Then, they bucked spotty officiating and a hostile crowd by defeating the home team Chinese Taipei 90-78.
That being said, there are three things that are Gilas is doing better than their opponents:
REBOUNDING. Despite being much shorter than the Iranians, the Nationals outrebounded them 35-31, with 13 of those rebounds coming at the offensive end. While Douthit's 11 rebounds was kind of expected, Barroca's 7 rebounds certainly wasn't. Against the just as big Chinese Taipei, the Nationals had a 40-32 advantage, with Douthit collaring 9 rebounds and 3 Gilas players (Barroca, Hontiveros, Lassiter) grabbing 5 each. barroca may end up as the tournament's best rebounding guard, if he keeps this up.
DEFENSE. The Nationals are playing the best team defense in the tournament right now. When your front court blocks 6 shots (Aguilar had 4, Douthit 2 blocks) and your guards block two more (Hontiveros and Barroca blocked shots with the Iranians in fast break mode, making their feat even more impressive), you are playing good "D". Oh, and Iran, as a team, blocked only 1 shot. 7'2" Haddadi didn't block any. Against Chinese Taipei, Gilas blocked only 3 shots (Aguilar 2, Douthit 1) but they changed a lot of shots from the Taiwanese who didn't want to get blocked.
SHOOTING PERCENTAGE. Against Iran, Gilas shot 38% from threepoint land and 44% from the field. Those are gaudy numbers, considering Iran is known for its pressure defense. Iran, on the other hand, shot 17% from 3point land. Ouch! Against Chinese Taipei, Gilas shot 35% from 3point and and a whopping 57% from the field. The host team shot 32% from rainbow country but only 38% from the field.
The performance of Gilas has been more than satisfactory. The Nationals are winning with stifling defense, relentless rebounding and smart shooting. If they keep this up, the Philippines will be the team to beat come September.
No comments:
Post a Comment