Players compete during the Men's semifinal of Basketball between China and Philippines at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
HANGZHOU, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Justin Brownlee's 3-pointer in the final seconds helped the Philippines knock out defending champion China 77-76 in the men's basketball semifinal at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Wednesday.
Brownlee took a game-high 33 points, including making seven shots behind the arc. Scottie Thompson scored 13 points and June Mar Fajardo added 8.
China's guard Zhao Rui scored a team-high 18 points, and young forward Zhu Junlong and guard Hu Mingxuan added 10 apiece.
Taking advantage of the Philippines' 10 turnovers and deploying long passes, China generated an 18-point lead at the halftime but failed to cling on to it.
The Philippines, who stunned China by a margin of 21 points just a month ago at the FIBA World Cup, only kept guard Thompson and Jaymar Perez, center Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar into its Asian Games squad, but Brownlee's accession still put the Gilas as a strong title contender.
The newly assembled Gilas, without its naturalized shooting guard Jordan Clarkson, made 10 turnovers in the first half, while bouncing back in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to four points with its tough defense and 3-pointers.
Even though Du Runwang's crucial shot behind the arc and Hu's layup temporarily held China's situation, Brownlee's long-range shots went unstoppable in the last minutes. With 24 seconds left on the clock, the veteran nailed a 3-pointer in front of tight defense, and after Zhang Zhenlin's jumper hit the rim, the Philippines seized the win.
The Chinese team returned to the Asiad Village shortly after the game, skipping the post-game press conference, but head coach Aleksandar Djordjevic and team captain Zhao Jiwei then came back to meet media.
Yao Ming, president of the Chinese Basketball Association, attributed the skipping in the first place as "miscommunication." "We were on the bus to go back and got a call from the organizing committee, dropped the players at the village to let them rest and soon came back with Djordjevic and Zhao."
"Unfortunately, this is basketball, and games like this happening once in coaches' and players' careers or times, one way or another." Djordjevic said after apologizing for the crowded media's long waiting, adding "We were ready for the game, we played the first half great, we were ready for everything. And in the second half we felt the pressure and lost the competition."
"Each and every position is very important and repeating this from day one, and small details like this game's last shot Brownlee took decided the game," Djordjevic commented, adding that his side didn't do well in rebounding in the second half that gave the rival too many second chances. The game saw China was eight rebounds shorter than the Philippines.
"For the wins, players take credit, for the losses, coaches [take responsibilities]," Djordjevic stated but was cut in by Zhao, who insisted the loss should be taken on by players.
"We shouldn't question the coach every time after a loss, it was not the right theory in Chinese basketball's situation," Zhao said. "The players didn't meet the expected execution."
"He [Djordjevic] really wants to help us, both on and off the court, asking us to focus on a lot of details in training, but the players either can't understand or can't meet his requirement. He has some serious requirements to young players like Cui Yongxi, Zhang Zhenlin and Zhu Junlong, and those young lads are grinding and growing," Zhao noted.
"He [Djordjevic] also wants some young coaches to audit our training sessions, to pass down his concepts to teams in the CBA league, hoping to eventually form a system or say a trend. He [Djordjevic] knows what world top-tier teams look like, and he wants us to catch up with them."
China failed to defend its Asian Games championship that it got after defeating Iran in Jakarta, while only Zhao Rui and Wang Zhelin from the 2018's edition were present this time in Hangzhou.
In the other semifinal earlier on Wednesday, led by a game-high 20 points from left-handed forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Jordan eased past Chinese Taipei 90-71. Ahmad Hekmat Al-Dwairi and John Bohannon dominated in the paint, combining 34 points and 25 rebounds.
With only four players standing above two meters in the roster, Chinese Taipei allowed Jordan to grab 51 rebounds, compared to the team's 33. Lin Ting-chien led Chinese Taipei's scoring with 12 points and Hsieh Ya-hsuan added 11.
The Philippines will play against Jordan in the final on Friday, while China is set to face Chinese Taipei, whom they just beat in the quarterfinal, in the bronze medal game. ■
Players compete during the Men's semifinal of Basketball between China and Philippines at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
Zhang Zhenlin of China goes for a layup during the Men's semifinal of Basketball between China and Philippines at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
Players compete during the Men's semifinal of Basketball between China and Philippines at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
Players compete during the Men's semifinal of Basketball between China and Philippines at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Oct. 4, 2023. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)
