SEMIFINALS! A STEP TO THE FINAL FINALE!!
some credit goes to:Sid Vicious
Nickname legend
Chung Trieu = The Truth
Poluta'u Brar = Polar Bear
Claude Goolagong = Evonnes Son
Andrew Garachico = Chico Roll
Brad Baldyga = Bald Guy
Roosevelt Feaunati = Ted
Michael Wayne = The Duke
Shane Goodes = Goodsy
Albert Sacks = Hessian Bag
Will Williams = Tic Tac
Burl Barth = Bath Water
Sercombe =Combover
Wang =Wang Chung
Sapwell = Sappy
First hand on the ball for the game was the Dukes who tapped it down to Wang Chung who missed the layup, but a couple of minutes later put the first score on the board when he sunk one of two free throws, the Pilipinas big man Vescathco quickly put his team back in the lead before Ted scored a layup to put the Aussies back in front.
As the quarter progressed it became obvious that the venue, The Kennel, was quite fitting as this game had become a real Dog Fight and 9 minutes in, the scores were 8 all with the Aussies having missed 7 of 9 field goal attempts and only hit 4 of 10 free throws.
The last 2 and a half minutes of the 1st quarter saw the Aussies get out to a nice 6 point lead with Tic Tac hitting 2 of 3, 3 point attempts, Wang Chung getting a lay up, before the Pilipinas closed to within 2 points at quarter time with 2 late baskets making the score 16 to 14 Australias way.
Within 5 seconds of the start of the 2nd quarter, Wayne had been called for his 3rd foul and panic was starting to enter into the Aussies camp, 19 to 10 down on rebounds how would the Aussies fare if the Duke was to foul out?
Luckily Tic Tac was finally in a mind to play basketball to his true potential being defensively sound against both Porter (44K centre) and Cantara (30K SF), whilst continuing to hit points himself and when The Duke found his range first with a 2 pointer, then a 3 and then some free throws followed by a dunk, the Aussies had snuck out to a 9 point lead with 5 minutes left in the 2nd , which could have been 11 points if the Hessian Bag had of hit 2 free throws.
As a good team does the Pilipinas regrouped after a time out and closed the gap back to 6 points before Wang Chung, Ted and then Bath Water missed shots.
A late goal to the Pilipinas saw them close to within 4 points, 33 to 29 at half time in a low scoring game.
At the start of the 3rd quarter
Pilipinas was just on their game, Alfonso Chan did what he can't put on that stat line, He defended as strong as he could and made some breaks of the game that turned the momentum on us. Spear headed by Serana the team was unstoppable in the 3rd quarter everyone was converting and doing their roles. Serana was like a NT player out there post down back to the basket moves, face up jumpers , baseline spins for a dunk .. he just pulled out every move that we have seen before. We outscored them 28 -16 in the third quarter.
On the start of the 4th quarter luck wasn't on our side again as we were struggling to convert baskets.. Luckily for us our captain Ulan Cantara delivered on some steals and blocks that may have been the reason why the Aussies was so hesitant to move the ball around. Vescatcho was just a beast swatting every shot lunge on him making a statement that defense is the key. Pilipinas winning over Australia 84 - 72
FIBA ASIA:Good game coach nice to see you get in the finals..anything you can say?
PH-Nz: Im just glad that we made it, that was a nail biter indeed .. but we aren't done yet we hope to beat China in the finals and have our 2nd Fiba Asia Crown.
FIBA ASIA:Any notables?
PH-Nz:I hope we can defend their bigs(china) and our guard deliver their perfect game..Thank you.. Laban Pilipinas PUSO!