Breakthrough! PHL lands in FIBA Asia top 4

What started off as another alarmingly sluggish start ended in what could've been the biggest victory in Philippine basketball today.

In a match against Chinese Taipei that would decide which advances into the medal round, the Philippine men's basketball team pulled through in the second half behind its now trademark stingy 3rd quarter defense and timely baskets. The end tally of 95-78 in favor of the Filipinos was closer in the first two quarters than expected.

The Taiwanese players all came out with a sense of urgency and energy that our team couldn't match early on and it showed as we trailed by four in the first. Then came JVee Casio's hot shooting in the second quarter which the Taiwanese couldn't stop which gave us a three-point cushion going into the half.

By the third quarter, Marcus Douthit found his rhythm in the post as his teammates started to tighten up on the defensive end and that was pretty much all she wrote for the Taiwanese squad. Despite the energetic plays of "The Beast" Lin Chih Chieh (#12 with the nasty/ugly comb over), there was nothing they could do to stop PHL from executing its plays and finding the open man.

Credit should also go to Ranidel de Ocampo, who came in for Kelly Williams in the first quarter and who I feel was tonight's true game changer.

PHL head coach Rajko Toroman started the same five that beat Japan in Andy Barroca, Chris Lutz, Marcio Lassiter, Kelly Williams and Marcus Douthit. Only problem was, CT had the size to concentrate on Douthit with veteran ace Tseng Wen-Ting manning the pivot and his partner able to sag off Williams who wasn't as comfortable/ confident with his shot.

The minute Toroman replaced Williams with De Ocampo, CT couldn't double on Douthit anymore after realizing that (when focused) RDO is arguably at par with Douthit as far as offensive-skills is concerned (even better when his three ball is going in, which it did). The pinnacle of course is during the 3rd when PHL was threatening to blow the game wide open but couldn't because of CT's aggressiveness.

RDO went to work in the post, backing up a taller and experienced Tseng before going with a soft jump hook that would've made Marlou Aquino proud.

And one.

The play was rather simple, and we were already up by a big margin-- but that single play took the fight out of CT because it caused Tseng his 5th and final foul.

Once that long haired beast was taken out of the equation, well, here's the stats: Douthit finished with a monstrous 37 points and 10, RDO with 18 and 5.

Hell, I didn't know we even had that kind of a post game going into the tournament to begin with!

Next game will be played tomorrow versus giant-killer Jordan which we beat in group play early in the tournament but appears to be peaking at the right time. Hopefully, our guards get a fair shake of the calls and Lassiter and Lutz' defense pulls us through while Douthit takes care of the shaded lane.

We're only two wins away from London, but in my book, making it to the top 4 is already an achievement in itself. The SMART Gilas program is a success and all the heartaches and pains Pinoy basketball fans have endured over the last two or three decades have been erased.

We've waited 20 plus years for this, so let us all celebrate as one nation.

Let's see what happens tomorrow versus Jordan.

Angat Pilipinas!