Gilas Pilipinas books entryway ticket to FIBA World Cup 2019 after crucial win over Kazakhstan

FILE: Former National Basketball Association (NBA) star Andray Blatche led the way for team Philippines with a huge game at 41 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, four steals, and two blocks. (Photo: Gilas Pilipinas/Facebook)

Former National Basketball Association (NBA) star Andray Blatche led the way for team Philippines with a huge game at 41 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, four steals, and two blocks, scoring 17 of those points in the first quarter alone. Jayson Castro also contributed double digits at 15 points, while June Mar Fajardo chipped nine points and seven rebounds. Paul Lee and Marcio Lassiter each contributed eight points. For Team Kazakhstan, it was Anthony Clemmons who shone at 27 points, but it was not enough to lead his team to the win.

In response to their game, the naturalized Blatche shares, “It was a really emotional game for us. It was either win or go home. I feel like we competed from the jump till the end.” Gilas Pilipinas head coach Yeng Guiao added, “Andray carried us on his shoulders in the first half. He was on fire. I was kind of worried that the rest of the guys would over-rely on him. But the second half, the rest of the guys stepped up.”

He concluded, “We’re just glad it’s over. We were feeling the pressure prior to this game. We really wanted to win.” The last time Team Philippines and the Kazakhstan representatives faced each other was in November at the Mall of Asia Arena, but the situation was different then, with the Kazakhs dominating.

Coach Guiao looked back saying, “We have a lot of respect for the Kazakhstan team. They beat us in Manila in a close game. We prepared hard for this game. We tried to remedy the mistakes that we made in Manila, but even then it was still a tough game for us.”

The next time the Guiao-led squad will be seeing action is for the World Cup, where Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, Iran, and host China are also qualified, the games set to begin at the end of August this year.