Games on Monday (Tianjin Gymnasium)
9 a.m. — Korea vs Kuwait
11 a.m. — Kazakhstan vs Jordan
2 p.m. — Japan vs Iran
4 p.m. — Philippines vs Taipei
7 p.m. — China vs UAE
9 p.m. — Qatar vs Libya
(Nankai University)
7 p.m. — Sri Lanka vs Uzbekistan
9 p.m. — India vs Indonesia

TIANJIN, CHINA — If the Powerade-Team Pilipinas wants to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIBA-Asia Championship, the Nationals have to shoot well from the three-point territory.

“Our shooters are not playing the way they should,” RP coach Joseller “Yeng” Guiao said, referring to James Yap, Mick Pennisi, Willie Miller, and PBA MVP Jayjay Helterbrand, who all struggled big time in their 69-56 loss to South Korea last Saturday to finish the first round with a 2-1 record.

“We just couldn’t make our shots. We missed a lot of three-point shots,” he added.

Guiao said they have to be extra sharp and smart on offense when they open their second round campaign against Chinese Taipei Monday in this qualifying event for the World Championship at the Tianjin Gymnasium here.

They clash with the Taiwanese at 4 p.m. with Guiao hoping his players, especially their shooters, will play with a sense of urgency.

The Nationals will have a carry over record of 2-1 in the next round.

The Philippines actually finished the first round with two wins in three games, though their victory against Sri Lanka (115-31), a team that failed to make the next stage, will not reflect in their win-loss card in the second round.

In the next round, the Nationals are bracketed in Group A along with South Korea (2-0) and Japan (1-1), defending champion Iran (2-0), Chinese Taipei (1-1) and Kuwait (0-2) from Group B.

After facing Chinese Taipei today, the country will battle Iran on Tuesday, and then Kuwait on Wednesday.

Guaio and his team are aiming to finish at the top four of the A-B bracket to advance to the quarterfinals where teams will clash against the top four squads grouped in C-D in a crossover knockout stage.

The second round qualifiers from Group C and D are host China (2-0), Jordan (2-0), Libya (1-1), Qatar (1-1), Kazakhstan (0-2) and United Arab Emirates (0-2). Teams that were eliminated aside from Sri Lanka were Uzbekistan, India, and Indonesia.

While he rued the team’s shooting, Guiao was satisfied with their defense.

“I think we played decent defense, their (Koreans) shooting percentage was 37 percent (23-of-63), but ours was worst (23-of-77, 30 percent). I think it’s a bad shooting night for us,” Guiao said.

“If not for our bad shooting, we could have kept the game close and we could have given ourselves a chance to win at the endgame,” he added.

The Nationals made only four of 27 tries from the three-point area for a dismal 15 percent shooting. Even in the two-point field goal and free throw area, they did not do well as they made 19-of-50 for 38 percent and 6-of-11, respectively.

They were 6-of-19 against Sri Lanka and 4-of-17 opposite Japan.

Another problem was the 25 fouls called against the RP team, which resulted to Korea going 19-of-27 from the line.

Guiao, however, said he’s optimistic that they can address these concerns against Taipei, which handed his team a 77-86 beating during the Jones Cup, saying: “We know they’re a strong team.”

“It’s going to be a good game. They have big men who can shoot the outside shots, the same as Korea, they have a lot of shooters and they’re quick,” said Guiao, who will also rely on guys like Kerby Raymundo, Sonny Thoss, and Asi Taulava.

Chinese Taipei, led by 6-foot-8 players Tai-Hao Wu, Wen-Ting Tseng and Lei Tien, and 6-foot-7 Tzu-Wei Chen, made it to the second round following victories against Kuwait (73-51) and Uzbekistan (102-78). Their only defeat so far was against Iran (67-71).

Notes:

Japeth Aguilar missed his second straight game against South Korea due to a strained knee but coach Guiao said that if the 6-foot-10 son of ex-PBA player Peter Aguilar feels better on Monday, there’s a possibility for him to play versus Taipei… PBA board members led by incoming chairman Lito Alvarez of Burger King arrived here with league commissioner Sonny Barrios to give support to the national team. The board will also meet for their planning session, where they will discuss the budget for the 2009-10 Season, as well as the possibility of Smart-Gilas supporting the cash-strapped Barako Bull in the Philippine Cup.