TIANJIN, China: Chinese-Taipei just got to know what the Philippine version of ‘Miller Time’ is all about.
Willie Miller drained a triple that beat the shot clock with 13.7 seconds remaining on Monday to lift the Philippines to a high-wire 77-70 victory over the Taiwanese and into the quarterfinals of the Fiba-Asia World Championship qualifying at the Tianjin gym here.
That shot capped a hot shooting game for the Filipinos, who dropped 15-of-30 triple attempts with James Yap shooting six and Miller going a perfect 5-of-5.
And that was certainly a welcome change of fortune for the Filipinos, who came into the game fresh from a 69-56 loss at the hands of Korea Saturday night, when they shot a horrid 26% from the field to go down in flames and lose the chance to top Group A.
“I felt that it (hot shooting) was coming,” Philippine Team coach Yeng Guiao said. “We’ve waited for this for so long. It’s not because we practiced it yesterday and this morning. The talent to shoot is there.
“I feel relieved, knowing that we already have one foot in the door (of the quarterfinals),” Guiao told Filipino scribes later. “When he (Miller) made that three, it was the point when I knew that the game was already won,” Guiao told Taiwanese media who referred to that game-winning shot by Guiao’s starting guard as ‘Miller Time.’
“Definitely, Reggie Miller is much better looking than this guy,” joked Guiao, as Miller, who was seated beside him in the press room, let out a hearty laugh. “But seriously, he (Miller) was just exceptional today.”
Iran scored a 101-71 victory over Japan and Korea a 78-58 conquest of Kuwait in earlier games that coupled with the Philippine triumph, gave the Filipinos a free ride into the Final Eight with a third-running 2-1 card.
Iran is now at 3-0 and the Koreans 3-1.
The Philippines battles the hulking Iranians at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a victory assuring the Filipinos that they would not be clashing with mighty China in the quarterfinals.
Team Philippines will close out its elimination round assignment Wednesday against lowly Kuwait .
“Aambisyunin natin (talunin) ang Iran bukas (Tuesday),” Guiao said. “If we get to have the same shooting game that we had today, who knows what could happen.”
The Philippines trailed by seven several times early in the first half but waxed hot in the third period, closing it out with six straight triples — three of them coming from the grieving Yap — as the Filipinos took a 62-54 lead into the fourth.
Yap actually completed a 3-point play to touch off that scorching run, and the Philippine defense did not give the Taiwanese gunners any quarters.
The Philippines scouted Chinese-Taipei’s gun so well that it limited the Taiwanese to just 1-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc, and this was one key to the victory, according to Guiao.
“We have a lot of respect for Taipei from what we saw in the Jones Cup, and we made a conscious effort to take away their three-point shot,” said Guiao, who vividly remembers almost every one of the 14 treys that the Taiwanese dropped against the Philippines in an 11-point victory in the Jones Cup.
“The Philippine defense (on the three-point area) was excellent,” said Chinese-Taipei coach Chung Kwang-suk through an interpreter. “The individual skills of the Filipino players are so good.
“Our defense broke down (in that crucial play) and we gave him (Miller) a chance from three-point line.”
Taiwan , though, still came back from that eight-point hole, riding 7-foot Tseng Wen-Ting, who scored at will from the inside.
