PH routs Qatar in Blatche’s return
Credit to Author: JOSEF T. RAMOS, TMT| Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2019 03:39:57 +0000
TEAM Pilipinas banked on the returning Andray Blatche to outgun host Qatar, 84-46, in the sixth and last window of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Asian qualifiers at the Al-Gharafa Sports Club Hall in Doha, Qatar on Friday (Philippine time).
After being suspended three games by the FIBA and being left out of the roster in the second game of the fifth window against Iran, the former National Basketball Association forward delivered an all-around performance of 17 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and two steals against the Qataris.
He was involved in a brawl on July 2, 2018 against Australia in Bulacan for defending his teammates.
Blatche showed the fans he’s back as he nailed all three triples in the third period, resulting in a 31-9 scoring frenzy and tearing Qatar’s defense apart for an insurmountable 62-30 cushion at the start of fourth the quarter.
Besides Blatche, the Filipinos displayed impeccable shooting display beyond the arc as Marcio Lassiter and Paul Lee combined for 7-of-8 shooting from the three-point zone.
All in all, the Philippines connected 15-of-30 attempts from the three-point area while the Qataris struggled, shooting a measly 3-of-17 from the three-point area.
The Filipinos were never threatened after leading by 41-21 at the half. They gave the fans something to cheer abour in the second half as they dominated the game with more dunks and sustained their shooting prowess.
They also issued more assists (21-9), rebounds (43-36), steals (7-5) and blocks (9-2) than Qatar. It was the best performance of the Philippine team under national coach Yeng Guiao who took over from Chot Reyes last year.
“Great team effort in front of an awesome pro-Filipino crowd. Defense carried us tonight and outside shooting put us over the top,” said Gabe Norwood through a text message to The Manila Times.
Lassiter finished with 14 points while Lee added 13 points, seven rebounds and Jayson Castro made 11 points. Japeth Aguilar contributed 10 points, five rebounds and two blocks, while JP Erram tallied six points and four blocks also for Team Pilipinas.
Team Pilipinas remained in fourth place with 6-5 win-loss record — a game behind second placers Iran and Japan which are tied, 7-4. Australia is at No. 1 in Group F with a 10-1 win-loss record after routing Kazakhstan (81-60) recently.
Only the top three teams in Group E and F and the best fourth place squad will qualify for the FIBA World Cup slated from August 31 to September 15 in China.
Erfan Ali Saeed posted only 10 points and the only player for Qatar to hit the double digit mark.
Guiao was ejected with only few seconds remaining for incurring two straight technical fouls because of too much complaining particularly on the hard foul against Thirdy Ravena by Qatar during an alley-hoop play with 28 ticks left in the game.
The collegiate standout Ravena was scoreless in four attempts.
The Philippines will battle Kazakhstan on Sunday in Astana next.
Scores:
Philippines 84 – Blatche 17, Lassiter 14, Lee 13, Castro 11, Aguilar 10, Barroca 7, Erram 6, Rosario 4, Norwood 2, Fajardo 0, Ravena 0, Thompson 0.
Qatar 46 – Saeed 10, Elhadary 7, Fouda 6, Gueye 5, Khalid 5, Al-Rayes 3, Muslic 3, Abdelhaleem 2, Mujkic 2, Mohmeed 2, Avdic 1, Al-Darwish 0.
Quarters: 15-11; 41-21; 62-30; 84-46.
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