By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE ROAD it took had a lot of hurdles but in the end there was no denying the Philippine national men’s hoops team of a spot in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China later this year.
Defeated Kazakhstan, 93-75, in an all-important final game in the qualifiers on Sunday night (Manila time) in Astana, Gilas Pilipinas gave its World Cup push a major boost as it qualified as the best fourth-placed team from the two merged groups in the second round.
The Philippines (7-5) also got a helping hand from an unlikely source in long-time Asian basketball tormentor South Korea, which defeated Lebanon, 84-72, in its last game of the qualifiers also on Sunday.
Lebanon (6-6) and the Philippines, along with Jordan (7-5) and Japan (8-4), were the teams in precarious positions heading into last weekend’s matches. Jordan eventually punched a World Cup ticket by defeating New Zealand, 86-80, in their encounter as well as Japan over Qatar, 96-48.
Naturalized player Andray Blatche showed the way in the Philippines’ determined salvage job against Kazakhstan right from the get-go, finishing with solid all-around numbers of 41 points, 13 rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocks. He also drained five triples.
Other players also stepped for Gilas, especially when Mr. Blatche got his fourth foul in the third period.
Jayson Castro picked up the offense when Mr. Blatche came out, draining back-to-back triples to keep Gilas afloat amid charge-back attempts by Kazakhstan.
Reigning five-time Philippine Basketball Association most valuable player June Mar Fajardo also stepped up as he put pressure in the interior on both ends.
Mr. Castro finished with 15 points, going 4-of-4 from beyond the arc, while Mr. Fajardo had an efficient nine points and seven rebounds in 13 limited minutes off the bench.
Paul Lee and Marcio Lassiter, meanwhile, added eight points apiece.
For its part, Kazakhstan, which finished its qualifiers with a 4-8 card, was led by naturalized player Anthony Clemmons with 27 points on the back of six three-pointers.
“It was an emotional game for us. We knew what was at stake. It’s either win or good home. We competed right from the jump and had some speed bumps along the way but we stuck to it and we’re just happy that we came up with the win,” said Mr. Blatche, who made his Gilas return in the sixth and final window of the qualifiers after missing all of the fifth window, after their victory over Kazakhstan.
“We’re just glad it’s over. We were feeling the pressure prior to this game. We really wanted to go to the World Cup. Dray (Blatche) carried us in the first half. He was on fire and I was kind of worried that the other guys would over-rely on him but in the second half the rest of the guys stepped up. We’re just happy we are going to the World Cup,” Gilas coach Yeng Guiao, for his part, said post-game.
On the road to the World Cup, Gilas had to endure a lot, including multiple personnel changes, suspensions stemming from an infamous brawl with Australia in the third window in July, and the disastrous run in the fifth window in Manila where it lost back-to-back to put itself in a very dangerous position of missing out on the World Cup heading into the final window.
OTHER QUALIFIERS
Apart from the Philippines and Jordan, also qualifying for the FIBA World Cup on Sunday were Russia and Serbia from Europe, Japan and Iran from Asia, and Cote D’Ivoire from Africa. Three other teams are set to be included at the conclusion of the remaining matches on Monday.
Earlier qualifiers were China (host), Angola, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia from Africa; Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Venezuela from the Americas; Australia, New Zealand and South Korea from Asia; and Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Turkey from Europe.
The draw for the 2019 FIBA World Cup is set for March 16. Tournament proper happens from Aug. 31 to Sept. 15.

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