Gilas Pilipinas, South Korea set up Final Four clash

Gilas Pilipinas started out strong and finished off Kazakhstan with a flurry on Friday night, and the Filipinos’ dream of getting back to the World Championship stage is just another win away in the 27th Fiba-Asia Championship.
With Gary David finally providing the offensive spark he is very capable of and practically everyone else contributing on both ends, the Filipinos posted their most lopsided win in the 15-nation tournament, 88-58, before close to 18,000 animated fans at the Mall of Asia Arena.
David came off the bench and snapped out of his long stupor, draining three successive three-pointers that allowed the Filipinos to break free from an 18-7 with several 19-point leads right in the opening period.
A two-time scoring champion in the PBA who has struggled here bigtime, David knocked down 22 points – the most by any Filipino in the tournament thus far – giving the Philippines an extra gun in its last two outings.
Gabe Norwood was also splendid on both ends. More than the 11 points he chipped in, Norwood was the main reason why the Kazakhstan offense never got into its flow as he hounded naturalized point guard Jerri Johnson all game on the way to just eight points and three assists.
Jeff Chan also contributed to that hot early start with two triples, and Jason Castro came off the bench to shoot 13 points while also doing time on Johnson.
“A shooter’s main job is to shoot,” coach Chot Reyes told a packed press room later. “He may miss some. But sooner or later, he will make his shots. I have utmost faith in Gary.
“That’s what he does,” Reyes continued. “His job is to put the ball in the hole.”
Overall, David hit 4-of-6 triples, 3-of-5 two-point attempts and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the line, his free throws coming off successive unsportsmanlike foul calls on Dimitriy Klimov which opened up a 37-point lead.
Klimov, incidentally, was the brightest offensive performer for the Kazakhs, finishing with 14 points. He was the only one in twin digits which the Filipinos allowed.
The win meant that the Filipinos are now in the Final Four in the company of Iran and Chinese-Taipei and South Korea, with whom they will clash for a seat in the Finals Saturday.
It also means that the Philippines now has two chances to nail a berth to the World Championship in Madrid, Spain next year, as even a loss against the Koreans in the Final Four would put them into a game for third place against either Iran or the Taiwanese.
The way the Philippines played allowed naturalized center Marcus Douthit a lot of time on the bench to let a bruised shin heal.
Japeth Aguilar also stepped up and Ranidel de Ocampo was his usual reliable self. Marc Pingris started the game but coach Chot Reyes pulled him out in the second quarter after almost coming to blows with burly Kazakhstan power forward Mikahil Yevstigneyev.
The two figured in a rough sequence under the basket and Pingris retaliated to what he claimed was a head-butt by pushing the Kazakh away. The Filipino refused to be restrained at first and gave Yevstigneyev a poke in the face.
Pingris, whose father-in-law, the famous comedian and television host Vic Sotto is a familiar fixture in the games, was lucky to have been slapped just a technical foul and not thrown out which, under amateur rules, would have meant an automatic suspension in the Philippines’ next game.
And that next game will be against the talented Koreans, the old nemesis of the Filipinos who established early control to pull out a 79-52 victory over the aging Qatari national side.
The Koreans connected from inside and out and never gave the Qataris a chance, racing to a 24-14 lead before playing with complete command the rest of the way.
This match will allow the Filipinos the chance to avenge a 69-68 loss in the semifinals of the Busan Asian Games in 2002.
“Korea plays with a lot of precision,” Reyes said of his Final Four foes. “Of all the teams in this field, I think they play the best defense.”