Turnovers, foul trouble hound Gilas Pilipinas

MANILA, Philippines (2nd UPDATE) - Gilas Pilipinas' hopes of making it to the Rio Olympics were dashed Wednesday night by New Zealand, as the Tall Blacks outlasted the Filipinos, 89-80, in their Pool B game at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Philippines, who lost to France 84-93 on Tuesday, exited the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament without a single victory, and became the first team to be eliminated from semifinals contention in the competition.

A slow start, numerous turnovers, and foul trouble hampered Gilas' efforts, and a blistering start to the fourth quarter was not enough as the Filipinos failed to complete the comeback.

"Very difficult," Gilas coach Tab Baldwin said after the game. "We needed to play better against a very good New Zealand team. We went out against a tough unit tonight and we didn't play our best basketball."

"That's on us, and that's something that we have to answer for," he added.

The Filipinos were down 53-60 heading into the fourth quarter, before Andray Blatche sparked a comeback that fired up the nervous MOA Arena crowd. His three-pointer made it a two-point game, 58-60, fanning Gilas' hopes of a rally.

After a bucket from Thomas Abercrombie made it a four-point game anew, Blatche again took charge, gliding to the basket for a lay-up that made it 60-62 with still 7:40 left. Gilas had a golden chance to tie or take the lead when Abercrombie flubbed a jumper in New Zealand's next possession, but on an isolation play, Blatche misfired on a potential go-ahead three-pointer.

New Zealand responded with five unanswered points to go back up seven, 67-60, with 6:06 left, and though Blatche and the Filipinos kept plugging away, their turnovers allowed the Tall Blacks to claim easy baskets in transition.

Back-to-back turnovers led to easy lay-ups by New Zealand, with Abercrombie putting the visitors up 13-points, 78-65, with 2:35 to go to match their biggest lead of the game.

"It pains me to be in this situation," a subdued Gabe Norwood told reporters after the game. "New Zealand came out and played a hell of a game. Their guards played well, their bigs played well, and we just didn't have any answers tonight in a time where we really needed them."

Heartbreaking end

It was a heartbreaking end to what started out as a promising campaign for the Philippines. They started out well against France on Tuesday, lost by only nine points against the No. 5 team in the world, and were still confident heading into Wednesday night's must-win game against New Zealand.

However, they had no answer for Tai and Corey Webster, and with Isaac Fotu and Abercrombie also contributing, the Tall Blacks simply had too many weapons firing on Wednesday night.

Tai Webster had 25 and Corey added 13, while Fotu had 17 points and Abercrombie, 13.

Blatche finished the game with 30 points and seven rebounds to lead the Filipinos' charge. Castro added 13 points, and June Mar Fajardo and Jeff Chan each scored 11. But Gilas again had too many turnovers, committing 14 miscues, and their less-than-stellar defense allowed New Zealand to convert 48% of their attempts.

New Zealand will face off against France on Thursday night, with the winner taking the top spot in Pool B and going on to play the second-ranked team in Pool A.

Gilas, meanwhile, will have to go back to the drawing board.

"We competed well in this tournament," Baldwin said. "But we don't expect to come to big tournaments and compete. We expect to come and win and progress, especially when we're at home. We have to sit back and analyze why that didn't happen, and we have to fix it."

"Congratulations to New Zealand," added Baldwin, who has previously coached the New Zealand team in his well-traveled coaching career.

Slow start

Unlike Tuesday night, when Gilas raced to a 10-point lead against France, they started off slowly in their game against New Zealand. Blatche missed all three of his first quarter field goals, and it was only Jeff Chan's sniping that allowed the Philippines to keep in step.

Chan started off 3-of-3 from the field, with his third field goal a three-pointer that tied the game at 13-all.

Gilas took its first lead of the game, 17-15, off a reverse lay-up by Troy Rosario with 3:28 to go in the first following strong hustle play from Gabe Norwood and Ray Parks.

It turned out to be Gilas' lone lead of the game, and it lasted for all of 14 seconds. Tai Webster tied the game with a lay-up and a free throw by Fotu with around a minute left gave New Zealand back the lead.

"We knew we were gonna be in for a tough battle," New Zealand coach Paul Henare said. "We knew it was gonna be a tough game… But I thought we did a good job of weathering the storms."

New Zealand took a 21-17 lead at the end of the first quarter, and threatened to pull away in the second period as Gilas found itself in penalty situation with still 6:32 to go in the frame. The Tall Blacks led by nine points at several instances in the quarter, but Castro's remarkable effort helped keep Gilas afloat.

After incurring two fouls in the opening period, Castro checked back in midway through the second and quickly went to work, scoring five straight points to make it 24-28 with 4:21 to go. Triples from Tai Webster and Fotu kept New Zealand ahead, however, and Gilas entered the break down seven points, 31-38.

The lead ballooned to as much as 13 points, 50-37, off a lay-up by New Zealand captain Mika Vukona. But the Filipinos steadily worked their way back, thanks in part to the efforts of June Mar Fajardo who battled his way inside for putbacks and and-1 plays.

The Filipinos cut it down to six points, 50-56, off a free throw by Ray Parks with 3:14 to go, but their defense was still lacking and allowed for open lay-ups from the New Zealand players. The Webster brothers, Tai and Corey, were particularly effective, scoring easy inside points while also waxing hot from the perimeter. A triple by Corey snuffed a Gilas rally and put New Zealand up 59-50 with less than three minutes left in the third.

Gilas opened the final quarter with five straight points, firing up the crowd and energizing themselves, but their rally again fell short, much as it did against France.

"Whenever those guys are stepping up against Andray Blatche, they're a very tough side," said Henare. "But I thought that we stayed composed. They made a couple of runs, but we stayed focused, and we made a couple of plays to stop their runs, and I was very proud of them for doing that."

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