Gilas Pilipinas Knocks off Korea to barge into 2013 FIBA Asia Finals

 

The spell of heartbreaking defeats to Korea is finally over.

     Spurred by the capacity-crowd and the millions of Filipinos watching from their homes, Smart Gilas Pilipinas took home an emotional 86-79 win over their South Korean tormentors, to book a slot in the gold medal game of the 2013 FIBA Asia  Championships last night at the MOA Arena.

     

     After some anxious moments in the endgame, the Philippine National Basketball Team managed to impose their will in the final moments of the game, thereby setting a date with Asian superpower Iran in the championship match and also, securing a slot in thw World Cup of Basketball to be held in Spain next year.

     The Gilas battlecry of "Puso!" was clearly personified in this game, especially after main guy Marcus Douthit was injured in the second quarter, prompting guys like Marc Pingris, who finished the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Ranidel De Ocampo to fill the void left by their hustle and end game heroics.

     The Koreans proved to be a tough adversary, led by their 19-year old superstar Kim Ming Goo, who finished with a game-high 27 points, including a sensational 4 point play in the home stretch to push the Koreans to within a point, 73-72 after Gilas led as much as 10 after their third quarter storm.

    But Jimmy Alapag kept the Filipinos' heads above water with a cold-blooded 3 pointer, to up the lead to five points, 84-79 with only 53 seconds remaining to seal the deal in this grudge match.

     The entire Gilas squad showed immense emotions after the hard fought win, most especially head coach Chot Reyes, who was visibly weeping after the game.

 Photo courtesy of: ph.sports.yahoo.com

NBA stars emerge over persistent Smart Gilas

Too much skill,too much power.

The visiting NBA stars led by Kobe Bryant flattened the Smart Gilas National Team 98-89 to get a 2-0 record in their stint here after they also defeated the PBA selection in the "NBA Ultimate Weekend in front of the awed fans at the Araneta Coliseum.

Fresh from their demolishing of the PBA Selection, the NBA stars got off to a hot start capped by numerous highlight plays by Javale McGee and the steady showing by Kobe Bryant with 7 straight points in the first period to get a 28-16 lead.

The domination of the NBA stars continued in the second quarter but Gilas tried to fight back with Dondon Hontiveros hitting back to back threes and Marcio Lassitier drained his own trifecta to cut the lead to a sizable 38-31 before McGee and the rest of the NBA Squad let off a 7-0 bomb to get away again, getting a 55-37 halftime lead.

The lead went up as much as 22 points in the 3rd quarter as the NBA stars stepped it up a notch, utilizing their very evident height advantage with Bryant and Kevin Durant posting up their smaller defenders at the post.

Gilas mounted a last ditch effort led by JV Casio who scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and the national team got to within 10 points after a put back slam by Marcus Douthit with 4 and a half minutes remaining but their effort was put to waste by the NBA stars as their supremacy in the game showed again as they answered by monster dunks to end the game.

Bryant said he is looking forward to playing here again. "It's been a pleasure to play in front of the Filipino fans."