JAKARTA - It's a loss that felt like a win.
The hastily assembled Philippine quintet from the Philippine Basketball Association, with mere four days of practices with Fil-Am NBA player Jordan Clarkson, put up a gallant stand and nearly felled the Great Wall - China -- in their crucial match in Group D play in the 18th Asian Games men's basketball competition at the GBK Basketball Hall hereTuesday.
It boiled down to the last shot and the Chinese barely avoided a great fall, 82-80, as Paul Lee missed a make-or-break three-point attempt in the closing seconds.
"I can't ask for more from this team. It was a gallant stand. I don't consider it as a loss," said national coach Yeng Guiao of their 80-82 defeat to the Chinese elite squad led by 7-foot-2 Houston Rockets player Zhou Qi.
All is not lost on Team Phl.
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The setback just pushed the Nationals to a tougher matchup in the knockout quarterfinals versus titleholder Korea on Monday.
It could well be another fierce battle with the Korean side made tougher by former PBA import Ricardo Ratliffe.
But the Nationals could well dish out a better showing with more practice sessions with Clarkson.
The Cleveland Cavaliers guard ran a show but was hobbled by cramps at endgame.
"Too bad, he cramped up in the last two minutes. But you can see the fight in him. With the way he played, it speaks a lot of his intelligence," said Guiao.
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From an early 12-point deficit, the Phl side got into the fight and even seized the lead towards the end behind Clarkson and the key contributions Christian Standhardinger, Stanley Pringle and even Poy Erram.
Alas, they couldn't hold on to the lead to the finish.
At 78-75, Gilas could have even made it a five-point game entering the final minute, but Erram missed a shot underneath the basket to the collective moaning of the Philippine crowd.
Three straight charities by Zhou and Zhao Rui in the ensuing plays had the Chinese tying the count at 80 with time down to 44 seconds.
After Gilas fell behind by two at 80-82, Lee was 2-of-6 from beyond the arc when he took matters into his hands with his make-of-break three-point attempt that missed.
But no one was discouraged.
Guiao and his troops remain determined to fight on in the Jakarta Games.(SB)
The scores:
China 82 - Zhou 25, Wang 13, Abudurexiti 12, Zhao 11, Ding 7, Sun 6, Liu 5, Fang 2, Dong 1.
Philippines 80 - Clarkson 28, Standhardinger 18, Pringle 14, Lee 10, Erram 6, Almazan 2, Belga 2, Norwood 0, Ahanmisi 0, Yap 0, Taulava 0.
Quarterscores: 20-12, 36-31, 59-57, 82-80
