MANILA, 9 June 2005 — This time, San Miguel Beer-Pilipinas made sure there won’t be any wilting down the stretch.
The Filipinos came up with a big finishing kick to beat Kuwait, 96-84 at the Araneta Coliseum and end their FedEx 16th FIBA-Asia Champions Cup campaign on a bright note.
SMB-RP thus wound up fifth in the 10-team field, the highest finish of a Philippine team since the Tanduay ballclub also finished fifth in the same tournament in 1997.
The Nationals looked ready to coast along to victory as they went up 73-64 early in the final period. But the Kuwaitis suddenly found their range from afar. With Yahee Albhar and Osamah Mubarak on the firing end, Kuwait was back in the game in no time at all.
Kuwait grabbed the upperhand, 77-76, with an Albhar three-pointer, time down to 4:37. But the Filipinos won’t be denied victory this time. Romel Adducul put SMB-RP back on top right in the next play and Willie Miller ignited a 10-2 run that broke the Kuwaitis’ backs and put the Filipinos out of reach at 90-81 with barely 58 seconds remaining.
Mark Caguioa paced the Nationals with 14 points. Alapag added 13 points and nine rebounds. Mubarak topsored for Kuwait with 18 markers.
Meanwhile, a day after getting his first formal dose of Asian basketball competition, Chot Reyes is back preparing for the future.
Viewing tapes, jotting down notes, consulting assistants, the 42-year-old national coach was up again at the job he has grown accustomed to for nearly half a year now, with nothing in mind but success.
Placing fifth in the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup could not be considered as a failure by his standards. But Reyes walked out of the Araneta Coliseum Sunday knowing his team has nothing to be ashamed off.
“We played five straight games, we won three, and lost two. We were matched up against teams with good imports, and we lost close games. As I’ve said, this is a learning process, and we did learn many things in this tournament,” Reyes said.
They gained precious experience. And Reyes, along with the rest of the Nationals, will need plenty of it if they want to make an impact in the ABC Men’s Championships in Doha, Qatar, this September. But before he could even think of making a good showing in the qualifying tournament for the World Basketball Championships next year in Japan, Reyes will have to go through a set of high-caliber competitions designed, again, to harness the Nationals’ all-around game.
Next month, the Philippines plunges into action in two tournaments ` the July 16-21 Las Vegas Summer Basketball League, and then the William Jones Cup two days later in Chinese Taipei. It’s a busy schedule, but Reyes doesn’t mind.
From hereon, the national training pool will practically have no respite even if their mother ball clubs in the ongoing PBA Fiesta Conference doesn’t make it to the semifinals. In fact, it’s going to even harder, but much more worthy. But pro players aren’t his only concern. From June 19-26, he again embarks on a mission to carry the Philippines to the crown in the SEABA Championships, a gathering of Southeast Asian nations vying for two slots for the ABC.
