Philippine Team Update
FIGHT MARS HALTED RP-LEBANON SCRIMMAGE
The closed-door scrimmage between Powerade-Team Pilipinas and the Lebanese national team came to an abrupt halt early in the second half yesterday after Arwind Santos and Dallas-born Brian Feghali came to blows with the Middle East squad comfortably ahead, 48-34.
Rain-induced slippery conditions at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center in Quezon City hastened the cancellation of the tune-up between the two teams bound for the 25th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship in Tianjin, China next week.
Lebanese head coach Dragan Raca, a Yugoslav based in Cyrus, walked over to RP coach Yeng Guiao – after recent addition Daniel Faris slipped and fell hard on the moist floor – and sought his opinion.
On confirmation from game officials, including a Lebanese referee, that both teams risk injury by proceeding, the two coaches agreed to call it off.
Guiao appeared disappointed the scrimmage had to be cut short.
“We would’ve wanted to finish it and probably get a better view of the progress of the team. But it happened and it’s beyond our control,” said Guiao, who expressed concern over the Nationals’ continued outside shooting woes.
“We had been shooting well in practice these last few days and I thought we would do better,” he said after watching the RP team fall behind following a good start. “Nobody stepped up.”
Defensively, the Nationals also found themselves deep in the woods, barricaded in pursuit of their men by huge, immovable screens set by the Lebanese, their frontline made even bigger by the addition of 6-foot-10 Matt Freije and the 6-foot-9 Faris, a US NCAA player.
“It’s really tough to get through 200-pound picks and that gave them a lot of good looks,” said Guiao. “We need to find solutions to mismatches in every position.”
The Nationals have two more games left in their week-long break between the William Jones Cup tournament in Taipei and the FIBA Asia, the qualifying tournament to the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, before they leave on Aug. 4.
“We’ll practice tomorrow and go through our scouting report on South Korea,” Guiao said. “Then we’ll be lifting weights after another practice on Monday.”
James Yap, son in-law of former President Corazon C. Aquino, who passed away at dawn yesterday, was absent and will be joining his RP teammates Wednesday, the eve of the opening game with Sri Lanka.
Guiao brushed off the altercation that erupted between Santos and Feghali, who drilled five 3-point shots against the Philippines in Taipei.
“Wala naman yon,” he said.
Feghali reacted angrily after getting bumped by Santos inside the paint in front of the Lebanon basket. The Lebanese threw a punch and kicked, missing both times.
“Di siya tumama,” confirmed Santos, who appeared to have connected with a punch and with fingers jabbed at Feghali’s chest.
Players from both teams stepped in and the two eventually shook hands after the practice game was halted.
“The Philippines remains a dangerous team,” said Raca in thickly-accented English. “I think they will play better with every game.”
The two teams are not slated to see each other until after the preliminaries when the top eight teams meet in the quarterfinal round.
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