Gilas-Pilipinas downs Kazakhstan 98-92

This one was a lot better, although Gilas-Pilipinas might have paid a hefty price for it.
The Filipinos, gearing up for the FIBA-Asia Men's Championship on Aug. 1, nipped a sleek-shooting Kazakhstan side Friday night, 98-92, in the last of their tuneup matches that saw injuries to Jason Castro and Ranidel De Ocampo at the Araneta Coliseum.
“That’s the problem with games like this one, you tend to go all out and this is what happens,” coach Chot Reyes said, referring to the ankle sprains that Castro and De Ocampo – both vital cogs in the squad – sustained in the friendly match.
“We just hope it’s not that serious and that both could recover in a week’s time.”
In the opener on Thursday, the Filipinos will first lock horns with Saudi Arabia in Group A action of the preliminaries before they take on Jordan the day after and then the dangerous Chinese-Taipei squad on Saturday.
Reyes said that they will spend the final days before the tournament preparing for the Jordanians and the Taiwanese.
“We are not overlooking Saudi Arabia, but we will spend the last days of our training preparing for Jordan and Chinese Taipei,” Reyes said after his wards went 12-5 overall in tuneup matches in more than two months counting stints in Lithuania and New Zealand.
Jimmy Alapag again stepped up in the crunch for the Filipinos, coming in for Castro with 1:36 to play to make free throws and shove Gilas-Pilipinas ahead to stay, 88-87.
Jeff Chan then opened up a four-point lead by converting a triple off an assist from Marcus Douthit as the Filipinos capped a much better effort compared to a 12-point yet very unimpressive win over a PBA Selection on Wednesday.
“We go back to practice tomorrow and take Sunday off,” Reyes said. “It will then mostly be mental and sharpening for us until the opening.”
The Filipinos could potentially end up clashing with Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals of the Fiba-Asia joust, the reason why the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas worked very hard to arrange this exhibition match and get a glimpse of the Kazakhs.
“In my books, Kazakhstan is one of the stronger teams in the tournament,” Reyes said. “We always have a tough time with them, that’s why we chose not to group with them in the preliminary round.”
“I’m always worried about them, especially (shooting center Anton) Ponomarev,” Reyes explained.
The Nationals clamped down on Ponomarev in the second half, holding the talented Kazakh to just two of his 16 points. Jerry Johnson, a naturalized guard, paced Kazakhstan with 17 markers.
Ponomarev was 4-of-5 from three-point range, leading Kazakhstan to a 53-51 edge at halftime.