Smart Gilas Pilipinas edge out Singapore Slingers 70-67 in second pre-season match

Story by Erwin Wong/Red Sports. Photos by Les Tan/Red Sports.

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - The word on the Smart Gilas Pilipinas team was that they were all about skills, quickness and hustle.

Although they displayed all that and more, including several rim-rattling, crowd-pleasing dunks, it took a last-ditch defensive play from point guard Mark Barroca to prevent his Singapore Slingers counterpart Al Vergara from setting up the game-tying shot at the death.

Smart Gilas Pilipinas edged out the Slingers 70-67 in a fast-paced Challenge Series game that was chockful with excitement all 40 minutes. The match was the second of four pre-ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) season matches for the Slingers. Their first was a 93-85 win over the Coca-Cola Tigers of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) last Friday, and while that victory was achieved against an experienced, well-grounded side, this match was a different kettle of fish.

The Smart Gilas Pilipinas squad are a national developmental team whose ultimate goal is to reach the 2012 Olympics in London. Led by former Iranian men’s basketball team coach Rajko Toroman, the Smart Gilas consisted of standout collegiate and amateur players like Barroca and the twin towers of 2009 PBA Number 1 draft pick Japeth Aguilar and former Los Angeles Lakers' player CJ Giles, who, standing at 6 feet 11 inches, is an inch taller than Aguilar.

And it was Giles who provided the highlight moment of the match late in the third quarter, with the game tied. The centre, who led Smart Gilas with 21 points and 11 rebounds, rose high above the Slingers defence to dunk an alley-oop pass from Barroca to hand his team the lead at 52-50. After the Slingers immediately turned it over, Giles slammed home a teammate's miss with aplomb to double the Smart Gilas' lead, and send the hugely-partisan Philippine crowd into raptures.

The crowd were at it right from the tip-off, as the Slingers looked to be overrun by the Smart Gilas team during the opening exchanges. The home team started with Kyle Jeffers, Pathman Matialakan, Hong Wei Jian, Al Vergara and Marcus Ng, the latter being the one change from the previous starting five, taking Lim Wai Sian's spot.

Despite the seemingly-consistent lineup, coach Frank Arsego said, "There is no starting five yet. We are still putting some players in and changing around, and seeing who can do what."

What the Slingers did was get into an early deficit – as they did in the previous match against the Tigers - and then climb right back out of it. The Smart Gilas sprinted and hustled their way to a quick 8-2 lead, with Aguilar and Giles splitting the points, and the Slingers looked both out of depth and sorts as they struggled to keep pace with their opponents. They racked up the turnover count as well, with Wei Jian accounting for four first-quarter mishandlings.

With the Smart Gilas team and the crowd smelling blood, the Slingers dug in and played to their strengths. With their shooters yet to find their range, they went to the low block of Jeffers and Pathman for points in the paint.

Vergara's trey, his solitary one of the night, gave the Slingers their first lead at 13-12, and then Wai Sian completed a gritty 11-0 run with a pull-up jumper for a 5-point, 17-12 lead.

Jeffers then made the second period his own. Tormenting the Smart Gilas post defenders time and again, the big 6 feet 9 inch American scored 12 of his 20 points here in a dazzling array of post moves, long jumpers and even an alley-oop dunk from a Vergara feed.

Aguilar scored six points in the period to keep the Smart Gilas close, but the Slingers led by as many as eight, the largest lead in the game. Jeffers' points, as well as contributions from Pathman and Wei Jian, who converted a double-clutch layup which seemed to defy gravity, provided the impetus for a 35-31 Slinger lead at half-time.

The second 20 minutes was a cagey affair, as both teams neither built a substantial lead nor held one for an extended period of time. There were nine lead changes and five tied scores alone in the half, which the Smart Gilas team dominated to overturn the half-time deficit.

Although Aguilar was held scoreless in the third period, Giles, Joseph Casio, Chris Tiu and Marnel Baracael stepped up to score the points for their team. Baracael scored all his seven third-quarter points in a 7-0 run which gave Smart Gilas a 43-37 lead as the Slingers seemingly fell into a rut.

But once again, the Slingers came right back at their opponents. A reticent Wei Jian, who had not taken a jump shot yet in the game, scored 10 of the Slingers' next 13 points, including two three-pointers. He said, "Coach told me not to worry (about his 4 first quarter turnovers), and to just keep taking shots."

Wong Wei Long, who missed the previous game due to his enlistment into National Service, added another trey as the Slingers tied the game at 50, before Giles came up with his double-dunk delight for the Filipino fans.

Barroca's jumper off an excellent screen from Giles made it 58-52 at the start of the final period, but the Slingers chipped away at the deficit once again, and led 61-60 after three minutes of fourth-quarter play when Vergara made one of two technical free throws after Smart Gilas were deemed to have made an improper substitution which resulted in them having six players on court for several moments.

This left Pilipinas coach Toroman delirious with rage, as he remonstrated at length with the officials. The Serbian was once again absolutely livid with three minutes to go when, with his charges trailing 64-65, the Slingers' Jamal Brown seemed to commit a goaltending violation which was not called by the officials. The following play went out of bounds off a Smart Gilas player, handing possession over to the Slingers, and leaving Toroman and his team quite incensed.

Boos rang down from the Philippine section of the crowd, but they soon turned to cheers when Aguilar made a jumper which gave his team the lead for good, and again when Tiu's acrobatic layup made it 70-67 to the Smart Gilas with 50.2 seconds to play.

Jeffers used up the clock on the ensuing inbounds play, but missed his hook shot after good team defence from the Smart Gilas. They then had a chance to put the game to bed, but Marcus Ng nearly stole the ball off Barroca, whose team then failed to get a shot off in time as they committed a shot-clock violation with 5.5 seconds left.

Vergara brought the ball up-court as the Slingers prepared for a game-tying three, but Barroca swiped the ball away from behind as time expired on a game that left spectators and players alike breathless.

"Our main aim was to take away their athleticism," said Arsego on the Smart Gilas team. "These guys are the future of Asian basketball. With their team structure and play, ball movement and screens, this team is hard to defend."

Despite the close loss, Arsego felt his charges could hold their heads high. He said, "The Smart Gilas had that third quarter run, but we kept it close till the end with big plays. We were just a little tap away from winning the game. I'm proud of the boys, to put up that sort of performance against this team."

When asked about the aspect of play that the Slingers could improve on, Vergara replied that they could do better on their transition defence, and Wei Jian echoed his point guard's thoughts, saying, "We did not defend hard enough, nor run back fast enough during their (Smart Gilas) fast breaks."

The Slingers will play their next match of the Challenge Series against the Barangay Ginebra Kings, one of the most popular PBA teams. The match will take place on Wednesday, September 30 at 8pm, and will be played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Scoring by quarter:
Singapore Slingers v Smart Gilas Pilipinas
1st Q: 17-14
2nd Q: 18-17
3rd Q: 17-25
4th Q: 15-14
Final Score: 67-70

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