29 points and 18 rebounds from New Jersey Net Yi Jianlian and 20 points from Wang Zhi Zhi.
It was one of the best-fought games thus far in the tournament, with the Jordanians having one shot at forging a deadlock entering the waning seconds until Yi plucked down a key defensive board and fed Wang for a three-point play on the other end.
“I think we have a better chance at beating Jordan than China,” Guiao said. “But we have to play really, really well and hope that we also get lucky at the same time.”
The Philippines had a 19-point lead in the third period but saw this whittle cut down to as few as nine in the dying minutes with Kuwait just refusing to fold up, knowing that its foes were playing half-hearted the whole game.
“We did not play hard today,” Philippine Team forward Kerby Raymundo said after shooting 10 points and grabbing three rebounds before leaving the game because of fouls with under two minutes left.
“We’re not happy with the way we played. But it will not happen again.” Asi Taulava started hot and made 10 of his 12 points in a no-relief stint in the first period. He also went on to snare down 10 boards for his first double-double of the tournament.
Cyrus Baguio, the most consistent scorer for the Philippines here, tossed in 14 points with Jared Dillinger also hitting 10 in his best offensive game. Guiao rested center Mick Pennisi, who is still nursing an aching back.
Guiao was upset because two Kuwaitis who are both small for the positions they play in compared to their Filipino counterparts — Rashed Alrabah and Mohamad Ashkanani — were able to hit 20 each.
Shayee Saeed chipped in with 12 for Kuwait .
The Philippines is assured of finishing at least eighth place, and one victory in the quarterfinals would seal at least fourth place for this squad that was assembled only last November,
A loss on Friday against the Jordanians would put the Filipinos in a consolation round battle with fifth the highest spot at stake.
“That’s already an achievement in itself,” Guiao said, referring to eighth place. “But we are prepared to push this as far as we can. Things can happen and we’ll be there. We would need a miracle to pull it off, but we’re not giving up.”
