Filed under: Basketball, International Play | Tags: China, Fadih El Khatib, Fiba, FIBA Asia, Hu Xuefeng, Jackson Vroman, Lebanon, Rony Fahed, Wang Zhizhi, Yi Jianlian
With both teams knotted at 68, China’s back-up point guard Hu Xuefeng shot a three ball at the top of the key that is well-contested by Lebanon’s Rony Fahed.
Well, that’s what I saw and that was what the replay showed- a nice contest from the Lebanese guard that forced the shot to miss.
Unfortunately for Lebanon, a referee blew the whistle, indicating a foul against Fahed which should’ve been a no-call scenario.
Why? because again, Fahed did a great job on putting up his both hands to bother Xuefeng’s shot. It was a clean contest. Credit the good defense for Christ’s sake. Fahed’s hands were just right up there and when it came down to the body, still no contact. If you have watched what happened (whether on your TV sets or live in the Tianjin Gym) clearly, it was supposedly a non-call.
If Mr. Whistleblower made the right call, and just decided to stop blowing (pun intended), with still much time left (a little over a minute) and with the momentum in Lebanon’s favor, Fadih El Khatib and his boys may have pulled off a win that would leave more than 1 billion Chinese (including Jackie Chan and Jet Li) people stunned.
But instead, Xuefeng went on to sink two of three free-throws that eventually gave his team the lead for good at 72-70.
Lebanon, who looked robbed due to the errand call, still had the chance to tie but Brian Feghali surprisingly went for a three-point shot from way downtown that barely grazed the rim.
Though Lebanon still had a chance in the end, the Refs still decided the outcome of the game. Why didn’t they just let the players play, you know what I mean? The contest may have gone into OT where anything can happen. It’s a freaking knockout game and it really sucks for it to end that way.
Call it ‘breaks of the game’ but, it just broke a somewhat frantic finish awaiting to happen.
Anyway, China went on to win by four, 72-68 capped by the two free-throws from Nets forward Yi Jianlian, who finished with 18 points. Former NBA player Wang Zhi Zhi topscored for the Chinese squad with 20 points.
Lebanon was led by their big man, Jackson Vroman, who had a game-high 27 points.
China advances to the title game as they look to regain there ground as Asian Champions when they battle defending Asian champion Iran while, Lebanon will continue to hope for a non-call in the end game as it tries to bounce back against Jordan for a third place finish.
With the win, China and Iran are officially VIP’s come 2010 at the World Championships in Turkey, while whoever wins the battle for third will merit the remaining invitation for a crack at the World tilt.
Filed under: Basketball, International Play | Tags: BTV, Fiba, Qualifiers, RP Team, SBP, Team Pilipinas, Wild Card
I’m sure you’ve heard the bad news, folks. Team Pilipinas met its demise in the FIBA Asia qualfiers through a heartbreaking loss over Jordan earlier today. But for those hopefuls, it might not be a total dead end for the Philippines.
Here’s why. First reported here at Triangle Offense.
One more chance for RP Team for Istanbul 2010?
by Jeremaiah M. Opiniano
FOR Filipino hoop fans recently dejected with the heartbreak in Tianjin, China: Mark the dates December 12 and 13, 2009.
On those two days, the central board of FIBA (International Basketball Federation) will meet in Istanbul, Turkey to determine four countries that will be the wild-card entries for the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championships.
Wild-card slots are given to countries that did not make it in the regional qualifying tournaments like the recent FIBA-Asia tournament in Tianjin, says the 2010 Turkey tournament official website, http://turkey2010.fiba.com.
Any FIBA Zone —Africa, Asia, Europe, and Americas— can be given a maximum of three wild card entries.
Filed under: Basketball, International Play | Tags: Fiba, Hamed Haddadi, Iran, Memphis Grizzlies, Miller, RP Team, Yap
Reigning Asian champion Iran proved to be too much as they hacked out an 88-78 win,despite RP’s 16 triples.
Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi powered his way to a double-double of 21 points and 16 boards for Iran, who just handed Team Pilipinas its second loss of the tournament.
RP team, meanwhile, went a manageable 16-for-43 from downtown.
Miller and Yap carried their momentum from last game to pace the Filipinos with 14 points apiece.
Asian powerhouse Iran built an insurmountable 24-point lead 38-14, in the early part of the second period.
The Nationals, however, surged back courtesy of three straight three-balls from Miller and Dillinger to pull within nine, 82-73, in the final four minutes of the contest.
But that was as close RP team would get.
Powerade Team Pilipinas fall to 3-2 and is still search for that one win to finally seal a quarterfinals berth.
Filed under: Basketball, International Play, Philippine Basketball Association | Tags: Asia, Chinese Taipei, Fiba, Helterbrand, James Yap, Joakim Noah, Mick Pennisi, Miller, Philippines, Raymundo, RP Team, Thoss, Tseng Wen Ting
RP Team lights up with 15 money ball conversions.
Hot-shooting Powerade Team Pilipinas bounced back with a pulsating 77-70 victory over Chinese Taipei after suffering its first setback in the hands of South Korea.
Karate Kid James Yap regained his shooting touch to finish with 23 points while Willie Miller waxed hot with 17 points on 5-for-5 from downtown including the dagger with only 13 ticks left in the game.
Both stepped up big time after a lackadaisical game the last time around.
Yap’s moment came in the second half where he torched whoever is guarding him with his patented three-point shooting to help us gain our composure back.
RP led by as much as eight points at the end of the third thanks to a buzzer beating triple by Jay Jay Helterbrand, who finally woke up to contribute eight points.
However, number 11 of Chinese Taipei, Joakim Noah and their fleet footed guards trimmed it quickly to two points, 62-60. Tseng Wen ting aka Joakim Noah finished with a team-high 21 points before running out of fumes in the last period.
The teams went at it and other players from our team joined the shooting parade, including Sonny Thoss and Kerby Raymundo who each scored timely points to keep the Taiwanese at bay.
Thoss had a decent game, who I must say should keep on converting his mid-range stabs rather than taking it inside against heftier defenders.
On the flip side, co-captain Kerby Raymundo has not been in his usual form. I wonder why? Because he is one of our players besides Jimmy Alapag who really played well back in the Japan qualifiers.
Cyrus Baguio, meanwhile, continues to be a revelation. A lot has questioned this move by Guiao and the staff of the RP squad of putting Baguio in the RP line-up instead of Mac Cardona or maybe Don Don Hontiveros who is more of a shooter.But Baguio has silenced all the doubters with his uncanny ability to score on the open court and also the way he’s been able to thread the defense of the opposing teams.
So, Team Pilipinas improves to 3-1 and I tell you, this is a good win for our team, considering the teams we have beaten so far, I mean yeah, Japan and Taiwan may not be the teams entrenched at the helm in Asia but they still play comely basketball.
Plus, beating teams such as Japan and Chinese Taipei gives our players more confidence and a more important momentum heading into the major tiff against ‘Great Khali’ Haddadi and his Iranian powerhouse squad, tomorrow at 11am.
As for now, credit RP’s three-point shooting that is gradually improving day by day.
And before I end, I just want to say that Mick Pennisi, plays no kind of defense (no weak side help, no one-on-one D or whatsoever), he’s slow, he has no lift, he doesn’t get enough rebounds as a man in the middle, come on, what does this guy do if his three-ball is not falling???
Anyway, just hit us up if you find something that Mick does (on the court).
Triangle Offense 